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EXIT

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 → WHAT DO YOU WANT
TO DO TODAY?
Main building 28 AstroPlant
01 Space shop 29 Liftoff! Space Transportation for Europe
02 Space science 30 S wiss rocketeers
03 Solar system 31 Microgravity test facilities
04 Exoplanets 32 Columbus module
05 Multi-messenger astronomy 33 Model Space Station
06 Space Talks – Newton 34 Orion module
07 ESA at work 35 Destination Mars
36 Scionce2080
Main corridor
37 Planetary Robotics Lab
08 Software 4space
38 European Robotic Arm
09 Glow in the dark space
39 Guidance, Navigation & Control
10 Advanced Concepts
40 Watching and listening to the Sun
11 The Moon temple
41 EuroMoonMars and ExoHab
12 Satellite communications
13 Planetary society Escape
14 Space Safety & Clean Space 42 Space Expo shop
15 Space plane 43 ESA Academy
44 E SA Education for primary and
Lab corridor
secondary classrooms
16 Solar power and energy storage
45 E uropean Space Education Resource
17 Concurrent design facility Office
18 Earth watching 46 Exoplanet Zoo
19 High Tech in low gravity: 47 Science demonstrations
surviving and exploring the Moon
48 Cinema Paxi
20 Galileo, at your service
49 Take a space selfie
21 Spaceship EAC
50 Selfies with Paxi
22 Hypergravity centrifuge
51 First LEGO League
Open stage and promenade 52 Astronaut autographs
23 Open stage 53 Space Talks – Tennis Hall
24 From waste to taste – try our water
Meet our partners
recycling toilet
54 ESTEC fire engine
25 ESTEC’s driverless shuttle
55 NL Space Tent
Erasmus 56 Space Expo
26 Destination Moon and lunar quiz
27 Access to ESA Core Activities tool (AECA)
Welcome to ESA, the space agency for Europe. For the average cost of a single cinema ticket
per European citizen per year, ESA’s 22 Member States plus Canada and Slovenia come
together to work on every aspect of space activities. ESTEC, hosting today’s Open Day, is ESA’s
technical centre where new missions are designed, their industrial development is managed
and the resulting satellites are tested for flight in space. Technical experts and a suite of space
labs support the development of new technologies making future missions possible.

Want to hear from people working in space?

We have a full day of ‘Space Storytellers’ featured on the Open Stage, sharing their passion
for space - plus some explosive science demonstrations.

Want to find out about ESA’s work in education,

or how to make a career in space?
There’s a full itinerary of talks from ESA Education in the Escape tennis hall, and talks by ESA
Human Resources in our Einstein auditorium. See our lectures pages for details.

Want to learn more about what

the Netherlands does in space?
The NL Space Tent is the place to be: Come and meet the NL Space experts; watch great
presentations and movies in the NL Space movie corner; with lots of interesting activities for kids.
 → ESA TO THE MOON

Global celebrations of Apollo’s achievements have made this the year of the Moon. These historic
human landings marked a highpoint in humankind’s ongoing fascination with our natural
satellite, which began with ancient myths and legends, and extends to this day.
Sometimes termed ‘the eighth continent’, the Moon has the equivalent surface area of North
and South America combined, with concentrations of precious metals including titanium,
platinum and rare Earth elements. Humankind’s six Apollo landings on the Moon to date
concentrated around the nearside lunar equator, so the higher latitudes remain unexplored.
The samples collected during Apollo, together with follow-on Moon missions, have transformed
scientific understanding of our natural satellite, conclusively showing there is water ice at the
lunar poles, and demonstrating the Moon may have been geologically active until comparatively
recently. ESTEC was among the first places to study these samples. NASA’s then Director of
its Manned Spacecraft Center, Robert Gilruth, delivered a sample of lunar dust gathered from
Apollo 12–14 here in September 1971. A research group tested its electrostatic charging
behaviour in vacuum.
Earth’s natural satellite remained a key topic of study during the years that followed, including
candidate mission planning, culminating in ESA’s first mission to the Moon. SMART-1, Small
Mission for Advanced Research in Technology, was tested at ESTEC in 2002 ahead of its
launch the following year. Its main goal was to demonstrate a solar electric propulsion ion
drive, but the minisatellite also mapped the whole of the Moon between November 2004
and September 2006. Europe’s first lunar mission ending with a controlled crash – the first
mark Europe has left on the Moon, but surely not the last. Some of the experience gained
during those years was applied when three European instruments flew to the Moon as part
of India’s Chandrayaan-1 lunar mission.
ESA is contributing the service module to NASA’s Orion, the spacecraft that will return humans
to the Moon as part of NASA’s Artemis programme, and is collaborating with all the International
Space Station partners on the Lunar Gateway, a station around the Moon to act as a base for
both robotic and human explorers. ESA is also working with Russian space agency Roscosmos
on future Luna missions, contributing landing systems and science payloads, including a drill
to search out water ice and other chemicals under the surface.
ESA is leading an ambitious mission to return samples from the lunar South Pole, called
Heracles, in development with Japan’s space agency, JAXA, and the Canadian Space Agency.
Another proposed ESA mission, Lunar Pathfinder, is being planned with European industry for
lunar orbit. Further ahead, ESA’s Director General Jan Wörner has proposed a ‘Moon village’
as a model for cooperative international lunar settlement.

