Second Astro Pi turned on!

It's been a couple of weeks since Ed the first Astro Pi was turned on. After being delayed for almost a month due to a space walk and other bits and pieces, he finally started running some of the experiments loaded onto him from the Astro Pi winners. Izzy was slightly different though – as she was going to be looking down at the Earth, she needed a window clear. The Cygnus capsule now gone and no longer obstructing the window's view, she was able to begin.

After a short conversation on Twitter, astronaut Tim Peake and Ed got Izzy to 'wake up' and begin running the Flags program. This shows the flag of the country the ISS is currently over on the Sense HAT's LED matrix. Later, she'll start taking pictures and other footage of the Earth using the IR camera to assess the flora on the ground below.

Now with both Astro Pi's on, their proper mission can begin! We look forward to seeing what results the experiments yield. For more information on Astro Pi, visit the website and learn about all the individual experiments. You'll also find the files to 3D print your own Astro Pi case, and you can check out our Experiment with Sense HAT book to perform your own experiments like the Astro Pis.