Capturing a spacecraft requires a complex choreography between human and machine, but these two make it look easy. In this video ESA astronaut Thomas Pesquet and @NASA astronaut Megan McArthur work together to grapple and berth the @Northrop Grumman Cygnus 16 spacecraft on the Earth-facing port of the Unity module on the International Space Station.
At 12:07 CEST (11:07 BST) Thursday 12 August, Megan used the International Space Station’s robotic Canadarm2 to grapple the spacecraft packed with over 3700 kg of science and supplies as Thomas monitored Cygnus systems during its approach.
The Cygnus will remain docked to the Station for about three months before it departs in November 2021.
We are Europe’s gateway to space. Our mission is to shape the development of Europe’s space capability and ensure that investment in space continues to deliver benefits to the citizens of Europe and the world. Check out https://www.esa.int/ to get up to speed on everything space related.
A sonification of data recorded by the Italian Spring Accelerometer (ISA) aboard the BepiColombo Mercury Planetary Orbiter spacecraft during the flyby of Venus on 10 August 2021. The accelerometer data was converted to frequency to be made audible to the human ear. The resulting sound is rich with interesting effects due to the planet’s gravity acting on the spacecraft structure, the response of the spacecraft to the rapid temperature changes, and the change in reaction wheel velocity as they work hard to compensate for these effects.
The audio has been matched to the timing that the images seen in this movie were captured, in the moments after closest approach.
We are Europe’s gateway to space. Our mission is to shape the development of Europe’s space capability and ensure that investment in space continues to deliver benefits to the citizens of Europe and the world. Check out https://www.esa.int/ to get up to speed on everything space related.
A stunning sequence of 89 images taken by the monitoring cameras on board the European-Japanese BepiColombo mission to Mercury, as the spacecraft made a close approach of Venus on 10 August 2021.
The sequence includes images from all three Monitoring Cameras (MCAM) onboard the Mercury Transfer Module, which provides black-and-white snapshots in 1024 x 1024 pixel resolution. It is not possible to image with the high-resolution camera suite during the cruise phase. The images have been lightly processed to enhance contrast and use the full dynamic range. A small amount of optical vignetting is seen in the corners of some of the images.
The first image is from MCAM 1, and was taken at 13:41:02 UTC, prior to close approach. As such, the spacecraft was still on the nightside of the planet, but the dayside can just be seen creeping into view. Part of the spacecraft’s solar array can also be seen.
The second image was taken by MCAM 2 at 13:51:56 UTC, two seconds after closest approach. With the Venus surface just 552 km away, the planet fills the entire field of view. The camera is not able to image detail of the planet’s atmosphere. The image also captures the Mercury Planetary Orbiter’s medium gain antenna and magnetometer boom.
The rest of the sequence is from MCAM 3, while the spacecraft was pointed at Venus, and then as it slews away and gradually recedes from view, covering the time period 13:53:56 UTC on 10 August until 12:21:26 UTC on 11 August. The high gain antenna of the Mercury Planetary Orbiter is also seen changing orientation as it points towards Earth.
The music accompanying the compilation was composed especially for the occasion, by @Anna Phoebe.
The images were captured during the second of two Venus flybys, and the third of nine flybys overall. The flybys are gravity assist manoeuvres needed to help steer the spacecraft on course for Mercury. During its seven-year cruise to the smallest and innermost planet of the Solar System, BepiColombo makes one flyby at Earth, two at Venus and six at Mercury in order to approach the orbit around Mercury. Its first Mercury flyby will take place 1-2 October 2021 from a distance of just 200 km.
BepiColombo, which comprises ESA’s Mercury Planetary Orbiter and the Mercury Magnetospheric Orbiter of @JAXA | 宇宙航空研究開発機構, is scheduled to reach its target orbit around the smallest and innermost planet of the Solar System in 2025. The spacecraft will separate and enter into their respective orbits before starting their science mission in early 2026 .
Credit: ESA/BepiColombo/MTM, CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO
Music composed by Anna Phoebe, with additional soundscapes by Mark McCaughrean
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We are Europe’s gateway to space. Our mission is to shape the development of Europe’s space capability and ensure that investment in space continues to deliver benefits to the citizens of Europe and the world. Check out https://www.esa.int/ to get up to speed on everything space related.
The International Space Station Expedition 65 crew recorded themselves on a day off after a long week of work having some weightless fun. From Earth orbit, 400 km above our planet, the crew present the very first Space Olympics.
