Exactly one year after the first presentation of the TiuTerra crystals ESA astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti sends us a photo of the weightless crystal on board of the International Space Station (ISS). The photo was taken inside the “Cupola” – a dome-shaped viewing window on the ISS. You see very clear the three little TiuTerra’s floating inside the ISS.
A piece of OeWF hardware is actually in space. An extraordinary piece of hardware.

Happy #CosmonauticsDay and happy @YurisNight everyone! Recognize these crystals? Tiuterra https://t.co/spoRPKnFmA pic.twitter.com/Ce5S0KXUVw

— Sam Cristoforetti (@AstroSamantha) April 12, 2015

What is the TiuTerra Crystal and what is it made of?

It was named after the old English word for Mars “Tiu” and the Latin word for Earth. During the World Space Week 2013 we collected rock samples from 33 countries including a probe from Antarctica and the deep sea. These rock samples were crushed into pieces and mingled with a piece of a Martian meteorite. Finally the whole mass was heated and Swarovski created with a special technique these beautiful crystals. The TiuTerra crystals is a symbol of the worldwide support of space exploration. 2 Worlds. 1 Crystal.

A short review of the events:

4. – 10. October 2013: World Space Week
Worldwide call to collect rock samples, with instructions to extract them like a scientist would do on Mars, and sending them to the OeWF spacesuit lab in Austria.
Full story: www.oewf.org/2013/10/earth-master-sample-gesteinprobenentnahme-fur-zukunftige-erforscher/

12. April 2014: Yuris Night in Vienna
Highlight of the Yuris Night in Vienna: Swarovski presents the final product, the TiuTerra crystals and hands it over to the OeWF. In total 100 pieces were produced. They are given to international space organizations and decision makers as well being exhibited in museums. Also during this evening Samantha Cristoforetti tells us via a video message, that she will take three smaller crystals with her on board the ISS.

Full story: www.oewf.org/en/2014/04/yuris-night-2014-revealing-the-tiuterra-crystal/

28. August 2014: Handing over the crystals
At the ESA European Astronaut Center the flight crystals were handed over to Samantha Cristoforetti.
Full story: www.oewf.org/en/2014/08/tiuterra-flight-three-crystals-for-the-space-station/

24. November 2014: Arriving at the International Space Station
In the early morning the crystals arrive at the ISS together with the astronauts of the Soyuz-TMA-15MAnton Schkaplerow , Terry Virts und Samantha Cristoforetti .

12. April 2015: First photo of the crystals in orbit!

Photo Center: TiuTerra on board the ISS (c) Samantha Cristoforetti

This article is available in: German