A few years ago the European Space Agency’s Rosetta spacecraft visited comet 67P Churyumov-Gerasimenko (2014-2016). You may remember the spectacular images of the Philae lander as it settled down on the comet surface. The scientific instruments onboard Rosetta collected detailed measurements of the comet. In particular, the Double Focusing Mass Spectrometer (Rosina-DFMS) – built by the University of Bern with important contributions from the Royal Belgian Institute for Space Aeronomy (BIRA-IASB) in Uccle – has turned out to provide fascinating information about the comet’s composition.
Royal Belgian Institute for Space AeronomyPhysics and chemistry of the atmosphere of the Earth and other planets, and of outer space.
This year's autumn will be kicked off by a new edition of the Space Pole's Open Doors! On Saturday and Sunday, September 24 and 25, you will get the unique opportunity to step onto the grounds of the Space Pole in Uccle (free entrance). A weekend of fun and games for the youngest, scientific discovery for the whole family and direct interaction with the scientists themselves. Whether you come to see the telescopes or to learn about the weather, the climate, the aurora or the planets of the solar system, we have it all lined up for you. See you then!
On Saturday, June 25, 2022, from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m., 12 women scientists in Belgium will tell you about their research during the Soapbox Science Brussels event at the Place de la Bourse/Beursplein.
On June 22, 2022, our Institute will be hosting a networking event for space science and industry partners. This "Technology for Aeronomy" event aims to allow all participants to explore opportunities for collaborations in future space and Earth-based missions.
All through the summer and until October 31 of this year, you can find information on RoadMap (ROle and impAct of Dust and clouds in the Martian AtmosPhere) and other ongoing Mars research at the exhibition “ExoMars: Europe’s new era of Mars exploration” at Astropolis in Ostend, Belgium.
On March 24, 1992, Dirk Frimout became the first Belgian in space on the Atlas-1 Space Shuttle mission. Even though science is an effort spanning over millennia of history and all continents of the world - not a single scientific idea was born in isolation – for the sake of celebrating the 30th anniversary of the event, we would like to talk specifically about the role that the Royal Belgian Institute for Space Aeronomy (BIRA-IASB) has played in this Belgian leap into space. Firstly, because Dirk Frimout spent the first 13 years of his career at this Institute; and secondly, because three of the instruments he was in charge of during this adventure in Earth’s orbit were largely developed at BIRA-IASB.