The blog editors
Emily Baldwin
Space Science Editor
Emily is a space science journalist from the UK, based at ESA’s European Space Research and Technology Centre (ESTEC) in Noordwijk, the Netherlands. She reports for ESA’s Space Science Web portal team covering science stories resulting from ESA’s missions. She has a PhD in planetary science and a keen interest in astronomy. For the Venus transit she will be reporting from Longyearbyen, Spitsbergen. At 78 degrees north and inside the Arctic circle, the Sun never sets in June, meaning that the entire transit of Venus – clouds permitting! – will be visible.
Mareike Homfeld
Science Communication Officer
Originally from Frankfurt, Germany, Mareike has worked as Science Communication Officer at ESTEC, ESA’s European Space Research and Technology Centre, Noordwijk, the Netherlands, since 2007. As part of the Science Outreach Team she communicates ESA’s scientific projects and latest mission results to the general public and media. Besides the ‘traditional’ PR activities such as preparing brochures, flyers, organising press conferences and web coverage, Mareike is very active on social media such as Twitter and Flickr where she shares space-related topics with the online community. She previously blogged for the launch of ATV Jules Verne in March 2008 and covered the docking to the ISS in April 2008 from the ATV Control Centre in Toulouse. For the Venus transit she will be reporting from ESTEC providing live coverage, images, videos and background material about the various ESA observation campaigns worldwide.