ESA astronaut Thomas Pesquet shared this video on social media with the caption: “The first ever Space @Olympics! A Saturday afternoon on the International Space Station. Four disciplines. Rules that evolved as we played 😄. Seven athletes. Four nations. Two teams. Crew cohesion and morale boosted like never before. The first Space Olympics saw Team Crew Dragon and Team Soyuz compete in lack-of-floor-routine, no-handball, synchronised space swimming and weightless sharpshooting.”
Over 200 experiments are planned during Thomas’ time in space, with 40 European ones and 12 new experiments led by the French space agency @CNES. Throughout Mission Alpha Thomas is highlighting the parallels between being an astronaut and an athlete: both need to perform at key moments, and train hard to be at their best. Thomas has often said that sport taught him the values of team spirit and respecting team mates, and no astronaut is an island – if one profession is an example of teamwork it is being an astronaut. It takes a team to ensure they are at their best.
We are Europe’s gateway to space. Our mission is to shape the development of Europe’s space capability and ensure that investment in space continues to deliver benefits to the citizens of Europe and the world. Check out https://www.esa.int/ to get up to speed on everything space related.
The Pirs docking compartment (also called DC-1) left the International Space Station together with the Progress MS-16 cargo spacecraft after 20 years of service and burned up safely in the atmosphere above the Pacific Ocean on 26 July 2021. Its departure made room for the Nauka science module.
European Space Agency astronaut, Thomas Pesquet, filmed this video and shared on social media with the caption: “Here’s a timelapse of DC1’s re-entry last week, together with its tow truck, Progress 77P, seen from above. Atmospheric re-entry without a heat shield results in a nice fireball (you clearly see smaller pieces of melting metal floating away and adding to the fireworks). This timelapse is sped up, we could observe the fireball for around six minutes. Next time you see a shooting star, it might be our ISS trash getting burnt up… Not sure it will be granted in that case, but you never know, I’d still advise to go ahead and make a wish.”
We are Europe’s gateway to space. Our mission is to shape the development of Europe’s space capability and ensure that investment in space continues to deliver benefits to the citizens of Europe and the world. Check out https://www.esa.int/ to get up to speed on everything space related.
European Space Agency astronaut Thomas Pesquet shared this video on social media with the caption:
“100 days in space for #MissionAlpha. It feels like a long time ago, but we also installed new toilets shortly after arriving. I was looking at the procedures on the tablet velcroed to my thigh, and yes, this filter looked so much like a banjo, I had to. The same video specialist at ESA who edits the timelapse videos (and much, much more!), Melanie Cowan, spotted this clip from the Space Station onboard camera views, added some music and the result is… perfectly embarrassing! . True story: I actually helped Mark on this day. A little. Maybe. No one knows.”
Over 200 experiments are planned during Thomas’ time in space, with 40 European ones and 12 new experiments led by the French space agency @CNES.
We are Europe’s gateway to space. Our mission is to shape the development of Europe’s space capability and ensure that investment in space continues to deliver benefits to the citizens of Europe and the world. Check out https://www.esa.int/ to get up to speed on everything space related.
ESA’s Jupiter Icy moons Explorer, Juice, has successfully completed rigorous thermal tests simulating the extreme coldness of space and the warmth of the Sun at ESA’s test centre ESTEC, in The Netherlands.
The spacecraft underwent a month of round-the-clock testing and monitoring in the Large Space Simulator, which recreates the vacuum of space and is able to simulate both hot and cold space environments. The spacecraft was subjected to temperatures ranging from 250 degrees to minus 180 degrees Celsius, showing that it can survive its journey in space.
Juice will launch in 2022 to our Solar System’s largest planet. It will spend over four years studying Jupiter’s atmosphere, magnetosphere and its icy moons Europa, Callisto and Ganymede, investigating whether the moons’ subsurface oceans are habitable for life.
We are Europe’s gateway to space. Our mission is to shape the development of Europe’s space capability and ensure that investment in space continues to deliver benefits to the citizens of Europe and the world. Check out https://www.esa.int/ to get up to speed on everything space related.
The Copernicus Sentinel-2 takes us over Malé, the capital and most populous city in the Republic of Maldives, in this edition of the Earth from Space programme.