Earth and the Moon seen together in space from the OSIRIS-REx spacecraft
 → MEET THE ASTRONAUTS
Walt Cunningham
NASA astronaut Walt Cunningham made
history as part of the first crewed Apollo
mission, Apollo 7 in October 1968. This 11-
day flight in Earth orbit proved the reliability
of Apollo’s Command Module, preparing the
way to the Moon. Walt went on to serve
as chief astronaut on Skylab programme,
becoming closely involved in the crew systems
design of the first US space station. A former
US Marine Corps pilot, he was born in Creston,
Iowa, USA, in 1931.
André Kuipers
This Dutch ESA astronaut, a medical doctor,
has flown twice to the ISS: his first flight
in 2004 involved an 11-day stay, followed
by a six-month mission in 2011–2012;
this second 193-day spaceflight broke the
record for longest European spaceflight at
that at that time. Formerly employed by the
Royal Netherlands Air Force to research space
sickness, André was born in Amsterdam, the
Netherlands, in 1958.
© ESA/NASA
Alexander Gerst
German ESA astronaut Alexander Gerst
joined ESA in 2009. In 2014 he spent
six months on the ISS for the Blue Dot
mission. Then in 2017 Alexander became
the first of ESA’s 2009 class of astronauts
to return to space for the second time, with
the six-month Horizons mission to ISS. He
is currently based at ESA’s Astronaut Centre
in Cologne, Germany.
Rusty Schweickart
NASA astronaut Russell “Rusty” Schweickart
was the first person to fly the Lunar Module
in space, testing it in Earth orbit during the
Apollo 9 mission in March 1969. He also
undertook the first spacewalk of the Apollo
programme using the new Extravehicular
Mobility Unit spacesuit. Rusty is the co-
founder of the Association of Space Explorers
and, subsequently, the B612 Foundation,
devoted to protecting Earth from asteroids.
A former US Air Force pilot, Rusty was born
in New Jersey, USA, in 1935.
© ESA–P. Sebirot, 2014
 → SPECIAL GUESTS
Also giving presentations on the day… (see lectures page for details)

Mark & Sem, TV presenters

Mark Langtry is an Irish TV presenter, science communicator and performer. A physicist by
training, he is currently Head of Science and Sport at Explorium, Ireland’s new national science
centre. Sem Barendse is an enthusiastic science presenter, currently based at NEMO Science
Museum, best known for his Do-It-Yourself-At-Home science experiments on Dutch science TV
show ‘Galileo’. Mark and Sem travelled around Europe together in the ‘Science Bus’ delivering
workshops to thousands of kids/families in towns, cities and marketplaces.

Norman Heeney, Apollo-era journalist

Norman Heeney became an aviation, and space, enthusiast in the late 1950s and 60s while
in high school, and studying mechanical engineering at the University of Toronto. He visited
NASA’s headquarters regularly, collected all the technical information he could get his hands
on, received press accreditation for Apollo 8, 11, and 17, wrote the cover article on the Apollo
11 flight for Canada’s national newspaper, the Globe & Mail, witnessed the only Saturn V
night launch and followed the Apollo 17 crew’s lunar surface activities at Taurus-Littrow from
Mission Control in Houston.

