Media invitation: Hera event at ESA’s mission control centre

Journalists are cordially invited to participate in the European event for the Hera mission at ESA's European Space Operations Centre (ESOC) in Darmstadt, Germany. The launch window is from 7-27 October 2024.

ESA Director General Josef Aschbacher, ESA directors and mission experts, as well representatives from Hera prime contractor OHB and from the German Space Agency (DLR) will provide insight into the mission, which was designed for asteroid exploration in deep space.

ESA astronaut Matthias Maurer and former ESA astronaut Thomas Reiter will also be on site and available for interviews.

Note that part of the event will be accessible to the public and will include a music and entertainment programme, to which media representatives are welcome.

Media accreditation for this opportunity is possible via https://blogs.esa.int/forms/esa-media-briefing-form/ until 7 October, 9:00 CEST.

About Hera

Hera is ESA's first mission for planetary defence. It will perform a detailed post-impact survey of asteroid Dimorphos - the orbiting moonlet of a binary asteroid system known as Didymos.

In 2022, Dimorphos was the first Solar System object to have its orbit changed by human activity, following the impact of NASA's DART mission.

Hera is intended to gather crucial missing data about Dimorphos for scientists, with the aim of confirming that kinetic deflection is a reliable planetary defence technique.

Programme

(all times CEST)

• 11:30 - Doors open
• 12:00 - Hera media briefing with a wide range of speakers, including ESADirector General Josef Aschbacher, ESA mission operations and space safety team members, science and planetary defence experts and industry partners.
• 13:00 - Q&A, interview opportunities and light lunch
• 14:00 - End of media briefing
• 14:00 - 15:00 Interview opportunities with ESA Director General Josef Aschbacher, ESA Director of Operations Rolf Densing, ESA Director of Technology Dietmar Pilz and ESA Space Safety Programme Manager Holger Krag, OHB Board Member Sabine von der Recke, René Kleeßen, Director for Organisations and Infrastructures at German Space Agency at DLR
• 13:30 - Doors open to general public // media invited
• 16:52 - Hera lift-off, in case of launch on Monday
• 18:20 - Acquisition of first signals from Hera, in case of launch on Monday
• 19:30 - End of public event

Please register here for the ESOC Hera launch event by Monday, 7 October CEST.

For further information, please contact Simona Nichiteanu, ESA Media Relations via [email protected].

More information

Hera launch kit: esamultimedia.esa.int/docs/HERA_Launch_Kit.pdf

(See Slide 21 for master link list for digital assets)

https://www.esa.int/Hera

Hera scientific community website

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.