We were a proud sponsor at the annual European Space Agency (ESA) Football tournament in May.

This year’s tournament took place at ESTEC, the event was organised by ESA staff at ESTEC. As in previous years, EJR-Quartz srl sponsored the ESRIN team and our flag was on display during the matches, alongside the flags of our fellow sponsors.

The weekend of sport had blue skies and warm weather, as each ESA team played in the mini championship. ESOC’s men’s team and ESAC’s women’s team took home the winning trophies, with ESRIN and ESOC coming up in close second place.

As with every year, the tournament was a great opportunity for ESA friends and colleagues located across the continent to meet. We are happy we got to play a part in this wonderful event and look forward to the chance to support it again in the future!

The March 2016 issue of the Communicating Astronomy with the Public journal (CAPj) is a special issue featuring articles about the communication campaign for ESA’s Rosetta mission.

Writers and editors from EJR-Quartz, who have been deeply involved in many aspects of the campaign, welcomed the opportunity to share their experience with other science communicators.

“We had been approached many times by people working in communication and outreach, asking us about various aspects of the campaign, and it became clear that there was quite some interest in hearing about our experiences with different aspects of the Rosetta campaign,”

says Karen O’Flaherty, Chief Editor for ESA’s Science & Technology and Robotic Exploration of Mars websites, and one of EQ’s editors working on the campaign.

“We were delighted when CAPj agreed to support a dedicated issue, and many thanks are due to CAPj’s Editor-in-Chief, Georgia Bladon, and the team at the journal for producing this great issue, as well as to all of the authors who contributed to this special issue.”

This special issue of CAPj features articles about the strategy adopted for the communication campaign, the development and impact of the cartoon series, insights into the role played by social media, lessons learnt from running competitions, and the behind-the-scenes story of how ESA made a short science fiction film.

In addition, there are guest columns describing the making of a documentary film about the mission, and on blogging live during an historic event, along with a review of the communication campaign from the perspective of someone who was not directly involved.

Related links

• The Rosetta special issue of CAPj
• Previous issues of CAPj

BR-324 

How space technology improves our lives (ESA BR-324)

Space is an incredibly hard environment to work in: weightless, airless and with daunting temperature extremes. Systems must operate reliably for years on end, with no chance of repair.

Under ESA leadership, European space industry develops top-notch space technologies, many of which offer valuable attributes to terrestrial industries as well.

This book, edited by Technology Transfer editor Poul Nielsen, introduces ESA’s technology transfer programme and tells the stories of some space technologies that are already in use for innovative applications on Earth.

Technology Transfer

Read ESA BR-324 online

We recently visited and donated supplies to a local school in The Hague in which refugees are currently being housed and refugee children are being taught. The building was previously used as the department of social affairs, but is now accommodating refugees amidst the current global refugee crisis.

Run by the city council and a myriad of volunteers, the school is situated in the former library of the building. With around 50-100 children currently living and attending school here, many locals have donated items such as school bags and stationary, as well as food and clothing. EQ’s Linda Carrette and Reese Lee visited the school and brought learning materials, storage boxes, stationary, food and other special items to celebrate the traditional Dutch Sinterklaas holiday festivities.

Following a morning of celebrating Sinterklaas by singing songs and eating “pepernoten”, the children were able to play indoors or outside, however the cold weather is something that they are not yet accustomed to. Lessons are conducted in small groups with children of similar ages and a whole range of subjects is being taught. The emphasis lies on teaching the children Dutch so that they can start their integration process well. The children currently in this building will be moved to a different location once they move through the process of becoming asylum seekers, however the supplies donated by us and others will be used by future refugee children to come.

This is the first welcome school in the whole of the Netherlands, but since its start around three weeks ago, many councils have followed this example and there are now schools being set-up across the country. We’re glad to be able to give towards the “welcome school” initiative and will be sure to return with more supplies in the future.

In the run-up to the first anniversary of the first ever landing on a comet, our DLR Editor Karin Ranero Celius attended Smart Content Day 2015 in Vienna on 29 October. There, she presented some of our communications work carried out on behalf of the German Aerospace Center (DLR) Philae lander, including the Twitter account for which she tweets.