We are Europe’s gateway to space. Our mission is to shape the development of Europe’s space capability and ensure that investment in space continues to deliver benefits to the citizens of Europe and the world. Check out https://www.esa.int/ to get up to speed on everything space related.
The Paris Agreement adopted a target for global warming not to exceed 1.5°C. This sets a limit on the additional carbon we can add to the atmosphere – the carbon budget. Only 18% of the carbon budget is now left. That is about 10 years at current emission rates.
Each country reports its annual greenhouse gas emissions to the United Nations. Scientists then set these emissions against estimates of the carbon absorbed by Earth’s natural carbon sinks. This is known as the bottom-up approach to calculating the carbon budget.
Another way to track carbon sources and sinks is to measure the amounts of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere from space – the top-down approach. As well as tracking atmospheric carbon, ESA’s Climate Change Initiative is using satellite observations to track other carbon stocks on land and sea.
How we use the land accounts for about a quarter of our greenhouse gas emissions. Forests are the largest store of carbon on the land. Fire acts as a conduit for carbon to pass from the land to the atmosphere. And phytoplankton in the ocean is an important carbon sink.
ESA’s RECCAP-2 project is using this information to reconcile the differences between the bottom-up and top-down approaches. Observations are combined with atmospheric and biophysical computer models to deduce carbon fluxes at the surface. This will improve the precision of each greenhouse gas budget and help separate natural fluxes from agricultural and fossil fuel emissions. This work will help us gauge whether we can stay within the 1.5°C carbon budget, or if more warming is in store.
Credits: ESA/Planetary Visions
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We are Europe’s gateway to space. Our mission is to shape the development of Europe’s space capability and ensure that investment in space continues to deliver benefits to the citizens of Europe and the world. Check out https://www.esa.int/ to get up to speed on everything space related.
We are Europe’s gateway to space. Our mission is to shape the development of Europe’s space capability and ensure that investment in space continues to deliver benefits to the citizens of Europe and the world. Check out https://www.esa.int/ to get up to speed on everything space related.
ESA’s first Earth observation mission dedicated to understanding our planet, the European Remote Sensing satellite (ERS-1), was launched into orbit on 17 July 1991. At the time, it was the most sophisticated Earth observation spacecraft developed and launched by Europe.
Thirty years ago, as the team went through the launch and early-orbit phase, the first synthetic aperture radar images were awaited in Kiruna and Fucino. Featuring video footage taken in 1991, the team involved tells the story of the anxious moments and important breakthroughs they made as the first images arrived. Get an insider view into the problem-solving moments from inside one of ESA’s processing rooms.
We are Europe’s gateway to space. Our mission is to shape the development of Europe’s space capability and ensure that investment in space continues to deliver benefits to the citizens of Europe and the world. Check out https://www.esa.int/ to get up to speed on everything space related.
Soon Eutelsat Quantum will be launched into a geostationary orbit on board an Ariane 5 from Kourou. This advanced telecommunications satellite is revolutionary as it offers its users the ability to reconfigure the satellite while in orbit. This offers a previously unknown degree of flexibility during its 15-year lifetime. It allows for satellites of this type to be mass-produced, making them extremely interesting for commercial parties and industry. The satellite was developed as an ESA partnership project with operator @Eutelsat SA and prime contractor @Airbus working together with ESA to share the risk of developing this innovative piece of technology.
We are Europe’s gateway to space. Our mission is to shape the development of Europe’s space capability and ensure that investment in space continues to deliver benefits to the citizens of Europe and the world. Check out https://www.esa.int/ to get up to speed on everything space related.
Timelapse video made during ESA astronaut Thomas Pesquet’s second mission to the International Space Station, “Alpha”.
ESA astronaut Thomas Pesquet and @NASA astronaut Shane Kimbrough performed three spacewalks in the span of 10 days to install two new solar arrays that will generate more electricity on the International Space Station.
The third and final spacewalk for the duo happened on June 25 to finish installing the second pair of new solar arrays. This spacewalk proceeded without problems, and the two new solar arrays are already working and supplying power to the Space Station.
The design of the new solar arrays will be used to power the lunar Gateway that will be built in an orbit around the Moon – the next outpost in space for the agencies that run the International Space Station.
Thomas has now spent exactly 33 hours on spacewalks, all with Shane over the course of two spaceflights.
