Public Event with registration

Visiting an ancient world: ESA/JAXA space mission Comet Interceptor

Tuesday, 2025/04/15, 11:00


Comet Interceptor is a new type of mission with a space probe that will start its journey into space before it is even clear which comet is to be investigated. A suitable target will then be selected, preferably a comet that is coming close to the sun for the first time, so the mission will be visiting an ancient world. Michael Küppers, Planetary Scientist at the European Space Agency (ESA), will take the public on a journey to comets. He will also demonstrate how to build a comet with dry ice, water, dust and soya sauce!

Event organizer: University of Bern: Center for Space and Habitability | Space Research and Planetary Science Division
Speaker: Michael Küppers, Planetary Scientist, European Space Agency (ESA).
Date: 2025/04/15
Time: 11:00 - 12:00
Locality: Swiss Pavilion
Expo 2025
Yumeshima, Osaka
Japan
Registration: Sign in
Characteristics: open to the public
free of charge

Program

Space Quiz | Swiss and Japanese Space Research 

Sophie Krummenacher, Communication and Outreach Officer, Center for Space and Habitability, University of Bern. 

Talk with Q&A | Comet Interceptor: Visiting an ancient world 

Michael Küppers, Planetary Scientist, European Space Agency (ESA).

How to build a comet with dry ice, water, dust and soya sauce? 

Hands on activity. 

Comet Interceptor is an European Space Agency (ESA) mission in cooperation with the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA). The University of Bern leads the development of two payloads on board: Comet Camera (CoCa) and the Mass Analyzer for Neutrals in a Coma (MANIaC).

Michael Küppers is currently the Project Scientist of the European Space Agency’s Planetary Defense mission Hera and of the Comet Interceptor science mission. As a Planetary Scientist, he has been working on the physics of small bodies for more than 20 years. His Research focusses on the gas and dust activity of small bodies in the solar system and the evolution of surfaces. Michael Küppers received his PhD in 1996 at the University of Göttingen, Germany. After staying as postdoc at University of Colorado in Boulder and University of Bern, he became a member of the scientific staff at the Max-Planck-Institute for Solar System Research. Since 2007, he has been an ESA staff member, stationed at the European Space Astronomy Centre (ESAC) near Madrid.

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