Paul Van Hoeydonck, sculptor

Belgium-born sculptor Paul Van Hoeydonck created what is, so far, the only artwork on the Moon.
Entitled ‘The Fallen Astronaut’, it is a stylised aluminium statuette intended to commemorate all
those astronauts and cosmonauts who have died for the sake of space exploration. It was
placed on the Moon by astronaut Dave Scott during the Apollo 15 mission in August 1971.

Scott Manley, space YouTuber

Scott Manley is best known for his space-themed YouTube channel where he teaches the
math and minutia behind rocket science and commentates while playing video games such as
Kerbal Space Program. Over the last decade, his videos have generated over 250 million views
and attracted almost one million subscribers. He addresses questions such as: ‘Can you see a
laser pointer from the ISS?,’ ‘Why do so many American rockets use Russian engines?,’ ‘What
is a Hoverslam?,’ ‘Is Elon Musk’s latest idea feasible?’ and ‘Why did that rocket explode?’.
Having grown up in Scotland, Scott currently resides in California.

Scott Millican, Apollo engineer

In 1969 engineer Scott Millican developed the Lunar Surface Checklist and trained the astronauts
in the procedures that would help take Apollo missions 11 to 17 to the Moon and safely back
to Earth. He went on to run the company HE Space, supplying space expertise to ESA, Eumetsat
and the European space industry.
→ LECTURES
Space Talks ESA at work
TIME Open Stage
Newton Einstein
10.30 Paul Van Hoeydonck, 10.30 Fiona Walsh, ESA 10.30
10.00 Artist & Koen Debeule, ESA HR Advisor: Careers at ESA Space Storytellers
– Electronic Engineer: Enigste
11.00 kunstwerk op de maan

11.10 Roger Haagmans, 11.00 Jan Wörner, ESA 11.00

ESA Earth Observation Director General: ESA from Space Storytellers
Scientist: What if there was the top
11.00 no Moon?
11.30 Angelique van
–
12.00 11.50 Michel van Pelt, Ombergen, ESA Science
ESA System Engineer Satellieten Coordinator for Human Research:
vangen Human spaceflight and its
analogues

12.30 Luisa Innocenti, 12.00 Johannes Gumpinger, 12.00 ESA astronaut

Head of ESA Clean Space: ESA Advanced Manufacturing André Kuipers & journalist
12.00 Cleaning up space Engineer: 3D printing for space Sander Koenen: College tour
– talk
13.00 12.30 Kate Isaak, Cheops
project scientist: Tracking 12.30 Mark and Sem, TV
planets presenters: Kids Science Show
13.10 Yasjka Meijer, ESA 13.00 Lucy van der Tas 13.15
Atmospheric Scientist: Vinger HR Advisor: Careers at ESA – Space Storytellers
13.00 aan de pols bij onze Aarde overview
–
14.00 13.50 Giorgio Bagnasco,
ESA Sentinel 4 Project Manager:
The air we breathe

14.30 Norman Heeney, 14.00 Silvia Bayon, ESA 14.30 Mark and Sem, TV
Apollo-era journalist: Reporting System Engineer for Planetary presenters: Kids Science
the Moon landings Missions: Working on an ESA Show
14.00 deep space mission
–
15.00 14.30 Marco Falcone,
Head of Galileo System Office:
Making Galileo

15.10 Mark McCaughrean, 15.00 Ninja Menning, Head 15.15 Erik Kuulkers, ESA
Senior ESA Science Advisor: of ESA Newsroom & Media Project Scientist: Apollo 15
Who owns space? Relations: Communicating instrument
15.00 with the European public
– 15.50 Planetary Society:
16.00 Direct imaging of exoplanets 15.30 Shumit Das, ESA
Structural Engineer: Space
structures and materials
 Space Talks ESA Education Autograph Sessions
TIME
Tennis Hall Dance Hall Sports Hall
10.30 ESA astronaut 10.15 Live space science 10.30 Rusty Schweickart,
10.00 André Kuipers & journalist Demonstrations with ESA US Apollo astronaut
– Sander Koenen: College tour Internal Research Fellows
11.00 10.30 Alexander Gerst,
talk Sandor Kruk & Hans Huybrighs
ESA astronaut
11.30 ESA astronaut 11.30 Walt Cunningham,
Alexander Gerst: Space US Apollo astronaut
Horizons
11.00
–
12.00

