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.
Have you ever wondered what it was like to work in a satellite development project at the European Space Agency? Learn from the experts working in the Ariel satellite project team.
Fiona Walsh from ESA Human Resources moderates a panel with Jean-Christophe Salvignol, ESA’s Ariel Project Manager and a couple of his managers. They explain the incredible team effort required to bring this complex project from early inception, manufacturing of the satellite, accommodating its payloads and ensuring a successful launch to pave the way for exciting scientific discoveries. Ariel is one ESA’s science missions that will be launched in 2029 and will discover the composition of exoplanets by examining their atmospheres.
They explain how the project team is structured and a bit about the international collaboration involved. They also touch on the importance of building the right team and creating a great team spirit.
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.
Since 2020, ESA has been riding a recruitment wave stemming from the fact that, between 2020 and 2030, 44% of the ESA workforce will retire. This, combined with the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on the way we work, forms a major catalyst for change. ESA is evolving, and will continue to evolve for the foreseeable future.
Join a roundtable discussion with the ESA Head of Human Resources, the ESA Chief Diversity Officer, and the ESA Head of Talent Acquisition to hear how they see the future of careers at ESA and who they expect their new colleagues to be.
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.
Get in line with ESA astronaut Matthias Maurer and his Expedition 66 crew mates to experience a reboost of the International Space Station from the inside. This video is sped up 8 times fast.
The International Space Station flies around Earth at around 400 km. It is reboosted periodically to maintain its orbit and overcome the effects of atmospheric drag created by molecules of the atmosphere, which causes the Station to lose about 100 m of altitude per day.
A Space Station reboost maneuver also optimizes phasing for future visiting vehicles arriving at the station. In March 2022 the ISS performed a reboost using Russia’s ISS Progress 79 cargo craft. By firing its engines for several minutes, the station was put at the proper altitude for a crew ship orbit rendezvous and landing operations.
During the manoeuvre, the astronauts inside the station keep flying at the same speed and direction. While it seems like the astronauts are moving inside the station, it is in fact the ISS that gets the boost and is moving around them.
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 @NASA astronauts Kjell Lindgren, Robert “Bob” Hines and Jessica Watkins arrive to the International Space Station after docking at 01:37 CEST on Thursday 28 April 2022.
Collectively known as Crew-4, the four astronauts were launched from @NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, USA, at 09:52 CEST on 27 April 2022.
Samantha is the third ESA astronaut to travel to the orbital outpost in a Crew Dragon. During the journey she and Jessica served as Mission Specialists. Kjell is Crew-4 Commander and Bob is Crew-4 Pilot.
Crew-4 was welcomed aboard by the Station’s current inhabitants, including ESA astronaut Matthias Maurer who was launched to the Station as part of Crew-3 and is expected to return shortly to Earth.
Samantha first flew to space in 2014 for her @AsiTV-sponsored mission Futura. Her ESA space mission, known as Minerva, will officially begin once she reaches the Station.
Throughout her mission, Samantha will hold the role of US Orbital Segment (USOS) lead, taking responsibility for all operations within the US, European, Japanese and Canadian modules and components of the Space Station. She will support around 35 European and many more international experiments in orbit.
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.
ESAWebTV caught up with the Director General of the European Space Agency, Josef Aschbacher, while he was in Florida for the launch of ESA astronaut, Samantha Cristoferetti and the rest of Crew-4.
★ Subscribe: http://bit.ly/ESAsubscribe and click twice on the bell button to receive our notifications.
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.
Crew Dragon Freedom is launched to the International Space Station, carrying ESA astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti and @NASA astronauts Kjell Lindgren, Robert “Bob” Hines and Jessica Watkins.
Collectively known as Crew-4, the four astronauts were launched from @NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, USA.
Samantha is the third ESA astronaut to travel to the orbital outpost in a @SpaceX Crew Dragon. During the journey she and Jessica will serve as Mission Specialists. Kjell is Crew-4 Commander and Bob is Crew-4 Pilot.
Upon arrival, Crew-4 will be greeted by the Space Station’s current crew – including ESA astronaut Matthias Maurer. Samantha and Matthias will enjoy a brief handover in orbit before he returns to Earth with Crew-3.