Thomas posted this video on his social media channels with the caption: “Aki took another great timelapse of our last spacewalk to install the new solar panels… for now. Four more are set to be installed, but they are not on the Station yet. This timelapse is great because it shows how small we are compared to the huge layout of the Space Station (it is about the same size as a football field – both types: American football or actually-using-your-feet-football fields). Note how the solar arrays we are working on don’t move, this is because they were turned off and not following the Sun so were not generating power. As an extra precaution we didn’t connect the power cables until darkness!”
Over 200 experiments are planned during Thomas’ time in space, with 40 European ones and 12 new experiments led by the French space agency @CnesFrance.
We are Europe’s gateway to space. Our mission is to shape the development of Europe’s space capability and ensure that investment in space continues to deliver benefits to the citizens of Europe and the world. Check out https://www.esa.int/ to get up to speed on everything space related.
We are Europe’s gateway to space. Our mission is to shape the development of Europe’s space capability and ensure that investment in space continues to deliver benefits to the citizens of Europe and the world. Check out https://www.esa.int/ to get up to speed on everything space related.
The ESA Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer (Juice) team has been working very hard to prepare the spacecraft for the first test in the one-year long environmental test campaign. This is the so-called Thermal Balance Thermal Vacuum (TBTV) test.
Juice is in the Large Space Simulator (LSS), a unique facility in Europe (run by the European Test Center, at ESA/ESTEC in the Netherlands) that can simulate the vacuum and cold and hot temperature conditions in space, and also the Sun itself!
The TBTV started on 17 June with the closure of the LSS and the “pumping-down”, meaning the removal of air within the chamber to a pressure level of 10nbar (1/100 000 000th of the outside air pressure). This is the closest Juice will come to space conditions while on Earth. It will undergo 24/7 testing, ending on 16 July 2021.
In this episode this process is followed and several team members comment on the different moments.
Produced for ESA by Lightcurve Films. GoPro footage by ESA. Original music by William Zeitler.
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We are Europe’s gateway to space. Our mission is to shape the development of Europe’s space capability and ensure that investment in space continues to deliver benefits to the citizens of Europe and the world. Check out https://www.esa.int/ to get up to speed on everything space related.
The European Robotic Arm (ERA) will be launched to the International Space Station together with the Russian Multipurpose Laboratory Module, called ‘Nauka’. ERA is the first robot able to ‘walk’ around the Russian segment of the Space Station. It has the ability to anchor itself to the Station and move back and forward by itself, hand-over-hand between fixed base-points. This 11-metre intelligent space robot will serve as main manipulator on the Russian part of the Space Station, assisting the astronauts during spacewalks. The robot arm can help install, deploy and replace elements in outer space ERA is 100% made-in-Europe. A consortium of European companies led by Airbus Defence and Space Netherlands designed and assembled it for ESA. The robotic arm is largely funded by the Dutch government.
We are Europe’s gateway to space. Our mission is to shape the development of Europe’s space capability and ensure that investment in space continues to deliver benefits to the citizens of Europe and the world. Check out https://www.esa.int/ to get up to speed on everything space related.
Timelapse video made during ESA astronaut Thomas Pesquet’s second mission to the International Space Station, “Alpha”.
On Sunday 20 June 2021 Thomas and @NASA astronaut Shane Kimbrough were helped into their spacesuits again for their fourth spacewalk together. This time it was to complete installation of the first new solar array and get ahead on the second.
During this spacewalk the duo unfolded the solar arrays that are rolled into tubes for transport, aligned them, connected data cables and secured them to the mounting bracket. Connecting the power lines must be done during the orbital night-time as a precaution to avoid any chance of electric shock.
As Thomas and Shane waited for the night to arrive, Shane’s helmet lights and camera partially detached from his helmet but Thomas used some wire to successfully reattach them as a temporary fix.
From there the spacewalk went smoothly. Shane and Thomas connected the new solar array, watched it unfurl and prepared for the installation of the second new solar array. The second spacewalk lasted 6 hours and 28 minutes, with the duo arriving back at the airlock at 20:10 CEST (19:10 BST).
This video shows scenes from this spacewalk. The images for this timelapse were taken by @JAXA | 宇宙航空研究開発機構 astronaut and Space Station commander Aki Hoshide.
Thomas posted this video on his social media with the caption: “We have to do EVAs, but someone has to keep running the Space Station while we are preparing, spacewalking, reconfiguring, preparing again… Aki has been rock solid taking care of the spaceship pretty much by himself, performing all the maintenance and the science experiments, AND ON TOP OF THAT he found the time to take timelapses of our little walks outside. The man is a machine!”
