ESA astronaut Andreas Mogensen Tours FTMC, Examines Delta Biosciences Space Payload

“We’re not passengers on Spaceship Earth. We’re the crew.” – Rusty Schweickart

On January 29, the Center for Physical Sciences and Technology (FTMC) welcomed a special guest – European Space Agency (ESA) astronaut Andreas Mogensen, the first Danish citizen to travel to space.

He has traveled to the International Space Station (ISS) twice; during his 2023 mission, he flew in August aboard SpaceX Crew Dragon, making history as the first non-American to serve as a pilot.

Mogensen is the current Head of the European Astronaut Corps, a unit of ESA that selects, trains, and provides astronauts as crew members on space missions.

During his visit to FTMC, the distinguished guest was accompanied by Prof. Rasmus Larsen, Professor at the Technical University of Denmark (DTU) and Head of the National Defence Technology Centre, and Ellen Als, senior executive officer at DTU. The guests were joined by Eglė Elena Šataitė, Head of LT Space Hub, Dominykas Milašius, co-founder of Delta Biosciences, Rita Sakus, the company’s strategic advisor and EBAN board member, and Julius Bartaševičius, aerospace engineer, who’s gone through ESA Astronaut selection in the past.

(Photo: FTMC)

The visit included presentations of relevant works in various fields: Dominykas Milašius presented a medicinal payload that will launch to the ISS on a joint Delta Biosciences and ESA mission later this year. Dr Wanessa Melo, a scientist at the FTMC Department of Functional Materials and Electronics, presented ongoing research in biotechnology and antimicrobial surfaces, while Tadas Jelinskas, PhD candidate at the FTMC Department of Nanoengineering, introduced microgravity-based cartilage organoid research. 

“Our sincere thanks go to Delta Biosciences for making this visit possible through a strong and trusted partnership. At FTMC, we strive to create meaningful collaborations across science and space technologies, bringing together research institutions, industry and the space ecosystem. Visits like this open concrete opportunities to explore joint research and technology development in areas relevant to space missions, human health and advanced materials,” says Dr Romuald Eimont, Head of the FTMC Department of Innovation. 

“The Lithuanian space sector is already contributing to human space exploration, but there’s more that we can offer. It was a privilege to introduce Astronaut Mogensen to our space activities and present how our innovation can help astronauts that might need more effective and longer lasting medicines during spaceflight. Our thanks goes to the ESA Astronaut Corps, the entire Danish business mission to Lithuania, as well as to LT Space Hub and FTMC for our partnership,” says Dominykas Milašius, Co-founder of Delta Biosciences.

Info: FTMC and Delta Biosciences