ESA Technology’s Post

On the left is the 1st in-space metal weld European Space Agency - ESA has been involved with, on the right its terrestrial equivalent. The weld - performed on a SpaceX launcher by ThinkOrbital with TWI - is now being examined in #ESTEC's Materials Lab in support of future in-orbit manufacturing plans https://lnkd.in/exN824YB

Hera, the European Space Agency - ESA's first planetary defence mission, is now encapsulated within its launcher in preparation for lift-off. Hera's launch window opens on 7 October and teams on both sides of the Atlantic are currently hard at work carrying out launch preparations. ESA will livestream the launch on ESA WebTV, ESA YouTube and on ESA’s X, and LinkedIn accounts. More details will follow as we receive confirmation of the launch date and time from the launch service provider. Stay tuned. https://lnkd.in/evsDXthp

The last time the Hera asteroid mission's radar-bearing Juventas CubeSat is seen with human eyes, being loaded aboard its Deep Space Deployer. The next time it is viewable will be when it is ejected into space around the Didymos binary asteroid, along with Hera's 2nd CubeSat, Milani… https://lnkd.in/ezw_c29R

Any spacecraft for exploration is a vehicle to answer questions - a process overseen by mission scientists. ESA's new Hera asteroid mission for planetary defence has a Science Team that extends across France, Germany, Italy, Belgium, Spain, UK, Czech Republic, Greece, Switzerland & Finland, plus Japan & the US 👉 https://lnkd.in/eDecDnEK

The European Space Agency - ESA's Hera mission for asteroid planetary defence will take selfies once in space - here is the approximate field of view of its Spacecraft Monitoring Camera, looking over Hera's instrument-hosting 'Asteroid Deck' and including a view of GomSpace's Juventas radar CubeSat to the right: https://lnkd.in/ev4239xF