N° 54–2024: Media invitation: Hera pre-launch media briefings

Journalists are invited to learn more about this space safety mission by joining online pre-launch media briefings, available in several languages, which will take place on 2 October 2024.

The programme below highlights the different media activities planned and their respective registration process.

Journalists will also be invited to participate in the European launch event at ESA’s European Space Operations Centre in Darmstadt Germany. Media accreditation for this opportunity will open shortly. 

Please note that journalists wishing to attend several of the events mentioned below should register for each activity separately to ensure that they receive the right link/information for each event.  

About Hera

Hera is ESA’s first mission for planetary defence.

Hera 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 to prove that kinetic deflection is a reliable planetary defence technique.

Online pre-launch media briefing in English (Wednesday 2 October 14:00 – 15:00 CEST)

Hera online pre-launch media briefing and Q&A with:

• Ian Carnelli, Hera Project Manager, ESA
• Richard Moissl, Head of Planetary Defence Office, ESA
• Ignacio Tanco, Flight Director, ESA
• Michael Kueppers, Project Scientist, ESA

• Stefan Voegt, Hera Project Manager and Head of Department Space Safety Missions, OHB 

Please register here for the English briefing by Tuesday 1 October. 

Online pre-launch media briefing in German (Wednesday 2 October 11:00 – 12:00 CEST)

Hera online pre-launch media briefing in German and Q&A with:

• Rolf Densing, Operations Director, ESA
• Holger Krag, Head of Space Safety Programme Office, ESA
• Richard Moissl, Head of Planetary Defence Office, ESA
• Michael Kueppers, Project Scientist, ESA
• Andreas Winkler, Programme Director for Exploration, Space Safety and Space Transportation Systems, OHB 

Please register here for the German briefing by Tuesday 1 October. 

Online pre-launch media briefing in Italian (Wednesday 2 October 13:00 – 14:00 CEST)

Hera online pre-launch media briefing in Italian and Q&A with:

• Ian Carnelli, Hera Project Manager, ESA
• Paolo Martino, Hera Deputy Project Manager, ESA
• Luca Conversi, Near-Earth Object Coordination Centre Manager, ESA
• Diego Calzolaio, Hera Chief Engineer and Deputy Project Manager, OHB 

Please register here for the Italian briefing by Tuesday 1 October. 

Online pre-launch media briefing in French (Wednesday 2 October – 15:00 – 16:00)

• Ian Carnelli, Hera Project Manager, ESA
• Patrick Michel,  Hera Principal Investigator, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS) 

Please register here for the French briefing by Tuesday 1 October. 

For further information, please contact Taylor Willis, ESA Media Relations via media@esa.int.

More information

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

https://www.esa.int/Space_Safety/Hera

Images

https://www.esa.int/ESA_Multimedia/Missions/Hera/(result_type)/images  

https://photolibrary.esa.int/home-page/

For questions or more information related to ESA images, please contact directly spaceinimages@esa.int.

Videos

Hera: ESA's planetary defence mission - Animations

Hera: ESA's planetary defence mission - clips

https://www.esa.int/esatv/Videos_for_Professionals  

For questions or more information related to ESA videos, please contact directly spaceinvideos@esa.int.

Social media

Follow ESA on: 

X: @ESA_Hera, @esa , @esaoperations
Instagram: Europeanspaceagency 
Facebook: EuropeanSpaceAgency 
YouTube: ESA 
LinkedIn: European Space Agency - ESA 
Pinterest: European Space Agency - ESA 

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 other 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