ESA Operations
@operations
From Earth orbit to deep space: sharing the excitement of real-time mission operations at the European Space Agency. Home for ESA's teams working on Planetary Defence, Space Weather, Clean Space & Space Debris. esa.int/Operations esa.int/Space_Safety
The Incredible Adventure of the Hera Mission - episode 7 - bringing us nearly up to date, this episode details Hera's post-launch cosmic roadtrip, and the reason for its flyby of Mars!🛰️🔴(Next episode coming soon!) www.esa.int/ESA_Multimed...
🚀 Looking for your next business opportunity in the space sector? Save the date on 16-17 September 2026 for the #IndustrySpaceDays at @esa.int's ESTEC in Noordwijk, Netherlands! 📆 Click here to register 👉 isd.esa.int 📷 ESA #ESA #IndustrySpaceDays #ISD
The Incredible Adventures of the Hera Mission - episode 6 - once the NASA DART spacecraft impacted & diverted the Dimorphos asteroid, what does Hera still need to find out? 🤔🪨To be continued... www.esa.int/ESA_Multimed...
The Incredible Adventures of the Hera Mission - episode 5, recounting how, to get into space, ESA's Hera asteroid mission and her two CubeSats required a *lot* of ground testing first!🛰️🔍To be continued... www.esa.int/ESA_Multimed...
🚨🚨🚨ESA is opening our Hera asteroid mission to the global software community! Your code 💾. Our spacecraft 🛰️. Deep space🌌. #OpenSource #SpaceTech www.esa.int/Enabling_Sup...
The Incredible Adventures of the Hera Mission - episode 4 - tales of terrific technology, detailing the instruments Hera & its CubeSats will be using to survey its target asteroids! 🪨🔬To be continued... www.esa.int/ESA_Multimed...
🚨 OPEN CALL: Run your code in deep space! For the first time, we are opening access to a living mission. We’ll be turning our Hera asteroid mission into a flying software lab 150M km from Earth. Open to AI, robotics, gaming, etc! 💻 Submit your idea 👉 t.co/Sn54Xne6Oz
The Incredible Adventures of the Hera Mission - episode 3 - this one covered the then imminent impact by NASA's DART mission with the Dimorphos asteroid to deflect its orbit (spoiler: it worked!) 🎆🪨To be continued... www.esa.int/ESA_Multimed...
The Incredible Adventures of the Hera Mission - episode 2 - the Curious Case of the Missing Planet, OR, a brief history of asteroid discoveries... 🔭To be continued... www.esa.int/ESA_Multimed...
The Incredible Adventures of the Hera mission - episode 1 - where it all began! Our animated introduction to ESA's asteroid mission, on course to reach its destination this autumn🪨To be continued...! www.esa.int/ESA_Multimed...
#BepiColombo is approaching Mercury 🛰️🌑☀️ And we’re here for it! 🙌 On 3 September, the @esa.int / #JAXA mission will carry out its first arrival manoeuvre, kicking off the Mercury Arrival Phase. Want to watch live on 3 Sept? ️️Stay tuned here and on @science.esa.int for more details on 27 August 🗓️
What if a #solareclipse could help us forecast space weather? ☀️🌚🔮 Click here to read the full story 👉 www.esa.int/Space_Safety...
A high-velocity meteor that exploded high above the South Atlantic off the coast of Argentina in April was detected by lightning imagers aboard European and US weather satellites. Their observations are helping to pin down its likely origin: www.esa.int/Space_Safety...
Step 1 in effective planetary defence is reconnaissance- meaning flying to assess incoming asteroids ASAP. ESA’s Ramses will break records for an asteroid mission, from design to arrival in 3.5 years. Our new project seeks out ways future missions might get even faster: www.esa.int/Enabling_Sup...
Hera's space odyssey across the cosmos is underway! Much like Odysseus learned the mysteries of his world, #Hera too will probe the possibilities of our universe and its celestial bodies. Learn more about why so many space missions are connected to Greek mythology here: www.esa.int/Space_Safety...
🪐 Every space mission starts with a question: how do we get there? At @esa.int’s ESOC, a new generation of software is helping answer it: the Advanced Mission Analysis Toolbox (AMAT). 🔗 Learn more about how ESA designs missions before countdown begins: www.esa.int/Enabling_Sup... 📷ESA
Operating across 140 million km of space from ESOC's Interplanetary Control Room (left), ESA’s Hera mission team has upgraded the software running the spacecraft - leaving it ready to explore the distant Dimorphos and Didymos asteroids this autumn www.esa.int/Space_Safety...
Due to Apophis's flyby (as well as other milestones including the arrival of NASA's Psyche at its metal-rich asteroid target) 2029 will be the UN Year of Asteroids asteroids2029.org
Friday 13 April 2029 is when a once in 7000 year event takes place, as the cruise liner sized Apophis asteroid comes closer to Earth than our geostationary satellites - but ESA's Ramses mission will be flying along with it, and landing CubeSats!
Coming next: ESA's Hera mission for Planetary Defence will revist the Dimorphos asteroid impacted by NASA's DART this autumn, to discover what happened to it and sharpen our understanding of the kinetic impact method of planetary defence
Then this weekend, just as Hayabusa2 made its close encounter with Torifune, the China National Space Administration's Tainwen-2 drew close to the tiny 18-m Kamo’oalewa
In 2023 NASA's OSIRIS-REx spacecraft dropped off the most sizeable asteroid sample yet from asteroid Bennu. Like Hayabusa2, that spacecraft remains active
Next in 2022, NASA's DART mission impacted asteroid Dimorphos (deliberately!) to divert its orbit around the larger Didymos asteroid. The attempt was a success!
In 2020 successor mission Hayabusa2 returned more samples from asteroid Ryugu, and just this weekend passed by another asteroid, Torifune (pictured here).
Then in 2010 @JAXA's Hayabusa mission overcame grave onboard issues to return the first ever asteroid sample back to Earth...
Europe's first time eye-to-eye with an asteroid came in 2008, as ESA's Rosetta comet-chase passed by the Steins asteroid. A second encounter followed in 2010
A decade later came the first asteroid landing, by NASA's NEAR Shoemaker at their end of mission. The spacecraft carried on operating for 16 days after touching down...
Humankind's first close encounter with an asteroid in space did not occur until 1991, more than three decades into the space age...
Welcome to the Golden Age of 🪨Asteroid Exploration! 10 missions and 1 event every asteroid fan needs to know (number 6 steals the show!)...
Views of 2 new asteroids! ESA's Hera team congratulates JAXA's Hayabusa2 for flying by 450-m Torifune (l) and the China National Space Administration's Tianwen2 for reaching tiny 18-m Kamoʻoalewa (r). Hera makes it to Dimorphos this autumn - the 1st asteroid to have been changed by human action!