Space Rocks 98d ago

The ESTEC Open Day is a truly unique opportunity for the public to get a front row seat to the final frontier at the technical heart of the European Space Agency. From astronauts to astrophysicists, to composers and Alien ovomorphs, there’s simply no other event like it, but how did the Open Day begin? And what’s next for space exploration? We’ve got the answer to that and more in our special programme dedicated to the past, the present, and the future of European innovation as ESA celebrates the 50th anniversary of its founding. The ESTEC Open Day takes place in Noordwijk in the Netherlands. It’s open to all and free to attend. The 2026 event will take place on Sunday, September 27th with a special accessibility day taking place on Saturday, September 26th. Check https://www.esa.int/ for updates and be sure to follow Space Rocks for news on our activities. Huge thanks to our hosts Lauran Carter and Alfredo Carpineti, and all of our guests for joining the programme. ESA astronaut Rosemary Coogan ESA astronaut André Kuipers ESA astronaut Ulf Merbold ESA astronaut Claude Nicollier ESA astronaut Thomas Reiter ESA director of human and robotic exploration Daniel Neuenschwander ESA robotics engineer Sant Brinkman ESTEC director Dietmar Pilz Fmr. ESTEC director Franco Ongaro Event Horizon Telescope astrophysicist Sera Markoff Fashion designer Laura Theiss JUICE scientist and UK Astronomer Royal Michelle Dougherty Life, Physical Sciences and Life Support Laboratory Manager Alan Dowson Stargate actor David Hewlett Grégoire Déprez and the crew of the ESTEC Creative Space And last but certainly not least, the winner of the 2025 Space Rocks Inspiration Award, The War of The Worlds composer Jeff Wayne Keep in touch with Space Rocks! You can also sign up for our Substack here: https://spacerocks.substack.com/ Follow us: https://www.instagram.com/spacerocksofficial/ https://www.facebook.com/spacerocksofficial https://bsky.app/profile/spacerocksofficial.bsky.social https://soundcloud.com/spacerocksofficial #spacerocks #esa #esaopenday #spacerocks