This year’s largest Austrian conference focused on content strategy and content marketing. With the theme ‘Digital First, Social First, Mobile First’, a variety of speakers were also in attendance giving talks on communication in the digital age.

As part of our contract with DLR, we are involved in a variety of their English language communications projects, including managing the popular @Philae2014 Twitter account. DLR’s Philae Lander touched down on the surface of Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko on 12 November following a 10 year journey through the Solar System.

About a year ago we did something no one has done before. And we told the story of it.

Karin told the story of the comet landing and explained the communication techniques used to personify the spacecraft. A mission such as Rosetta, in which we are continuously entering new territory, is constantly facing the unknown, and so communication with the scientists was of utmost importance. Karin explained why Philae tweets in English, since his mission is one for humanity. She also focused on how important collaboration between agencies is for the success of a mission and communicating the mission to the world.

Still in space, the lander has been tweeting in first person, and will continue to do so until the end of its mission.

Related links

• Smart Content Day 2015 blog post
• Philae2014 Twitter account

Senior Editor Karin Ranero Celius manages the German Aerospace Center (DLR) English-language communications. She has a degree in Physics and years of experience in communicating astrophysics and space science.

We were happy to be at the Digital Communication Awards 2015 in Berlin, Germany last week on 25 September. Together with the DLR German Aerospace Crossmedia team, EJR-Quartz’s Karin Ranero Celius presented the Philae communication campaign, which includes the Twitter account for which she tweets. The communication campaign went on to win an award at the international event.

There were 34 categories in total, ranging from Viral Communication and Web Magazine to Innovation of the Year and Corporate Film. DLR won the award in the category of Online Event and Communication for the outstanding results achieved during the Philae communication campaign. This category honoured online events that are unique in their scope of creative planning and implementation. The jury judged the projects by strategic approach, creativity, innovation, implementation and efficiency.

As part of our contract with DLR, we are involved in a variety of their English language communications projects, including managing the popular @Philae2014. Twitter account. The story of the comet approach and landing unfolded on Twitter in dialogues between the Philae Lander and the ESA Rosetta spacecraft, as well as conversations with NASA’s Mars Curiosity rover and ESA astronaut Alexander Gerst.

After landing on Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko, Philae conducted science, sent back its data and then went into hibernation for seven months. To the world’s delight, Philae woke up again in June 2015, ready to explore. Philae has been tweeting and sharing its mission in the first person throughout the mission, enticing the public to join in on the excitement of the first ever comet landing.

Later that night, Karin collected the prize on behalf of DLR at the Award Gala. We are proud to be a part of the comet-chasing mission and to share the fascinating cometary science with the world through Philae’s Twitter account.

For more information, visit the website and keep an eye on @Philae2014 Twitter account!

Related links

• The Digital Communication Awards website

The latest edition of the DLR Magazine, the German Aerospace Center’s (DLR) flagship publication, is out. EJR-Quartz is responsible for the English edition of the publication.

The second DLR Magazine of the year features two fascinating live reports, as well as insights from DLR researchers. The first of the live reports is the cover story, ‘Summit flight in the Midnight Sun’ follows a team of researchers across Greenland and Iceland, as they conduct a flight campaign using DLR’s Falcon aircraft. In the second live report we are told about MAPHEUS-5 – a sounding rocket launched from Sweden, in which material physics experiments are conducted during six minutes of microgravity.

DLR Magazine 146-147 highlights the work performed by researchers both inside and outside the office. A microscope specialist shares his passion for photographing not just materials, but wild orchids. Also featured is a materials researcher who is involved in a social project on the production of prostheses using 3D printing in his free time.

‘Life in space for life on Earth’ provides an insight into medical research within the new :envihab facility at DLR in Cologne. Long-term bed-rest studies for the benefit of mankind – on Earth and in space – are carried out here with volunteer test subjects.

You can also read about DLR’s latest research, the new DLR Chair Pascale Ehrenfreund’s plans for DLR, find out the current status of the Philae lander on Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko and check out some reviews, including The Martian audiobook – just in time for the movie release this October!

This edition of the Magazine reveals a brand new design. As always, you can read the DLR Magazine online or download it as a PDF file. Receive printed copies of the magazine on your doorstep, free of charge by completing the subscription form.

Related links

• DLR Web portal
• DLR Magazine