TEDx RocketMinds

The TEDx ‘RocketMinds’ will present their visions – livestreamed – of how our missions to Mars and beyond will create new opportunities for us and the future of our society, linking science to business and to global issues.

The goal is to inspire us towards new ideas to help us all to make Earth a better place to be, making us all RocketMinds.

Dr Thomas Reiter, ESA astronaut, Head ESA’s European Space Operations Centre and Director of ESA’s Directorate of Human Spaceflight and Operations, will lead with his RocketIdeas. He is among the top 50 astronauts with most time in space, including missions to Russia’s Mir space station and the International Space Station.

ESA experts will then introduce the operations hub and its latest operations:

• How do you chase a comet with a spacecraft? by Andrea Accomazzo, Rosetta Spacecraft Operations Manager.
• Towards an interplanetary economy – how can resources from outer space be utilised? by Michael Khan, ESA Mission Analyst.

Dr Gernot Grömer, Astrobiologist and President of Austrian Space Forum, will consider the challenges of complying with the right dress code for landing humans on the Red Planet in the quest to find traces of life. Don‘t expect fashion tips.

Dr André Schiele, Head of ESA’s Telerobotics & Haptics Laboratory, will explore how robotics technology developed for the International Space Station may enable a breakthrough for robotics down here on Earth.

Stefania Druga, Founder of Hackidemia and Afrimakers, will share how she takes technology and education to places where proper training rarely exists, and how she helps to give kids all over the world the chance to become RocketMinds. 

Lauri Neuvonen, Space exploration enthusiast with a regular day-job, takes us on a grassroots journey towards new worlds motivated and guided by the one question: what does it mean to be human in space? 

Prof. Dr Marco Durante, Director of Biophysics at GSI, will talk about how colliding heavy ions can keep astronauts happy and healthy in space.

Candace Johnson, Co-initiator of SES and the architect of SES Global, will share the personal story of how she continues to use the power of satellites to transform global society.

How to join us

Where
This all takes place at the TEDxRheinMain event on 8 May 5pm at the European Space Operations Centre in Darmstadt, Germany.

Want to participate?
Those unable to join us in Darmstadt can follow the whole show online at: http://new.livestream.com/tedx/rocketminds

Further information

ESA’s Technology Transfer Programme Office is organising the TEDx RocketMinds evening to help bridge the gap between space exploration and our daily lives. More information on RocketMinds is at www.rocketminds.net

Other information can be obtained from:

Priel Manes, Marketing and Communications
ESA Technology Transfer Programme Office
Tel: +31 71 565 6431
Email: priel.manes@esa.int

About TED and TEDx

Technology, Entertainment, Design (TED) is a global set of conferences started in 1984 by the private non-profit Sampling Foundation, under the slogan “Ideas worth spreading”.

The main TED conference takes place in Vancouver, Canada, every year. Other TED events are held around the world, offering livestreaming of the talks. TEDx are independent TED-like events, organised by anyone who obtains a free licence from TED.

TEDx events are non-profit, but may use an admission fee or commercial sponsorship to cover costs. Similarly, speakers are not paid. They must also relinquish the copyrights to their materials, which TED may edit and distribute under a Creative Commons license.

As of January 2014, the TEDx talk library contained some 30 000 film presentations from over 130 countries.