Samantha first flew to space in 2014 for her @AsiTV-sponsored mission Futura. Her ESA space mission, known as Minerva, will officially begin once she reaches the Station.
Throughout her mission, Samantha will hold the role of US Orbital Segment (USOS) lead, taking responsibility for all operations within the US, European, Japanese and Canadian modules and components of the Space Station. She will support around 35 European and many more international experiments in orbit.
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 Matthias Maurer gives a glimpse into his evening routine aboard the International Space Station during his Cosmic Kiss mission.
Matthias’s crew quarters, known as CASA (short for Crew Alternate Sleep Accommodation), is located within the European Columbus science laboratory module.
But before he floats into his sleeping bag in there for the night, Matthias takes a little detour to one of the three “bathrooms” currently on board the Space Station.
Separated from the work areas and installed in different modules of the USOS and Russian segments of the Station to allow them some privacy, the astronauts on board share these bathrooms to wash up, take a “shower” in space and brush their teeth.
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 arrives at @NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, USA, with @NASA astronauts Kjell Lindgren, Bob Hines and Jessica Watkins on 18 April 2022.
Collectively known as Crew-4, the astronauts flew in from Houston, Texas, and will spend the next week in quarantine before being launched to the International Space Station on a @SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft.
When they arrive at the Station, Samantha’s Minerva mission will officially begin. This is the second long-duration space mission for Samantha who first flew to the orbital outpost in 2014 for her @AsiTV-sponsored mission Futura.
Samantha will be welcomed on board by fellow ESA astronaut Matthias Maurer and enjoy a short handover in orbit before Matthias returns to Earth in April as part of Crew-3.
Throughout her mission, Samantha will hold the role of US Orbital Segment (USOS) lead, taking responsibility for all operations within the US, European, Japanese and Canadian modules and components of the Space Station. She will support around 35 European and many more international experiments in orbit.
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.
On 23 March 2022, ESA astronaut Matthias Maurer successfully performed his first extravehicular activity (EVA) alongside fellow @NASA astronaut Raja Chari. The spacewalk, dubbed “US EVA 80”, was carried out in support of assembly, refurbishment and maintenance work on the International Space Station.
In this video, Matthias Maurer answers questions and reports on his experiences, feelings and the challenges he faced during his almost seven-hour-long spacewalk.
00:00 – 01:56 What was it like to leave the ISS for the fist time? 01:57 – 04:07 Can you compare a spacewalk with underwater training? 04:08 – 05:37 What was your most difficult task? 05:38 – 08:17 There was a “problem” at the beginning. What happened? 08:18 – 10:21 Were you able to enjoy the view? 10:22 – 11:46 You flew over your homeland, Saarland, during the EVA. Were you able to see your home? 11:47 – 12:39 What surprised you the most and what did you not expect at all? 12:40 – 16:26 How did you feel afterwards and how did you sleep?
During his Cosmic Kiss mission, Matthias Maurer will live and work aboard the International Space Station for approximately six months, conducting and supporting more than 35 European and numerous other international experiments in orbit.
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 Director General Josef Aschbacher shares the outcome of the ESA Council extraordinary meeting in this virtual Q&A with journalists. Additional updates are provided on ESA’s main programmes, the overall rollout of Agenda 2025 on the way to the ESA Ministerial Meeting in November 2022 as well as further implications of the current geopolitical situation on ESA’s activities.
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.
Watch the replay of our live Q&A media session (In English and Italian) with ESA astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti.
Samantha is scheduled to be launched to the International Space Station from NASA’s Kennedy Space Centre in Florida, USA, no earlier than 21 April 2022. She will fly to the Station as a Mission Specialist aboard a SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft alongside NASA astronauts Kjell Lindgren, Bob Hines and Jessica Watkins.
Upon arrival at the orbital outpost her ESA mission ‘Minerva’ will officially begin. This is the second space mission for Samantha and will see her support over 35 European and many more international experiments 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.
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.
Join ESA astronaut Matthias Maurer and @NASA astronaut Kayla Barron as they discuss electron microscopes, antimicrobial spoons and other materials science topics aboard the International Space Station.