Over 200 experiments are planned during Thomas’ time in space, with 40 European ones and 12 new experiments led by the French space agency @CNES.
We are Europe’s gateway to space. Our mission is to shape the development of Europe’s space capability and ensure that investment in space continues to deliver benefits to the citizens of Europe and the world. Check out https://www.esa.int/ to get up to speed on everything space related.
Timelapse video made during ESA astronaut Thomas Pesquet’s second mission to the International Space Station, “Alpha”.
On 16 June 2021 Thomas and @NASA astronaut Shane Kimbrough went on a spacewalk to install a new solar array for the International Space Station. These arrays, called IROSA for ISS Roll-Out Solar Array, had to be taken from their storage area outside the Space Station and passed from spacewalker to spacewalker to the worksite. There the rolled arrays were to be secured, unfolded, connected and then unfurled.
During the spacewalk a small technical problem in Shane’s spacesuit required him to return to the airlock and restart his Display and Control Module. This module provides astronauts with continuous information on pressure, temperature and other vital data during a spacewalk. Though the restart was successful and Shane was in no danger, it delayed the duo’s work, preventing them from completing installation of the first new solar array as planned. A second spacewalk was done on 20 June to finish installing the first solar array.
This video shows scenes from the first spacewalk with Thomas being moved on the robotic arm, at the controls was NASA astronaut Megan McArthur. The images for this timelapse were taken by @JAXA | 宇宙航空研究開発機構 astronaut and Space Station commander Aki Hoshide.
Thomas posted this video on his social media with the caption: “We have to do EVAs, but someone has to keep running the Space Station while we are preparing, spacewalking, reconfiguring, preparing again… Aki has been rock solid taking care of the spaceship pretty much by himself, performing all the maintenance and the science experiments, AND ON TOP OF THAT he found the time to take timelapses of our little walks outside. The man is a machine!”
Over 200 experiments are planned during Thomas’ time in space, with 40 European ones and 12 new experiments led by the French space agency @CNES
We are Europe’s gateway to space. Our mission is to shape the development of Europe’s space capability and ensure that investment in space continues to deliver benefits to the citizens of Europe and the world. Check out https://www.esa.int/ to get up to speed on everything space related.
Want to learn more about applications to ESA’s astronaut selection? Watch the replay of this media briefing to get an insight into the total number and spread of applications across all ESA Member and Associate Member states. Vacancies for the positions of astronaut and astronaut (with a physical disability) have closed on 18 June 2021, after a two-and-a-half-month-long application period.
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We are Europe’s gateway to space. Our mission is to shape the development of Europe’s space capability and ensure that investment in space continues to deliver benefits to the citizens of Europe and the world. Check out https://www.esa.int/ to get up to speed on everything space related.
ESA astronaut Thomas Pesquet talked to French national football team player Kylian Mbappé from the International Space Station during the Alpha mission in 2021.
They talked about science, life in space, teamwork, international collaboration, performing under pressure, stress, risk, life behind the scenes and the parallels between professional sport and being an astronaut.
Thomas has often said that sport taught him the values of team spirit and respecting team mates, and no astronaut is an island – if one profession is an example of teamwork it is being an astronaut. It takes a team to ensure they are at their best.
Credits: @UEFA
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We are Europe’s gateway to space. Our mission is to shape the development of Europe’s space capability and ensure that investment in space continues to deliver benefits to the citizens of Europe and the world. Check out https://www.esa.int/ to get up to speed on everything space related.
We are Europe’s gateway to space. Our mission is to shape the development of Europe’s space capability and ensure that investment in space continues to deliver benefits to the citizens of Europe and the world. Check out https://www.esa.int/ to get up to speed on everything space related.
An instrument destined for Jupiter orbit undergoes eight days of cryogenic radio-frequency testing using a new test facility at ESA’s ESTEC technical centre in the Netherlands. The Submillimetre Wave Instrument of ESA’s Juice mission will survey the churning atmosphere of Jupiter and the scanty atmospheres of its Galilean moons.
Testing took place in ESA’s custom-built Low-temperature Near-field Terahertz chamber, or Lorentz. The first chamber of its kind, the 2.8-m diameter Lorentz chamber can perform high-frequency radio-frequency testing in realistic space conditions, combining space-quality vacuum with ultra-low temperatures.
