A meeting out of this world!

A meeting out of this world with Astronaut Richard Mastracchio.

November 9, 2024. A normal rainy day in Luxembourg for most. But for us, the team of The New Space Age, it had been one of the most important days for the launch of The New Space Age. We personally met with astronaut and engineer Richard A. Mastracchio!

Mastracchio is a veteran of four spaceflights, having logged over 227 days in space. His missions include STS-106, STS-118, STS-131, and Expedition 38/39 aboard the International Space Station, where he launched and landed aboard the Soyuz TMA-11M spacecraft. He served not only as a NASA mission specialist and flight engineer but also in the Shuttle Avionics Integration Laboratory and later in the industry with Northrop Grumman. His first spaceflight, STS-106, is also the subject of Sina's pencil drawing Space Shuttle breaking the sound barrier.

First of all, Richard personally handed over several patches from his personal collection, which we are now proudly able to sell in our shop. Other than that, he gave us flown items for our personal collection, including a flown Soyuz bag, as well as drinking equipment he used during a spacewalk on STS-118.

It was an honor and a special pleasure for us to listen to Richard's stories from each one of his four spaceflights as well as his other experiences in the field. What especially fascinated us was his perception of Earth, society and humanity as a whole:
„After all of my travels and looks at the Earth from above I think I’d rather consider myself a citizen of the Earth than of a single country" - Richard Mastracchio.

Thank you, Rick for your time and an out-of-this-world day!