What's on at Sunday's ESTEC Open Day

Things to do

(Each number on the map shows where the event is taking place)

1. Front gate – Be here for the opening ceremony at 10.00.

2. Meet the astronauts – Speaking and signing here: European astronauts Claudie Haigneré, Michel Tognini, André Kuipers, Jean-Jacques Favier and Claude Nicollier. (Note also the dedicated astronaut autograph signing session, details below, taking place in 22. Escape main hall at 10:30).

3. The view from orbit – Savour stunning views of planet Earth from space, taken by ESA’s Earth monitoring missions, interspersed with a set of lectures by Earth observation experts.

4. Science missions & Rosetta's comet – Space science mission exhibit includes spectacular spacecraft and comet scale models. Talk to team members, snap a selfie with Comet 67P.

5. ESTEC shop – ESA-branded merchandise and clothing on sale here.

6. Science in Focus – Meet the makers of Dutch science magazine Wetenschap in Beeld, sponsor of National Science Weekend, visit their photo booth to get your face on their cover.

7. Down to Earth technologies – Space technologies find uses on Earth too. Come here to meet some of the new start up companies, based on cutting edge innovations.

8. Engineering for space – Pass by to discover how new ESA missions are designed, learn about Rosetta science mission planning, hear short talks on key topics.

9. Cosmic radiation chamber – Enter a darkened cloud chamber to see signs of otherwise invisible cosmic radiation.

10. Future visions – Experience space’s future: a virtual-reality ISS tour, eye trackers for human-computer interaction and magnetometers for brain monitoring, courtesy of ESA’s Advanced Concepts Team.

11. CubeSat corner – CubeSats are some of the smallest satellites ever flown by ESA; learn more about their important role testing out new space technologies.

12. Clean Space – Working for a cleaner space industry to safeguard both the terrestrial and space environments, including details of a new space debris salvage mission.

13. Asteroid Impact Mission – ESA’s next proposed mission to a small body would first map an asteroid then watch as a NASA spacecraft crashes into it, in a ground-breaking bid to shift its orbit.

14. Galileo: You are here – An exhibition dedicated to Europe’s own navigation satellite system, currently under construction, includes a satellite scale model.

15. Space laser line-up – Play an interactive game to line up ESA’s EDRS telecom satellite with the Earth-monitoring Sentinel-2 to transmit environmental results via laser.

16. Observing the Earth – Space is the best place to safeguard the terrestrial environment; find out more about ESA’s Earth monitoring missions.

17. Space plane – Check out the actual drop-test model of ESA’s IXV space plane, used to test the splashdown procedure ahead of the real space mission.

18. Spacecraft test centre – See the actual BepiColombo spacecraft which will fly to Mercury in 2017, under test inside Europe’s biggest spacecraft testing facility.

19. Space centrifuge & life support – ESA's Large Diameter Centrifuge, used to produce Jupiter-level hypergravity for experiments, plus a guide to our life-support lab.

20. People & robots in space – ESA’s activities in human spaceflight, from Europe’s Columbus lab to astronauts in orbit, designing planetary rovers to powering NASA’s Orion capsule for deep space.

21. Space Expo shop – Space-based merchandise on sale for visitors courtesy of our Space Expo visitor centre, plus the opportunity to purchase a day-long discount entry to their site.

22. ESA Education – Information stand manned by ESA’s Education team, including replicas of student-built satellites and presentations during the day for teachers and university students.

23. Paxi photo – Have your photo taken with Paxi, ESA Education’s adopted alien mascot from another planet.

24. Space for dancing – Dance workshops for children, hosted regularly throughout the day.

25. Space girls, space women – Put together by ESA and Sipa Press, a photo exhibit of women working in the aerospace industry: scientists, engineers, students, professors and astronauts.

26. NL Space tent – An exhibition of space companies and activities in the Netherlands, presented by ESA’s national space partner NL Space.

27. Space Expo – Special offer entry into ESTEC’s year-round visitor centre, with attractions including rare spacecraft engineering models and interactive games and rides.

Lectures

Location: Newton in main building

10.30–11.15 Astronaut André Kuipers – This NL Space College Tour talk with André and moderator Sander Koenen takes visitors on a fascinating trip to space and back, includes pictures, videos and of course plenty of stories, with Q & As at the end (in Dutch).