12.45 Scott Millican, 12.00 Presenting ESA

ex-NASA engineer: How I Academy With Alexander
12.00 trained Apollo astronauts Kinnaird of ESA Education
–
13.00

13.45 Rusty Schweickart, 13.15 Live space science

US Apollo astronaut: One Demonstrations with ESA
13.00 people, one planet Internal Research Fellows
– Sandor Kruk & Hans
14.00 Huybrighs

14.45 Walt Cunningham,

US Apollo astronaut: First to
fly Apollo
14.00
–
15.00

15.45 Scott Manley, Space 15.00 Presenting ESA

YouTuber: How spacecraft get Academy with Alexander
to the Moon, and beyond Kinnaird of ESA Education
15.00
–
16.00
 02 01
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07
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→ MAIN BUILDING
This building accommodates a restaurant, a conference centre and ESTEC’s technical library.
It was designed by renowned Dutch architect Aldo van Eyck.
01 Space shop
ESA-themed clothing, gadgets and souvenirs
on sale (cash only).
02 Space science
Science is at the heart of our missions, many of
which were designed, built and tested here
at ESTEC. One recent guest was the soon-to-
launch Cheops exoplanet monitoring-mission,
which will make observations of exoplanet-
hosting stars to measure small brightness
changes as planets transit across them.
03 Solar system
Within our Solar System ESA is getting ready
to launch Solar Orbiter, a mission that will take
us close to the Sun to provide the first close-up
views of the solar poles, and to study the
Sun-Earth connection. Our Jupiter Icy Moons
Explorer will head towards the outer Solar
System to explore the giant planet and its
largest ocean-bearing moons, assessing their
habitability potential.
04 Exoplanets
The study of alien worlds beyond our own
Solar System has exciting prospects – will
we ever find a true Earth twin? ESA is
launching three exoplanet missions in the
next decade: after Cheops, Plato and Ariel
will follow, each dedicated to a particular
aspect of exoplanet science. JWST, or Webb,
will also study exoplanets, as well as the
origin of stars and galaxies in our Universe.
05 Multi-messenger astronomy
ESA space missions are an essential element
in the new era of ‘multi-messenger’ astronomy,
combining the information gathered by
different sophisticated instruments to
investigate a wider range of cosmic processes
from X-rays to neutrinos to gravitational
waves, enhancing our ability to decode
the messages reaching us from across the
Universe.
06 Space talks - Newton
Lectures from astronauts and space experts
through the day in our Newton auditorium.
See the lectures pages for details.
07 ESA at work
A day of presentations about career
opportunities at ESA organised by ESA’s
Human Resources team in our Einstein be the opportunity to hear ESA staff speak
auditorium. The presentations will cover the about their own careers. See the lectures
various career options offered by ESA and pages for details. Visitors will be able to
how to apply for them, and there will also speak individually to ESA staff and HR.

