Sophie Adenot Prepares for Mission εpsilon

On February 15, 2026, ESA astronaut Sophie Adenot is set to embark on her first long-duration mission, known as εpsilon. To commemorate this significant event, she planted a tree at the European Astronaut Centre (EAC) in Cologne on January 5. Following this ceremony, a press conference was held, during which I had the opportunity to conduct two interviews: one with flight physician Prof. Dr. Bimba Hoyer and another with Dr. Rüdiger Seine, the head of astronaut training at the EAC. We discussed the mission, the preparations, and the tree-planting event. At the end, I provided a brief outlook on why the scheduled launch date for Sophie Adenot is currently uncertain.

Sophie Adenot

• ESA: Sophie Adenot (English)
• Wikipedia: Sophie Adenot

Mission εpsilon and Crew-12

• Interviewee: Prof. Dr. Bimba Hoyer
• Mission εpsilon and Crew-12
  • CNES: Epsilon mission (English)
  • Wikipedia: SpaceX Crew-12
  • Wikipedia: International Space Station (ISS)
• Mission Name and Patch
  • Wikipedia: Epsilon
  • ESA: εpsilon mission patch, 2026
• DLR: Just the day before on the ISS, today in :envihab in Cologne The article describes the direct return of ESA project astronaut Sławosz Uznański-Wiśniewski.
• Further Mentions
  • Wikipedia: Quarantine
  • Wikipedia: Extravehicular Activity (Mentioned in the interview as "E.V.A" and "spacewalk")

Mission Preparations and Related Missions

• ESA: Astronaut Training Department
• ESA: Training (English)
• ESA: Assigning an astronaut to a mission (English)
• Mission Minerva
  • ESA: Minerva (English)
  • Wikipedia: Minerva (space mission)
• Mission Huginn
  • ESA: Huginn (English)
  • Wikipedia: Huginn (space mission)
• Mission Muninn
  • ESA: Muninn (English)
  • Wikipedia: Muninn (space mission)
• Mission Ignis
  • ESA: Ignis (English)
• Mission Cosmic Kiss
  • ESA: Cosmic Kiss (English)
  • DLR: The Cosmic Kiss Mission
  • Wikipedia: Cosmic Kiss
• Mission Artemis 2
  • Wikipedia: Artemis 2
  • NASA: Artemis (English)
  • Auf Distanz episodes on Artemis 2

Tree Planting Ceremony

• Interviewee: Dr. Rüdiger Seine
• ESA: Tree planting for εpsilon (English)
• ESA: Rooted in space (English)
• ESA: Astronaut trees at EAC (English)
• DLR: Alley of Cosmonauts
• Wikipedia: American Sweetgum

European Astronaut Corps and EAC

• European Astronaut Corps
  • Wikipedia: European Astronaut Corps
  • Auf Distanz episodes on the ESA Astronaut Class 2022
• European Astronaut Centre (EAC)
  • ESA: About EAC (English)
  • Wikipedia: European Astronaut Centre (EAC)

Early Return of Crew-11

• NASA: NASA, SpaceX Set Target Date for Crew-11’s Return to Earth (English)
• NASA: NASA Shares Latest Update on International Space Station Operations (English)
• Video on YouTube: International Space Station Update: Thursday, Jan. 8, 2026 (English)

Close-Up on Distance

I would like to express my gratitude to everyone who has financially supported this podcast. Since the last episode, I received financial assistance from Sebastian. Thank you!

This brief episode on Sophie Adenot's mission was a spontaneous addition. When I traveled to the press conference in Cologne, it was entirely uncertain whether I would be able to record interviews.

The next episode will focus on the Valles Marineris Explorer, or VaMEx, which is already prepared and will be released shortly.