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We are Europe’s gateway to space. Our mission is to shape the development of Europe’s space capability and ensure that investment in space continues to deliver benefits to the citizens of Europe and the world. Check out https://www.esa.int/ to get up to speed on everything space related.
We are Europe’s gateway to space. Our mission is to shape the development of Europe’s space capability and ensure that investment in space continues to deliver benefits to the citizens of Europe and the world. Check out https://www.esa.int/ to get up to speed on everything space related.
Meet Hera, our very own asteroid detective. Together with two CubeSats – Milani the rock decoder and Juventas the radar visionary – Hera is off on an adventure to explore Didymos, a double asteroid system that is typical of the thousands that pose an impact risk to planet Earth.
Suitable for kids and adults alike, this episode of ‘The Incredible Adventures of Hera’ takes you on a fun and informative journey to visit Didymos together with Hera. Along the way, you will discover who the main characters are, why this mission is so important, what ESA hopes to achieve with Hera and much more.
We are Europe’s gateway to space. Our mission is to shape the development of Europe’s space capability and ensure that investment in space continues to deliver benefits to the citizens of Europe and the world. Check out https://www.esa.int/ to get up to speed on everything space related.
A detailed concept for a lunar habitat, created by one of the world’s leading architectural firms with ESA technical support, is currently on show at the Biennale in Venice. Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, originator of many of the world’s tallest skyscrapers, worked with ESA on a semi-inflatable habitat design which could be part of a long-term vision for an international Moon settlement.
The resulting design is on show at the 17th International Architecture Exhibition of La Biennale di Venezia (@BiennaleChannel). While the theme of the overall exhibition is ‘How will we live together?’, the SOM installation is called ‘Life Beyond Earth’, peering beyond our post-COVID-19 planet to show how human life can be sustained in the hostile space environment. The installation encompasses two large-scale, physical models and this film, bringing Biennale visitors on a journey from Earth to the Moon’s surface.
SOM designed a semi-inflatable shell structure to offer the highest possible volume to mass ratio. Once inflated on the lunar surface, it would reach approximately double its original internal volume.
A lot of work went into the four-storey habitat interior, in terms of lighting conditions, reconfigurable features, and a high floor to ceiling space, to allow crew members to take advantage of lunar one-sixth g using grabbing bars and other simple aids.
Its chosen site has been described as the most desirable real estate in the Solar System: the rim of Shackleton crater beside the lunar South Pole. Avoiding the crippling temperature extremes of the Moon’s two-week days and nights, this location offers near-continuous sunlight for solar power, an ongoing view of Earth and access to lunar water ice deposits in adjacent permanently-shadowed craters.
Credit: SOM
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We are Europe’s gateway to space. Our mission is to shape the development of Europe’s space capability and ensure that investment in space continues to deliver benefits to the citizens of Europe and the world. Check out https://www.esa.int/ to get up to speed on everything space related.
We are Europe’s gateway to space. Our mission is to shape the development of Europe’s space capability and ensure that investment in space continues to deliver benefits to the citizens of Europe and the world. Check out https://www.esa.int/ to get up to speed on everything space related.
ESA astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti and ESA Director of Human and Robotic Exploration, David Parker, had a quick video call to answer some questions concerning the upcoming International Space Station mission of Samantha.
As a member of Crew-4, Samantha will be launched with @NASA astronauts Kjell Lindgren and Bob Hines to the Station from Florida, USA, on a @SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft in 2022. This will be Samantha’s second space mission and the experience she brings will stand her in good stead as Europe’s first female in command of a Station expedition.
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We are Europe’s gateway to space. Our mission is to shape the development of Europe’s space capability and ensure that investment in space continues to deliver benefits to the citizens of Europe and the world. Check out https://www.esa.int/ to get up to speed on everything space related.
James Webb Space Telescope – the largest, most powerful telescope to be sent into space is getting ready for launch in autumn 2021!
Watch the replay of the media presentation and Q&A with representatives from Webb’s partners ESA, @NASA and the @Canadian Space Agency, as well as ESA’s partner @arianespace, to hear more about it and its upcoming launch. Following in the footsteps of the Hubble Space Telescope as the next great space science observatory, the International James Webb Space Telescope is designed to help answer outstanding questions about the Universe and make breakthrough discoveries in all fields of astronomy.