06 02

07 05 01

04

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→ MAIN CORRIDOR
Think of this 200-m-long corridor – dating back to ESTEC’s earliest days – as the backbone
of the establishment, linking together administration and project offices with technical
laboratories and the satellite testing area.
08 Software 4space
Intangible but essential, come and find out
about the pivotal role software plays in our
space systems. Software makes a spacecraft
perform actions, it checks if everything is fine, it
communicates with operators and also tries to fix
problems. We explain how this software is built
to function well, and how we help achieving this.
09 Glow in the dark space
A fascinating experimental view of normally
invisible plant fluorescence, used by ESA’s
upcoming FLEX satellite to understand how
productive plants actually are.
10 Advanced Concepts
The objective of the Advanced Concepts
Team is to prepare ESA for the future: it is
a channel for the study of technologies and
ideas that are of strategic importance in the
long term planning of the Agency. Some of
the topics investigated by the ACT include
advanced materials, artificial intelligence, bio-
engineering, biomimetics, computational science,
energy systems, fundamental physics,
informatics, mission analysis, propulsion
and space architecture and infrastructure.
12 13 14 15
11 The Moon temple
A near-perpetually sunlit peak close to the
Moon’s south pole has been selected by
ESA’s artist-in-residence as the site of a
building like no other. Artist Jorge Mañes
Rubio, part of ESA’s future-oriented Advanced
Concepts Team (ACT), has designed a place
of contemplation to serve a future lunar
settlement. It would be built on the sunlit
rim of Shackleton Crater, which is bathed
much of the time in sunlight while overlooking
a 4.2 km-deep interior mired in perpetual
shadow. The project may be seen as an
interplanetary archaeological journey: retracing
the indigenous communities of the past and
inquiring into the origins of human existence,
while looking ahead to the future within the
perpetuity of time and space. At the same
time, the 50 m-high domed structure is also
something that could one day be built. Jorge
talked to ESA materials specialists studying
3D printing of lunar material.
12 Satellite communications
Satellites are only useful when kept linked to
the ground. Come here to see how that works
in practice, demonstrating real satellite signal
reception using professional equipment
available at ESTEC as well as ‘home brewed’
systems which can be realised at home by
anyone (providing instructions for anyone
interested in building them). Also planned is
an attempt to bounce signals off the Moon.
The ESTEC Radio Club station is also being
exhibited here.
13 Planetary Society
Meet members of the international non-profit
organisation advocating for astronomy and
space exploration.
14 Space Safety and Clean Space
Meet the team from ESA’s control centre in
08
10
11
Germany to learn about the Space Safety
programme: monitoring the space environment
for natural and human-made hazards that
threaten assets in orbit or lives and property
down on the ground. Clean Space is another
part of Space Safety: an initiative to safeguard
the Earth and space environments and tackle
space debris, including the ambitious Space
Servicing mission to perform a range of
tasks including removing a complete derelict
ESA-owned satellite.
15 S
 pace plane
See the actual drop test model of ESA’s
IXV space plane, used to test splashdown
procedures ahead of the real 2014 space mission.
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→ LAB CORRIDOR
This is home to ESTEC’s suite of technical laboratories, for the testing of candidate materials,
components and equipment for space, as well as investigating post-launch mission ‘anomalies’.
16 Solar power and energy
storage
In space the only way to power our satellites
is to harvest solar radiation from our sun;
solar arrays convert this radiation into power.
Solar cells must be assembled in specific
ways according to mission needs. In advance
a number of tests must be performed to ensure
that the solar arrays can withstand the harsh
space environment, carried out here at the
Solar Generators section. Would you like to see
a solar cell glow? Would you like to learn
more about the difference between space and
terrestrial solar technologies? Or perhaps
you are interested in how a solar cell can
generate power in the first place? To find
out, come here.
17 Concurrent Design Facility
Design your own mission: ESA’s Concurrent
Design Facility (CDF) is a state-of-the-art
facility equipped with a network of computers,
multimedia devices and software tools,
allowing a team of experts from several
disciplines to apply the concurrent engineering
method to the design of future space missions.
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18
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Come and discover the way we prepare
the future.
18 Earth watching
The single location where we can learn
about our planet is found nowhere on Earth
but high above it. Find out how satellites
not only help us understand our changing
world, but also how they are used to improve
our daily lives. Meet up with Earth observation
experts to learn more about Europe’s latest
missions to planet Earth, including the fleet
of Copernicus Sentinels.
19 H
 igh Tech in low gravity:
surviving and exploring
the Moon
How do we ensure proper living on the
Moon? How do we make sure we are safe
and self-sufficient? No matter how we shape
our future moon base, we have to both
embrace and shield from the most hostile
environment human kind has ever seen! ESA
is driving space technologies and materials
science to the outmost maturity to enable
safe exploration and sound protection against
vacuum, radiation and micro-meteorites.
Get a flavour of how to extract and use
resources on another planet in-situ (straight
away), find out how to test and qualify
spacecraft and habitats to be fit for space,
and hold your breath watching numerous
live demonstrations of what it means to be
in space.
20 Galileo, at your service
Since December 2016, Galileo has been
providing free navigation data on your
smartphones, tablets, and a wide variety
of professional equipment. Did you know it
is also considerably improving the efficiency
of search and rescue operations? Come and
discover how the 26 satellites are also used
in various applications and play the NavGame
to win your mini Galileo hologram. ESA has
also developed EGNOS, an augmentation
system used in aviation. Both EGNOS and
Galileo are now under the management of
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21
18
the European Commission and the European
GNSS Agency (GSA). Researchers are studying
the very future of navigation, anywhere on
earth, in the sky and in space through our
Navigation Innovation and Support Programme.
21 Spaceship EAC
Spaceship EAC is the group working at the
European Astronaut Centre near Cologne,
Germany, on how to be able to live on
the Moon. The topics treated range from
processing Moon dust to extract oxygen and
water, 3D print it to make tools and objects
useful for life on the Moon, to designing
devices to make astronauts’ life easier.
22 Hypergravity centrifuge
Part of ESTEC’s Life Sciences Lab, ESA’s
Large Diameter Centrifuge is set spinning
behind bulletproof glass to produce extreme
gravity levels for scientific experiments.
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24

