Danish ESA astronaut Andreas Mogensen shows his home and workplace for eight days during his iriss mission.

Andreas became Denmark’s first astronaut when he left our planet on 2 September 2015. ESA used the mission to test new technologies and conduct a series of scientific experiments.

Andreas operated three rovers from his temporary home in orbit. His most intricate task involved inserting a peg in a hole with a clearance of less than a millimetre. Such precision required tactile feedback that ESA has developed to allow fine control over large distances.

The Columbus laboratory is ESA’s largest single contribution to the International Space Station. It was also the first permanent European research facility in space. The state-of-the-art facility offers 75 cubic metres of space and contains an entire suite of research equipment. External platforms support experiments and applications in space science, Earth observation and technology.