We are Europe’s gateway to space. Our mission is to shape the development of Europe’s space capability and ensure that investment in space continues to deliver benefits to the citizens of Europe and the world. Check out https://www.esa.int/ to get up to speed on everything space related.
We are Europe’s gateway to space. Our mission is to shape the development of Europe’s space capability and ensure that investment in space continues to deliver benefits to the citizens of Europe and the world. Check out https://www.esa.int/ to get up to speed on everything space related.
This video is a summary compilation of the questions and answers sessions held during the ESA Astronaut Careers Fair on 22 April 2021. The ESA speakers are Florence Loustalot, Talent Acquisition Specialist; Antonella Costa, HR Business Partner; Dagmar Boos, Head of HR Competence and Policy Centre; and Guillaume Weerts, Space Medicine Team Leader.
See the astronaut vacancy notice and other opportunities to work at ESA at https://jobs.esa.int
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We are Europe’s gateway to space. Our mission is to shape the development of Europe’s space capability and ensure that investment in space continues to deliver benefits to the citizens of Europe and the world. Check out https://www.esa.int/ to get up to speed on everything space related.
We are Europe’s gateway to space. Our mission is to shape the development of Europe’s space capability and ensure that investment in space continues to deliver benefits to the citizens of Europe and the world. Check out https://www.esa.int/ to get up to speed on everything space related.
The water deluge system, which is activated at liftoff, was put to the test on the Ariane 6 launch pad at Europe’s Spaceport in April 2021. This is one of the qualification tests to prepare for the arrival of Ariane 6, Europe’s next generation heavy-lift launch vehicle.
Spraying huge volumes of water on the launch pad and beneath the launch table protects both the launch vehicle and its payloads by absorbing and deflecting the tremendous acoustic energy generated at liftoff. Shockwaves created as engine exhaust gases exceed the speed of sound and collide with ambient air cause noise levels to reach 180 decibels.
Three areas are deluged with water during launch, this is done in sequence.
At 20 seconds before liftoff, water sprays over the steel deflector 25 metres below the launch table. This deflector channels the engine exhaust into the two trenches.
At 6 seconds before liftoff, the exhaust tunnel under the launch table is deluged. This channels the engine exhaust below the launch table and into the underground trenches leading away from the launch pad.
Finally, as Ariane 6 lifts off the ground four arrays of pipes around the sides of the launch table will flood the launch pad.
This water also serves to cool and protect the ground installations, mainly the steel launch table.
About 700 cubic metres of water will be released during launch. This comes from the nearby tower which holds 1200 cubic metres of water. After launch it is refilled with water from a nearby lake.
After launch, any remaining water below the launch table is pumped away.
Credits: ESA- @CNES – @arianespace
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We are Europe’s gateway to space. Our mission is to shape the development of Europe’s space capability and ensure that investment in space continues to deliver benefits to the citizens of Europe and the world. Check out https://www.esa.int/ to get up to speed on everything space related.
This video summarises advice given by ESA astronauts during the ESA Astronaut Careers Fair on 22 April 2021. Samantha Cristoforetti, Thomas Reiter and André Kuipers have all flown in space as ESA astronauts and offer their perspectives on the selection process and the work and life of an astronaut.
See the astronaut vacancy notice and other opportunities to work at ESA at https://jobs.esa.int
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We are Europe’s gateway to space. Our mission is to shape the development of Europe’s space capability and ensure that investment in space continues to deliver benefits to the citizens of Europe and the world. Check out https://www.esa.int/ to get up to speed on everything space related.
This timelapse was filmed under the stars on the Ariane 6 launch base at Europe’s Spaceport in French Guiana.
Preparations are under way for the arrival of Ariane 6, Europe’s next-generation launch vehicle. Imagine yourself stepping out of the launcher assembly building or standing on the launch pad in front of the 90-metre high mobile gantry, to look at the stars.
Ariane 6, developed by ESA, has two versions depending on the required performance. This rocket will be capable of a wide range of missions to guarantee independent access to space for Europe and continue four decades of the Ariane adventure.
Credits: ESA – @CNES – @arianespace
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We are Europe’s gateway to space. Our mission is to shape the development of Europe’s space capability and ensure that investment in space continues to deliver benefits to the citizens of Europe and the world. Check out https://www.esa.int/ to get up to speed on everything space related.
The Copernicus Sentinel-2 mission takes us over Morbihan – a French department in the south of Brittany, in this edition of the Earth from Space programme.