23

→ OPEN STAGE
AND PROMENADE
Our main parking lot is being turned over to the open stage for space storytelling as well as
exhibits by ESA partners.

23 Open stage required nutrients, providing on-site drinking

A day of open-air Space Talks, special guest
appearances and kids’ science demonstrations,
located on the way to the Erasmus centre
(see lecture pages for details). Get inspired,
learn about ESA missions and share your
passion for space at the Space Storytellers
session featuring ESTEC employees and special
guests. Stay around for an entertaining and
interactive family science show featuring
rocket launches, cannons, explosions and
much more! And don’t miss ESA astronaut
André Kuipers on stage – it will be out of
this world.
24 From waste to taste – try
our water recycling toilet
Developed as part of the the ESA-led
MELiSSA (Micro-Ecological Life Support
System Alternative) programme, this fully
portable SEMiLLA WASTE-TO-TASTE sanitation
hub uses advanced space technology to
process human urine and faeces and recover
water and organic fertiliser.
25 E
 STEC’s automated shuttle
ESA’s technical heart is currently serving as
a testbed for this zero-emission driverless
shuttle. ESTEC is working with vehicle owner
Dutch Automated Mobility, provincial and
municipal governments and bus company
Arriva to assess its viability as a ‘last
mile’ solution for public transport. The fully
autonomous vehicle calculates its position
using a fusion of satellite navigation, lidar
‘laser radar’, visible cameras and motion
sensors.
23

24

25
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26 28 29
30 31 32 41
33 34 35 36 37 38
39
40

→ ERASMUS
This is ESTEC’s centre of competence for human spaceflight activities, supporting ISS operations
and experiments while assisting users of all ESA’s microgravity experimentation platforms,
from a drop tower to parabolic flights to experimental capsule and the ISS – and beyond.

