N° 18–2024: Media invitation: Final chance to see Europe's first planetary defence spacecraft.

Somewhere in the vastness of space might lurk an unobserved asteroid on course for a head-on collision with our planet. This impact could be devastating for humankind which is why ESA is preparing a planetary defence mission called Hera.

As part of the world’s first test of asteroid deflection, ESA’s Hera mission will perform a detailed post-impact survey of Dimorphos – the 160-metre asteroid struck, and successfully deflected, by NASA’s DART spacecraft in 2022.

Hera will soon study the aftermath, gathering vital missing data to turn this grand-scale experiment into a well-understood and potentially repeatable planetary defence technique.

The van-sized spacecraft will perform a close-up survey of the Great Pyramid-sized Dimorphos as it orbits around its mountain-sized Didymos parent asteroid. A pair of shoebox-sized CubeSats will be deployed to fly even closer and take more risks. Italy’s Milani CubeSat – named after the late professor who devised the original DART-Hera concept – will perform multispectral mineral prospecting while Luxembourg’s Juventas CubeSat will perform the first subsurface radar survey of an asteroid. The pair will end their missions by landing on Dimorphos to try and gather surface data.

Before Hera and its two CubeSats fly, they need to be rigorously tested at ESA’s ESTEC test centre in Noordwijk, the Netherlands. From the force and noise of the rocket take-off to the sustained vacuum and temperature extremes of deep space, all aspects of Hera’s functioning are checked before they begin their journey.

Media event details and schedule:

• Time: 11:00 – 13:30
• Location: ESTEC, Keplerlaan 1, 2201 AZ Noordwijk

ESA Hera experts available for interviews:  

• Ian Carnelli - Project Manager (Languages: IT, FR, EN)
• Paolo Martino - Hera spacecraft manager (Languages: IT, NL -only written, EN)
• Heli Greus - Product Assurance Manager (Languages: FI, EN)
• Franco Perez Lissi - CubeSats Lead Engineer (Languages: EN, ES)
• Michel Van Pelt - Head of Section ESA ESTEC Cost Engineering (Languages: EN, NL)
• Juan-Luis Cano - Planetary Defence Information Provision Coordinator (Languages: EN, ES)

10:50 - 11:00	Arrival and check-in at the gate house
11:00 – 11:15	Transfer to the Test Centre
11:15 – 12:00	Introduction to the Hera Mission
12:00 – 12:45	Cleanroom visit to view the Hera spacecraft.Please note you will only have 15-20 minutes in the cleanroom. You can take videos and photos.
12:45 – 13:30	Interview Opportunities with the Hera team.(Please email to pre-book interviews in advance)

How to get there: 

Address: ESTEC, Keplerlaan 1, 2201 AZ Noordwijk

Recommended transport: Car with parking available. Some electrical chargers are available as well.  

Access and Security Guidelines: Please have a valid ID card on hand for identification when you arrive.

Cleanroom rules and regulations:

• Cleanroom: To get into the cleanroom, all cameras and instruments must be cleaned up (material to do so will be provided).
• All individuals must wear a hairnet, coat, and shoe protection, which will be provided. Individuals with long hair are advised to tie it up.
• No shorts or skirts are allowed inside the cleanroom.
• No phones are allowed. Only cameras and voice/radio recorders are permitted.
• Before you enter, there will be a security briefing detailing what cannot be filmed. All footage will be checked by the security guard before you leave.
• Media filming and taking photos will need to sign the GDPR statement.

Media registration:

Please register your attendance here: https://blogs.esa.int/forms/esa-media-briefing-form before Wednesday 10^th April.

For questions and to organise interviews with the HERA spokespeople please contact Taylor Willis – taylor.willis@ext.esa.int or media@esa.int

Journalists travelling further afield can also request a tour of the Test Centre (subject to availability).

 

More Information about HERA

ESA- Hera Mission - https://www.esa.int/Space_Safety/Hera

Images 

Search Results for “HERA” – Photolibrary for professionals (esa.int) 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/esatv/Videos_for_Professionals

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. 

Social Media

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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