11.30–12.15 Astronaut Claude Nicollier – Claude is the ESA astronaut who flew the most times on the Space Shuttle – a total of four – culminating in a challenging service of the Hubble space telescope. That experience also saw him perform ESA’s highest-altitude spacewalk (in English).

12.30–13.15 Rosetta scientist Matt Taylor – Hear the inside story of humanity’s first landing on a comet, after a decade-long trip through deep space (in English).

13.30–14.15 Astronaut Jean-Jacques Favier – Before the ISS there was Spacelab – the ESA-made module that turned the Space Shuttle into a station for science. Jean-Jacques performed pioneering Spacelab experiments during his Shuttle flight (in English).

14.30–15.15 Astronaut Michel Tognini – Test pilot Michel has flown on Russia’s Mir space station and also the Space Shuttle, helping to deploy the Chandra X-ray Telescope, which was the Shuttle’s largest ever payload. He even trained to fly Russia’s Buran Shuttle (in English).

15.30–16.15 Astronaut Claudie Haigneré – ESA’s first female astronaut talks about life and work on two separate space stations; her experiment-packed stay on Russia’s Mir space station was followed by a visit to the then-newborn ISS (in English).

Location: Einstein in main building

11:00–11.30 The art of science – Highlighting satellite images of Earth that are powerful scientific assets, but also beautiful (in English).

12:00–12.30 Earth observation – General introduction to Earth observation (in Dutch).

13:00–13:30 Essential groundwork for space – To succeed, Earth-observing space missions require ‘ground truth’ campaigns in far-flung regions of our planet. Includes a tribute to Dutch Arctic explorer Marc Cornelissen, a veteran of past campaigns who sadly perished in the field this spring (in English).

14:00-14:30 Earth observation – General introduction to Earth observation (in Dutch).

15:00-15:30 The art of science – Highlighting satellite images of Earth that are powerful scientific assets, but also beautiful (in English).

Location: Erasmus auditorium

10:30–11:15 ISS 3D tour – An image-based guide to humanity’s base in space, followed by a Q & A session (in Dutch).

11:15–12:00 Destination Moon – Detailing ESA’s future exploration activities, followed by a Q & A session (in English).

12:00-12:45 ISS 3D tour – An image based guide to humanity’s base in space, followed by a Q & A session (in English).

12:45-13:30 Destination Moon – Detailing ESA’s future exploration activities, followed by a Q & A session (in English).

13:30–14:15 ISS 3D tour with astronaut Claudie Haigneré – An image based guide to the Station narrated by someone who was there, followed by a Q & A session (in English).

14:15-15:00 Destination Moon – Detailing ESA’s future exploration activities, followed by a Q & A session (in English).

15:00–15:45 ISS 3D tour with astronaut André Kuipers – An image based guide to the Station narrated by someone who was there, followed by a Q & A session (in Dutch).

15:45–16:30 Destination Moon – Detailing ESA’s future exploration activities, followed by a Q & A session (in Dutch).

Location: Escape main hall

10:30–11:30 Astronaut autograph session – Featuring Claude Nicollier, Jean-Jacques Favier, Michel Tognini and Claudie Haigneré.

Location: Escape dance hall

10:45–11:15 Learn about ESA school projects ESA Education for teachers and pupils: teacher training, resources and hands-on projects to support the curriculum in exciting ways (in Dutch and English).

13:30–14:00 Learn about ESA university projects ESA Education for university students: real space projects to be performed by students while still studying – satellite projects plus scientific and technology experiments (in English). 

14:30–15:00 Learn about ESA school projects – ESA Education for teachers and pupils: teacher training, resources and hands-on projects to support the curriculum in exciting ways (in Dutch and English).

15:30–16:00 Learn about ESA university projects – ESA Education for university students: real space projects to be performed by students while still studying – satellite projects plus scientific and technology experiments (in English).

Location: NL Space Tent

14.00–14:30 Ask André Kuipers – How does a space toilet work? Q & A for all children with Dutch ESA astronaut André Kuipers, moderated by journalist Sander Koenen (in Dutch and English).