We are Europe’s gateway to space. Our mission is to shape the development of Europe’s space capability and ensure that investment in space continues to deliver benefits to the citizens of Europe and the world. Check out https://www.esa.int/ to get up to speed on everything space related.
To celebrate the premiere of @Coldplay’s latest single ‘Higher Power’, the band linked up for an extraterrestrial video chat with French ESA astronaut Thomas Pesquet, who is currently on a six-month mission on board the International Space Station. A specially recorded performance of Higher Power – featuring dancing alien holograms – was beamed up to Thomas, who gave the track its very first play on board the Station. The song’s premiere followed a conversation which took in similarities between life on tour and life on the Space Station, how planet Earth looks from space and its fragility; and how Thomas listens to music in microgravity.
We are Europe’s gateway to space. Our mission is to shape the development of Europe’s space capability and ensure that investment in space continues to deliver benefits to the citizens of Europe and the world. Check out https://www.esa.int/ to get up to speed on everything space related.
Europe’s new launch vehicle, Vega-C, is near completion. Elements will soon be shipped to Kourou for assembly and preparation for Vega-C’s inaugural flight.
This new launcher improves its Vega predecessor by offering more power and versatility at similar cost. This new design allows Vega-C to transport larger and heavier payloads into space making it a world-class competitor on the global launcher market while ensuring Europe’s independent access to space.
We are Europe’s gateway to space. Our mission is to shape the development of Europe’s space capability and ensure that investment in space continues to deliver benefits to the citizens of Europe and the world. Check out https://www.esa.int/ to get up to speed on everything space related.
We are Europe’s gateway to space. Our mission is to shape the development of Europe’s space capability and ensure that investment in space continues to deliver benefits to the citizens of Europe and the world. Check out https://www.esa.int/ to get up to speed on everything space related.
A timelapse from various angles of the launch of @SpaceX Falcon 9 with Crew Dragon Endeavour leaving Earth from Kennedy Space Center in Florida, USA.
The rocket lifted off at 10:49 BST (11:49 CEST, 05:49 local time) on 23 April 2021 from Launchpad 39A in Cape Canaveral with ESA astronaut Thomas Pesquet, @NASA astronauts Megan McArthur and Shane Kimbrough, and @JAXA | 宇宙航空研究開発機構 astronaut Akihiko Hoshide. On 24 April at 11:08 CEST the Crew-2 caught up with the International Space Station and docked with its Harmony module, marking the start of Thomas’ Alpha mission.
Thomas is the first ESA astronaut to fly in space in a vehicle other than the Russian Soyuz or the US Space Shuttle, and the first ESA astronaut to leave Earth from Florida, USA, in over a decade. This is his second flight, his first mission called Proxima saw Thomas fly to the Space Station on a Soyuz from Baikonur in Kazakhstan and his expedition broke records for amount of hours spent on research at the time.
We are Europe’s gateway to space. Our mission is to shape the development of Europe’s space capability and ensure that investment in space continues to deliver benefits to the citizens of Europe and the world. Check out https://www.esa.int/ to get up to speed on everything space related.
Highlights of the launch and first day in space of ESA astronaut Thomas Pesquet on the Alpha mission.
On 24 April at 11:08 CEST the Crew Dragon spacecraft with ESA astronaut Thomas Pesquet, @NASA astronauts Megan McArthur and Shane Kimbrough, and @JAXA | 宇宙航空研究開発機構 astronaut Akihiko Hoshide docked with the International Space Station’s Node-2 Harmony module, marking the start of ESA’s six-month mission Alpha.
The crew spent around 23 hours orbiting Earth and catching up with the International Space Station after their launch on 23 April at 10:49 BST (11:49 CEST, 05:49 local time). The launch to docking went smoothly in Crew Dragon Endeavour.
Thomas is the first ESA astronaut to fly in space in a vehicle other than the Russian Soyuz or the US Space Shuttle, and the first ESA astronaut to leave Earth from Florida, USA, in over a decade. This is his second flight, his first mission called Proxima saw Thomas fly to the Space Station on a Soyuz from Baikonur in Kazakhstan and his expedition broke records for amount of hours spent on research at the time.
We are Europe’s gateway to space. Our mission is to shape the development of Europe’s space capability and ensure that investment in space continues to deliver benefits to the citizens of Europe and the world. Check out https://www.esa.int/ to get up to speed on everything space related.
