Operating across 140 million km of space from ESOC's Interplanetary Control Room (left), ESA’s Hera mission team has upgraded the software running the spacecraft - leaving it ready to explore the distant Dimorphos and Didymos asteroids this autumn www.esa.int/Space_Safety...

Great week-end for small bodies ! Hayabusa 2# flyby of asteroid Torifune (www.jaxa.jp/press/2026/0...) and Tianwen-2 images of asteroid Kamo'oalewa (www.xinhuanet.com/20260706/eb8...) ! #PlanetaryScience

Happy #AsteroidDay! 🪨 But why today of all days? Find out here, along with eight other key dates in asteroid history! 👉 www.esa.int/Space_Safety...

Happy summer solstice 🌞!

This week I'll be participating in the first RAMSES Community Meeting. Only a little fewer than 3 years before our encounter with asteroid Apophis ! #PlanetaryDefense #PlanetaryScience www.ramsesmission.space/workshop-2026

This week we are attending the Hera Science Community Meeting in Thessaloniki and online. This is our last workshop before arrival at Didymos. Many interesting talks and lots of excitement :D Can't wait to receive the first data in a few months ! #Hera #PlanetaryScience #PlanetaryDefense

ESA and JAXA finalize agreement on Apophis asteroid mission ESA and JAXA have finalized an agreement to collaborate on a mission to study the asteroid Apophis during its close flyby of Earth in 2029.

Mars Express has captured a blanket of dark ash creeping across the Red Planet. It has spread hundreds of kilometres in less than 50 years. 🔭 🧪 #planetsci 1/4

Hayabusa2# will fly by asteroid (98943) Torifune on the 5th of July. All details in a new paper by Masatoshi Hirabayashi. Exciting ! arxiv.org/pdf/2604.08832 #planetaryscience #planetarydefense #hayabusa2

The FY 2027 NASA budget request hides its science cuts by omitting mission names instead of explicitly zeroing them out. We did the work and found 54 missions cancelled in this proposal. This is another extinction-level event for NASA science. Full list: planetary.org/save-nasa-science

New Hera mission poster #Hera #PlanetaryScience www.esa.int/ESA_Multimed...

Our article describing the Ateroid Framing Cameras on ESA's Hera mission is now available on arXiv arxiv.org/abs/2603.10594 #PlanetaryScience #PlanetaryDefense

Several papers on the isotopic composition of 3I/ATLAS on the arxiv today, with, e.g., 12C/13C being ca. 50% higher than measured in all solar system materials (D/H, 14N/15N too). Before, these kind of measurements were only possible in micron-scale presolar grains from primitive meteorites.🪐☄️ 1/11

Makadia et al: "targeting the secondary asteroid in binary systems constitutes a possible strategy for kinetic impact deflection" Very interesting analysis of the DART impact ! #DART #PlanetaryScience www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

At ESA’s 2025 Ministerial Conference, the Space Safety Programme received significant support for its mission to predict, detect and mitigate space hazards, and to build towards a sustainable future in orbit. This is what we’re working on 👇 www.esa.int/ESA_Multimed...

25 years ago today the Near Earth Asteroid Rendezvous – Shoemaker spacecraft touched down on the Asteroid Eros, after orbiting it and making a map of the elongated 34 km long asteroid. It gently landed on the surface with its cameras obtaining views during the final descent. Digital art. #SCIART

This week I am remotely attending the Hera and RAMSES SOWG (Science Operations Working Group) meetings. We are planning the activities for two missions in parallel !

THEY CAME FROM OTHER STARS! A new all-ages comic by @makinaro.com and me about 3I/ATLAS, `Oumuamua, and Borisov: why they're exciting, and why they're both familiar and alien at the same time. www.snexplores.org/article/inte...

Our Space Science Reviews paper describing the Asteroid Framing Cameras on Hera will be accepted for publication after we correct a few minor typos :) As soon as the paper is formally accepted I will put it on ArXiV, and publish the link here.

With Ariel facing delays, @esa.int Comet Interceptor has found a new ride with a commercial Arian 6 launch customer. Comet Interceptor will carry MIRMIS being built by @oxfordphysics.bsky.social 🔭🧪 #planetsci spacenews.com/esas-comet-i...

@esa.int 's RAMSES mission has now an official science community website: www.ramsesmission.space #PlanetaryScience

Third poster in our series: "Space Safety - in action!" Mission: Ramses Objective: Intercept and explore the asteroid Apophis as it passes Earth in 2029 Unique feature: Ramses capitalises on a one-in-7000-year scientific opportunity Launch: 2028 Download at: esa.int/space-safety/in-action

Happy 2026 to all my friends and their families. May this year bring you happiness and health !

ESA's RAMSES mission is funded ! We are going to visit asteroid Apophis in 2029 :D www.esa.int/About_Us/Cor... #planetaryscience

When I am not studying asteroids, I write songs about them ;) Exactly 4 years ago, I released a track to celebrate the success of the DART mission. The song is obviously called "Dimorphos" ! 3xperimental.bandcamp.com/album/dimorp... #metal, #planetaryscience

Astronomers have discovered rings forming around a Centaur. For real: Chiron (a comet-asteroid hybrid orbiting beyond Saturn) has set of rings that seem to be changing by the year. Regardless of what's happening on Earth, space continues to be amazing. 🧪🔭 iopscience.iop.org/article/10.3...

Check out the new trailer for @esa.int's proposed Ramses mission! 🍿📽️ Ramses would escort the cruise-ship-sized asteroid Apophis through its safe but exceptionally rare flyby of Earth in 2029: www.esa.int/ESA_Multimed...

One year ago, our wonderful Hera mission lauched from Cape Canaveral and it has been performing amazingly since then. A few days after launch, we acquired these beautiful views of our Earth and Moon, which have been used to calibrate the remote sensing instruments.

Happy launch anniversary to ESA's Hera mission! 🎂🥳 One year ago ESA's first planetary defence mission was stranded on Earth, its launcher grounded, as a hurricane closed in on its launch site. What a difference a year makes! www.esa.int/ESA_Multimed...

Waiting for a comet in space ☄️ Targeting launch in 2029, #CometInterceptor will be parked in space, waiting for an as-yet-undiscovered comet to come by. Discover more about this ESA-led mission in collaboration with JAXA 👉 www.esa.int/Science_Expl... 🔭

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