Media invitation: ESA’s Technical Centre ESTEC Open Day

On Sunday 8th October, ESA's technical centre in the Netherlands, ESTEC, will open its doors for media and the general public between 10:00 and 17:00 CEST.

Media opportunities on the day include, among other highlights: interviews with ESA Director General, Josef Aschbacher, ESA Astronauts André Kuipers and Thomas Reiter, and ESA Reserve Astronaut and former Paralympian John McFall. Media will also be invited to see ESA's upcoming planetary defence mission, Hera, in the ESTEC test centre.

Media opportunities include:

ESTEC Test Centre visit and interview opportunities on Hera - ESA's asteroid mission for planetary defence
Currently beginning checks at the ESTEC Test Centre, the Hera mission for planetary defence will be lifting off towards the distant Dimorphos asteroid next year.
One-to-one interview slots with the Project Manager Ian Carnelli and mission engineers are available as well as, photo and filming opportunities. The Hera mission is currently located in the largest satellite test centre in Europe.

Astronaut interview opportunities
One-to-one interview slots with John McFall, a member of the ESA Astronaut Reserve, currently taking part in the Fly! Feasibility Study at the European Astronaut Centre. The study will assess the conditions for astronauts with disabilities to work in space.
One-to-one interview slotswith ESA AstronautThomas Reiter (DE). Thomas served aboard both Russia's Mir space station and the International Space Station before going on to become ESA's Director of Human Spaceflight and Operation.

Interview opportunities with the ESA Director General and the Head of ESTEC
One-to-one interview slots available with Josef Aschbacher, ESA Director General and Dietmar Pilz, Director of Technology, Engineering and Quality and Head of ESTEC are available.

Press Conference with ESA Astronaut André Kuipers announcing a new mission
At 10.15 - 11.30 in the Tennis Hall (Space Rocks stage) there will be a press conference in Dutch withAndré Kuipers who will announce a new mission, not in space, but on Earth. With a series of events that will make 2024 a unique year in Dutch space history. Students are challenged to think bigger than ever and come up with crazy ideas: moonshots! DuringNL MOONSHOTS '24 students can count on special facilities and a lot of inspiration and expertise of literally and figuratively the highest level.

The press conference will be followed by a panel discussion (in English) about moonshots and the importance of playful inspiration and cross-pollination with, among others, ESA Director General Josef Aschbacher, Head of ESTEC Dietmar Pilz, Mayor of Noordwijk Wendy Verkleij-Eimers, Director of Netherlands Space Office Harm van de Wetering and André Kuipers.

For interview requests for André Kuipers and more information on the press conference please contact [email protected]

Earth from Space multimedia centre inauguration:
At 13:15 Barbara Hoppel, Director of Space Expo and the ESA Director General will officially open the exhibition Earth from Space. This is an Earth observation exhibition using interactive display technologies to showcase ESA's Earth observation programmes and applications. This experience aims to improve the understanding on the benefits of Earth observation for monitoring global change.

Earth from Space is based on ESA's Phi-Experience (ESRIN, Italy) and has been developed into a museum version, suitable for all ages, in collaboration with Space Expo. ESA, DLR, ARS Electronica and Flink have contributed considerably to the Space Expo exhibition.

For interview requests and more information about the Space Expo exhibition please contact [email protected]

Media registration

Media are invited to register for the Open Day via the registration form by 16:00 CEST on Wednesday 4^th October 2023. Timeslots for interviews can be booked by contacting [email protected]

The media programme will be from 10:00 - 13:00 CEST and will be shared later this month.

https://blogs.esa.int/forms/esa-media-briefing-form/

Registration to the event is mandatory.

Contact

For further information and for interview requests, please contact [email protected].

Images

https://www.esa.int/ESA_Multimedia/Images

Terms and conditions for using ESA images:
www.esa.int/spaceinimages/ESA_Multimedia/Copyright_Notice_Images

For questions or more information related to ESA images, please contact directly [email protected].

Videos

https://www.esa.int/ESA_Multimedia/Videos

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https://www.esa.int/spaceinvideos/Terms_and_Conditions

For questions or more information related to ESA videos, please contact directly [email protected].

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About the European Space Agency

The European Space Agency (ESA) provides Europe's gateway to space.

ESA is an intergovernmental organisation, created in 1975, with the mission to shape the development of Europe's space capability and ensure that investment in space delivers benefits to the citizens of Europe and the world

ESA has 22 Member States: Austria, Belgium, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom. Latvia, Lithuania, Slovakia and Slovenia are Associate Members.

ESA has established formal cooperation with four Member States of the EU. Canada takes part in some ESA programmes under a Cooperation Agreement.

By coordinating the financial and intellectual resources of its members, ESA can undertake programmes and activities far beyond the scope of any single European country. It is working in particular with the EU on implementing the Galileo and Copernicus programmes as well as with Eumetsat for the development of meteorological missions.

Learn more about ESA at www.esa.int

For further information:
ESA Newsroom and Media Relations Office - Taylor Willis
Email: [email protected]
Tel: +31641342279