Tintin’s new adventures in space

The countdown is over! A special edition of the quarterly magazine Tintin, c’est l’aventure launched in France, Belgium and Luxembourg on 13 December 2023. The new issue invites readers to join Tintin on a fact-packed journey of space exploration, with features, interviews and activities focused on real-life space missions. This new adventure for Tintin and his friends is the most recent product of a long cooperation between ESA and the magazine’s publishers Prisma Press, Geo magazine and Éditions Moulinsart.

Tintin was the original space explorer, whose creator Hergé anticipated the Apollo Moon landings with two graphic novels: Destination Moon and Explorers on the Moon. These stories have delighted and fired an interest in space for generations of readers. Now science fiction has become science fact and Tintin has moved with the times. Today, Tintin continues to inspire a new generation of space enthusiasts of all ages, as he explores the future of space exploration and science with a little help from his friends at ESA.

The new edition of Tintin, c’est l’aventure contains fascinating features about humankind’s ongoing quest to explore space. These include our return to the Moon with the Artemis missions, future Mars missions, how to become an astronaut, health in space, ESA’s Juice mission to explore Jupiter’s mysterious moons and more! There are also interviews with two of the new intake of ESA astronauts, Sophie Adenot and Raphael Liégeois, who share their inspirations, including Tintin!

As part of this long-standing publishing partnership, ESA’s experts have helped to guide the magazine’s space content over the last year. They’ve been on hand throughout to make sure that Tintin’s fans get the latest space mission information and facts. To ensure authenticity they even put Tintin through some ESA astronaut training, with a chance to experience weightlessness on a parabolic flight.

Didier Schmitt, Head of Strategy and Coordination for ESA Human and Robotic Exploration, commented on the fruitful collaboration with the magazine’s creators, “Herge was a visionary who worked with the leading experts of his time. As Tintin fans ourselves, it’s been wonderful to continue this work and to share the most current space knowledge with readers who share Tintin’s passion for exploration.”

The match between the intrepid and inquisitive reporter Tintin and the questing spirit that drives ESA makes the partnership on Tintin, c’est l’aventure a great way to reach out to readers and inspire them about the amazing Universe waiting for them to explore. Emmet Fletcher, Head of ESA’s Branding and Partnerships Office commented, “Tintin appeals to readers of all ages. His adventurous nature makes him a great narrator for our story of exploration across the Solar System and beyond.”