ESA’s Asteroid Impact Mission, currently under study for launch in 2020 and arrival in 2022, would be humanity’s first probe to a double asteroid system. Targeting an approximately 180-m diameter asteroid – around the same size as the Great Pyramid of Giza – AIM would spend a busy six months gathering data on its surface and inner structure.
It would then perform before-and-after measurements as the NASA-led Double Asteroid Redirection Test spacecraft impacts straight into it, in an attempt to change the asteroid’s orbital period – marking the very first time that humanity shifts a Solar System object in a measurable way. Success would make it possible to consider carrying out such an operation again if an incoming asteroid ever threatened our planet. The two missions combined are called the Asteroid Impact & Deflection Assessment, or ‘AIDA’ for short.
But why do we need to plan such a ground-breaking experiment? Astrophysicist and Queen guitarist Brian May, ESA astronaut Luca Parmitano, the UK’s Astronomer Royal Sir Martin Rees and Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield share their own thoughts.
How does an astronaut return to Earth from the International Space Station? What does it feel like to re-enter the atmosphere? How does the Soyuz capsule function? Watch and find out. This video is based on an actual lesson delivered to the ESA astronaut class of 2009 (also known as the #Shenanigans09) during their ESA Basic Training. It features interviews with astronauts who have flown on the Soyuz and dramatic footage of actual landings.
Produced by the ESA Human Spaceflight and Operations (HSO) Astronaut Training Division, Cologne, Germany, in collaboration with the HSO Strategic Planning and Outreach Office, Noordwijk, The Netherlands, with special support from Roskosmos.
Content Design: Stephane Ghiste, Dmitriy Churkin, Raffaele Castellano, Matthew Day (HSO-UT)
Animation & Video Editing: Raffaele Castellano (HSO-UT), HSO-K
Project Coordination: Matthew Day, Stephane Ghiste, Dmitriy Churkin (HSO-UT)
Special thanks to:
Martin Schweiger (Orbiter software: http://orbit/medphys.ucl.ac.uk/)
Nikita Vtyurin, Andrew Thielmann (Orbiter Soyuz model)
Lionel Ferra (HSO-UT)
Oleg Polovnikov (HSO-UT)
Frank De Winne (HSO-A)
Paolo Nespoli (HSO-A)
Antonio Rodenas Bosque (HSO-UT)
NASA
ROSCOSMOS
S.P. Korolev Rocket and Space Corporation Energia
Aerospace Search and Rescue Service of the Russian Federation
Parachute footage: Cambridge University Spaceflight
Surfer footage: copyright Red Bull Media House
Footage from inside Soyuz capsule courtesy of RSC Energia has limited rights:
a) These data are submitted with Limited Rights under Agreement among the Government of Canada, Governments of Member States of the European Space Agency, the Government of Japan, the Government of the Russian Federation and the Government of the United States of America concerning co-operation on the civil International Space Station.
These data may be used by the receiving co-operating agency and its contractors and subcontractors, provided that such data shall be used, duplicated or disclosed only for the following purposes, which are related to the Cooperating Agency Space Station Program for ISS:
1) Use for ESA astronaut training
2) Use for educational purposes
These data shall not be used by persons or entities other than the receiving Cooperating Agency, its contractors or subcontractors, or for any other purposes, without the prior written permission of the furnishing partner state, acting through its cooperating agency.
b) This notice shall be marked on any reproduction of these data in whole or part.
Captions available in English, French, German, Italian, Russian, Romanian (with thanks to Alexa Mirel) and Spanish. Click on the CC button to switch between languages.
