N° 2–2021: Call for media: Virtual visit to see European Service Modules: from Europe to the Moon
20 January 2021
We’re inviting media to virtually join a visit at the Airbus cleanroom to see the European Service Modules ESM-2 and ESM-3, parts of Europe’s contribution to the Artemis missions to the Moon. This event is scheduled for Tuesday, 2 February, with opportunity to ask questions with ESA Director General Jan Wörner, ESA astronaut Alexander Gerst, and Andreas Hammer from Airbus.
Orion is NASA’s next exploration spacecraft to send humans into space. It is designed to send astronauts farther into space than ever before, beyond the Moon to asteroids and even Mars.
ESA has contracted and is overseeing the development of the European Service Module, the part of the Orion spacecraft that provides air, electricity and propulsion. Much like a train engine pulls passenger carriages and supplies power, the European Service Module will power the Orion crew module to its destination and back to Earth.
On Tuesday, 2 February, you are welcome to visit the Airbus cleanroom virtually, where you will be able to see the European Service Modules ESM-2 and ESM-3. ESM-2 is nearing completion before extensive testing and transfer to the US later this summer, where the first module, ESM-1, is now in final preparations for its launch on Artemis I, the uncrewed first lunar mission using Orion at the end of 2021.
The second Artemis mission, with ESM-2, will take up to four astronauts on a flyby around the Moon and ESM-3 will take the first humans to land on the Moon since December 1972.
You will be hosted by Andreas Hammer, Head of Space Exploration at Airbus, ESA DG Jan Wörner, and ESA astronaut Alexander Gerst, though changes may occur because of the COVID-19 situation.
After this public event, ESA and Airbus offer the possibility for interested press to join a separate Q&A session, which will be joined by:
- Andreas Hammer, Head of Space Exploration at Airbus
- Jan Wörner, ESA Director General
- David Parker, ESA Director of Human and Robotic Exploration
- Alexander Gerst, ESA astronaut
- Nico Dettmann, ESA Lunar Exploration Group Leader
- Walther Pelzer, Director General, German Space Agency
- Didier Radola, Head of the Orion’s ESM programme at Airbus
Programme Tuesday 2 February 2021 (times in CET)
11:30 Start of programme with live presentations in front of ESM-2 in Airbus cleanroom in Bremen, recorded interviews, and Q&A from general public
11:55 End of programme for general public
12:00 Start of live Q&A for media
12:45 End of Q&A for media
The programme will be completely virtual and will be streamed at esawebtv.esa.int and at the Airbus YouTube channel (https://youtu.be/pulUJdbyJE4) but only registered media will be able to ask questions.
Accreditation
Please register via email Airbus - Stéfanie Kloessner stefanie.kloessner@airbus.com by Friday 29 January 2021.
Upon confirmation we will send you a dedicated Google Meet link to connect to the event. Please note you might need to download the Google Meet App in advance.
Contact
If you have further questions or interview requests, please contact media@esa.int.
Social media
Twitter: @ESA
Instagram: Europeanspaceagency
Facebook: EuropeanSpaceAgency
YouTube: ESA
Images
https://www.esa.int/ESA_Multimedia/Search?SearchText=European+Service+Module&result_type=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 spaceinimages@esa.int.
Videos
https://www.esa.int/ESA_Multimedia/Videos
Terms and conditions for using ESA videos:
https://www.esa.int/spaceinvideos/Terms_and_Conditions
For questions or more information related to ESA videos, please contact directly spaceinvideos@esa.int.
Follow online
The public event will be shown on ESA Web TV: https://www.esa.int/ESA_Multimedia/ESA_Web_TV
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. Slovenia and Latvia are Associate Members.
ESA has established formal cooperation with six 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 – Ninja Menning
Email: media@esa.int
Tel: +31 71 565 6409