Athena Community Office launch

3, 2, 1, … launch!

On June 22^nd 2016, a public event presenting the Athena Community Office (ACO) took place at the premises of the Instituto de Física de Cantabria (CSIC-UC) in Santander (Spain). During this launch event, the new Athena community web portal was released, the first issue of the Athena community Newsletter was published and the first post was sent to the social networks.

A list of interventions ran through the ESA’s Athena X-ray observatory mission, the activities performed by the worldwide supporting community and the role and setup of the Athena Community Office itself. There were also Interventions by representatives from the funding institutions:

• Welcome (A. Pazos, Rector of the University of Cantabria)
• The Athena X-ray Observatory mission (D. Barret, X-IFU IP)
• The Athena Community Office (X. Barcons, ACO lead)
• The IFCA role in the international context of Astronomy and Space Sciences (T. Rodrigo, IFCA Director)
• Intervention of CSIC President (E. Lora-Tamayo)
• Intervention of UC Rector (A. Pazos)

The Athena Community Office (ACO) was established by the Athena Science Study Team (ASST) in December 2015. ACO aims to be a focal point to facilitate the scientific exchange between the Athena activities and the scientific community at large, and to disseminate the Athena science objectives to the general public. At the moment there are more than 800 scientists from the worldwide community supporting Athena through the ASST Working Groups and Topical Panels.

The ACO is led by the Instituto de Física de Cantabria (CSIC-UC), and its activities are funded by its parent institutions CSIC and UC. Further contributions to the ACO come from the University of Geneva, MPE and IRAP.