Gaia is the European Space Agency’s (ESA) next major astronomy telescope mission that was launched December 19, 2013. Gaia will measure accurate distances to about one billion stars across our Milky Way, allowing us to better understand how our galaxy formed and evolved. Gaia will have a profound impact on our understanding of the Universe and the nature of dark matter, and provide a deeper understanding of how planets form around stars in our local neighbourhood.
Gaia scientists and science education advisors are organising a Gaia post-launch event to link approximately forty schools across Europe. The event will include a live stream connection to ESA Gaia Mission Control and local Gaia research students to act as “explainers” and give practical demonstrations in each school. This paper describes the challenges in conducting this Europe-wide event.