26 Destination Moon and 29 L

lunar quiz
Watch a movie on ESA’s Moon plans plus take
our lunar quiz, and look out for our exhibit
on lunar in situ resources in the High Bay.
27 Access to ESA Core
Activities tool (AECA)
The AECA virtual reality tool gives you the
possibility to explore and have a hands-on
interaction with ESA past, present and future
mission spacecraft by using VR technology.
You will experience ESA’s satellites, launchers,
capsules, probes, robots and the International
Space Station on a 1:1 scale!
28 AstroPlant
An educational citizen science project to
engage a new generation of space farmers,
collect data and ideas for agriculture on
Mars, develop open source research equipment,
and create awareness of regenerative and
closed-loop life support systems. We have built
a prototype plant lab that collects and shares
open data about plant growth in different
grow environments, from Earth to space.
 iftoff! Space Transportation
for Europe
Find out what ESA is doing to ensure continued
autonomous access to space for Europe.
Ariane 6 and Vega-C are next-generation
rockets in development, set to join Europe’s
family of launch vehicles, increasing our
capabilities to reach space. And our Space
Rider reusable vehicle, launching on Vega-C
to offer the possibility of return missions.
Compare the rockets we have today with
the ones of the future.
30 S
 wiss rocketeers
How to build a rocket: student builders from
Switzerland’s L’Ecole polytechnique fédérale
de Lausanne have designed and launched a
rocket to carry a scientific experiment to an
altitude of 3 km, recognised with honours
at the Spaceport America Cup, the biggest
student rocket competition in the world.
31 M
 icrogravity test facilities
ESA provides researchers with access to
weightlessness in various ways: from the
drop tower based here to regular parabolic
flights and sounding rocket access, all the
way to a prolonged stay in ESA’s Columbus
lab aboard the International Space Station.
32 Columbus module
Visit a 1:1 replica of Europe’s lab aboard the
International Space Station.
33 Model Space Station
Look up to see a 1:10 model of the
ISS, complete with live explanations of its
construction process and operations.
34 Orion module
View a model of the NASA-ESA Orion spacecraft
set to return astronauts to the Moon,
highlighting its European Service Module,
together with live explanations of its planned
exploration missions.
35 Destination Mars
The ExoMars 2020 mission will land on
Mars at a place called Oxia Planum. Explore
images of the landing site, find out how it
was selected, and learn what the Rosalind
Franklin rover might discover there! The Mars
Sample Return campaign is an international
campaign between NASA and ESA and
comprises three missions to be launched in
the 2020s with the aim of returning samples
to Earth in the early 2030s. These missions
will need to work together in a tight
choreography, involving many different spa-
cecraft elements including orbiters, landers,
rovers and the first even rocket to launch
from the surface of Mars. Look out also for
our high-fidelity ExoMars rover!
36 Scionce2080
Scionce2080 is a graphic novel series that
will be published on a yearly basis starting
end 2019. The storyline is a trip to Mars
happening in 2080. It is based on a new
concept – ‘fiction-science’ – whereby the
background science and technology ideas
are plausible.
37 Planetary Robotics Lab
See ESA’s Mars Yard, used to test advanced
rovers designed to explore alien planets.
38 E
 uropean Robotic Arm
View the ‘Iron Bird’ engineering model of
ESA’s European Robotic Arm in action, with
its control panel and moving joints on its
trolley. Find out the role it will play on the
International Space Station.
39 G
 uidance, Navigation & Control
Guidance, Navigation & Control – to know where
you are and head where you’re going – is a
key space discipline, especially for with new
generation space vehicles for in-orbit robotic
operations and for specialised applications
such as rendezvous and formation flying.
Our interactive exhibit showcases ongoing
technological research in the field with special
emphasis on advanced guidance, control,
estimation and optimisation techniques and
tools as well as technology development
of sensors with emphasis on vision-based
navigation and data fusion concepts.
40 W
 atching and listening
to the Sun
Look through a Sun-focused telescope
experience how big solar flares are and
listen to radiowaves coming off the Sun.
Staff from the Observatory Foucault from
De Zilk will explain all.
41 E
 uroMoonMars and ExoHab
Where are we going next in space? Come
here to discover the future of lunar and
martian exploration, and explore our
self-deploying lunar habitat structure.
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→ ESCAPE
Space to relax: Escape is the social and recreation centre for ESTEC’s 2 700 personnel, with sports
facilities, club rooms, a bar and canteen, the focus for educational information during the Open Day.
42 Space Expo shop
Space-themed clothing, gadgets and souvenirs
on sale (cash only) from ESTEC’s public visitor
centre.
43 ESA Academy
Information on ESA Academy’s programmes
designed to take students through a learning
path that enriches their academic education
through a tailored transfer of space know-how
and interaction with space professionals. ESA
Academy brings together existing and new
elements of the ESA Education Programme
for universities, now grouped under two
interconnected pillars of activity: Hands-on
Space Projects, a continuing programme that
enables students to gain first-hand, end-
to-end experience of space-related projects;
plus our Training and Learning Programme, a
new initiative offering an entirely new set of
training courses and learning opportunities.
Plus take a look at ESA Education satellite,
LEGO and rocketry exhibits.
44 ESA Education for primary
and secondary classrooms
The ESA Primary and Secondary Education
43
52
programme offers a wide range of initiatives
aimed at encouraging and enabling the use
of space as a source for teaching and learning
STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and
Mathematics) subjects at school. ESA runs
school projects and European challenges
that offer them the opportunity to design
and run a STEM-related project such as
CanSat, MoonCamp, Climate Detectives,
Mission X or AstroPi. Join us in learning
more about these challenges and experence
hands-on demonstrations.
45 E
 uropean Space Education
Resource Office
The European Space Education Resource
Office (ESERO) project is ESA’s main way of
supporting the primary and secondary school
education community in Europe: national
offices established in ESA Member States
operate in the country’s language and support
the teacher community in their daily delivery
of the STEM national school curricula.
46 E
 xoplanet Zoo
ESA is about to launch Cheops, the first of
a series of missions which will investigate
planets orbiting around stars other than the
Sun. Would you like to help ESA imagine
planets beyond our Solar System? Come
along, draw an exotic world, and add your
masterpiece to the Exoplanet Zoo!
47 Science demonstrations
Three science shows demonstrating the
basic science idea behind an ESA mission
with a practical experiment. Each show lasts
for 30 minutes (20 + 10 for questions). The
three experiments are:
- How do lunar eclipses work and how do
we discover exoplanets? (Mission: Cheops)
- How does gravity work? (missions: LISA,
Athena, Euclid)
- What are the moons around other planets
like? (mission: JUICE)
48 Cinema Paxi
Screenings of Paxi educational animations
in Dutch and English, where children can
discover exciting facts about the universe,
43
44
47
planets, comets and planet Earth, such as
seasons, day and night and the greenhouse
effect.
49 Take a space selfie
A photo booth for out of this world pictures.
50 Selfies with Paxi
Take your picture with Paxi, ESA’s alien
mascot for kids.
51 First LEGO League
Exhibiting the winning First Lego League
team from Magdeburg in Germany’s Into
Orbit robot-based game, and their Mission
Moon model of a lunar base.
52 Astronaut autographs
Guest astronauts will be signing here
during the day.
53 Space Talks – Tennis Hall
Lectures from astronauts and space experts
through the day in our Tennis hall. See the
lectures pages for details.
50 51
45
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56

