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I built the Hera Space Companion through Impact AI, working with Markus Mooslechner of Terra Mater Studios and the wider project team. It gives people a way to explore ESA’s asteroid mission through conversation and things they can inspect.
A question becomes a way in
Ask where the spacecraft’s cameras are. The companion can bring up the model with the camera group selected. You can then turn the model yourself and keep exploring.
That connection was central to my work: bringing conversation, mission images, the spacecraft model and other views into one experience. The direct controls remain available, so a question can help you find your way without deciding every next step for you.
A frame from my walkthrough: a typed request brings a mission image onto the screen. Mission imagery and spacecraft model: ESA.
The mission behind it
Hera is ESA’s planetary-defence mission to study the aftermath of NASA’s DART asteroid-deflection test. The companion is the public-facing experience, separate from the spacecraft itself.
I developed it from my hometown in Salento. Later, we brought it into a space evening in Presicce-Acquarica, alongside a separate game I created and hands-on activities.
Try the companion at hera.esa.int →
Project context: ESA’s introduction and Microsoft’s account of the collaboration.