55

→ MEET OUR PARTNERS

ESA’s Open Day takes place in conjunction with NL Space and Space Expo, ESTEC’s year-round
visitor centre, as well as the national Dutch science weekend, Weekend Van De Wetenschap.

54 ESTEC fire engine find out all about astronauts and see how
Did you know ESTEC has its own fire they live and work in space.
service? A fully equipped fire engine is
based onsite and can you try out shooting Weekend Van De
its fire hoses. Wetenschap
ESA’s annual Open Day in the Netherlands
55 NL Space Tent
takes place as part of the national Dutch
NL Space is the umbrella organisation for
science weekend, Weekend Van De
Dutch space companies and institutions.
56
The NL Space Tent brings together space
Wetenschap. The public is invited into the
worlds of science and technology through
experts and businesses from across the
invitations to visit research sites across the
Netherlands to present their world-class
country.
solutions to global challenges. Learn about
their cutting-edge technology, ground
breaking science and satellite applications
for everyday life on Earth.
56 Space Expo
Once you leave the grounds of ESTEC,
remember to visit Space Expo at a bargain
half price!
Europe’s first permanent space exhibit
attracts more than 90 000 visitors annually
– one third of them school children. Experience
the simulated launch of an Ariane rocket
‘live’; discover the world of satellites with
test models of European space missions,
54

55

56
 → SECURITY AND
SAFETY INFO
This is a summary of rules that apply while visiting the ESTEC site.
Contact ESTEC Security or an ESA volunteer for more information.

• Follow directions given by your ESTEC host or security personnel.

• Smoking is allowed
ESTEC buildings are smoke-free zones.
• Unauthorised accessonly in the dedicated shelters.
• Do not leave bags unattended:
to restricted areas is strictly forbidden.
• for security reasons. unattended items will be removed and inspected

• Children must be accompanied at all times.

• Please do notpets
Do not bring onto the site.
• leave litter.

Emergency procedure
In case of emergency such as fire, accident or incident, call:
ESTEC emergency number 071 565 8040
You will be asked to provide the following information:
your name, location, nature of emergency and number of people involved.

Evacuation procedure
In an emergency evacuation, stop activities, remain calm and follow instructions.

Lost and Found and missing children

Please call: 071 565 8040
Please also report at the Main Security Gate House.

Disclaimer
ESA accepts no responsibility for any injury to visitors or loss or damage
to their personal belongings during their visit to the ESTEC site.
On entering the site you acknowledge that you have read and are familiar
with these ESTEC safety and security rules.
The ESA Open Day is being filmed and photographed for communication purposes.
By attending the event you agree to being filmed and photographed and that
such material can be used for ESA’s own purposes.
 Share your Open Day experience with the world!
Use hashtag #ESAOpenDay #WvdW

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Twitter @ESA and follow ESTEC at @ESA_Tech

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