Matthias starts by explaining an experiment, which saw crew members eat meals with special spoons made of stainless steel and copper. These spoons are part of an investigation into the antimicrobial properties of laser-structured surfaces.
Principal investigators Ralf Möller of the Institute of Space Medicine, @DLR, Cologne and Frank Mücklich from the Institute for Functional Materials, @Universität des Saarlandes have been jointly investigating the antimicrobial effect of laser-structured surfaces for use during space travel since 2017. Though the antimicrobial effect of some metals has been known for a while, modern laser surface structuring is thought to result in up to 80% less bacterial adhesion and could significantly reduce the transmission of harmful germs both in space and here on Earth.
Following this discussion, the astronauts consider potential applications of a scanning electron microscope that is currently in the technology demonstration phase. This could be used to investigate small parts and biological samples aboard the Station.
Matthias and Kayla flew to the Station together in November 2021 as mission specialists for Crew-3. They are expected to return to Earth with NASA colleagues Raja Chari and Thomas Marshburn in April 2022 after approximately six months of science and operations in orbit.
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.
Wheeled, tracked and walking rovers competed to survey a shadowy analogue of the polar lunar surface for useable resources during the first field test of the ESA-ESRIC Space Resources Challenge. Some 12 teams from across Europe and Canada took part in the field test in the Netherlands, with five winners going on to the next phase of the contest.
The Space Resources Challenge – supported by ESA and the European Space Resources Innovation Centre (ESRIC) in Luxembourg – asked European (and Canadian) researchers and institutions to develop and demonstrate a system of one or more vehicles capable of prospecting resources on the Moon in the near future.
Working inside a former aircraft hangar, the competition organisers spread 200 tons of lava rock across an area equivalent to seven tennis courts, landscaping it into a Moon-like environment, including the main crater of interest. Then they scattered rocks, including a hundred simulated boulders larger than a metre across, whose positions were precisely geo-referenced.
These measurements served as the basis of a map provided to the rover teams. The idea was to give them the equivalent level of local information from satellite imagery, while still leaving smaller-scale surprises. Once complete, the moonscape was kept concealed from the rover groups behind black curtains, so they would see it only through the cameras of their rovers. The 12 teams each made their prospecting attempt one at a time.
The competing rovers had to navigate and map the whole test environment to prospect for useable resources – meaning first of all to track down their location, identify the best and safest passages and then to gather information about the characteristics and the composition of the rocks they located.
Credit: ESA
★ Subscribe: http://bit.ly/ESAsubscribe and click twice on the bell button to receive our notifications.
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, is set to embark on an eight-year cruise to Jupiter starting April 2023. The mission will investigate the emergence of habitable worlds around gas giants and the Jupiter system as an archetype for the numerous giant planets now known to orbit other stars.
This animation depicts Juice’s journey to Jupiter and highlights from its foreseen tour of the giant planet and its large ocean-bearing moons. It depicts Juice’s journey from leaving Earth’s surface in a launch window 5–25 April 2023 and performing multiple gravity assist flybys in the inner Solar System, to arrival at Jupiter (July 2031), flybys of the Jovian moons Europa, Callisto and Ganymede, orbital insertion at Ganymede (December 2034), and eventual impact on this moon’s surface (late 2035).
An Ariane 5 will lift Juice into space from Europe’s Spaceport in Kourou. A series of gravity assist flybys of Earth, the Earth-Moon system and Venus will set the spacecraft on course for its July 2031 arrival at Jupiter. These flybys are shown here in order – Earth-Moon (August 2024), Venus (August 2025), Earth (September 2026, January 2029) – interspersed by Juice’s continuing orbits around the Sun. Juice’s flyby of the Earth-Moon system, known as a Lunar-Earth gravity assist (LEGA), is a world first: by performing this manoeuvre – a gravity assist flyby of the Moon followed just 1.5 days later by one of Earth – Juice will save a significant amount of propellant on its journey.
Juice will start its science mission about six months prior to entering orbit around Jupiter, making observations as it approaches its destination. Once in the Jovian system, a gravity assist flyby of Jupiter’s largest moon Ganymede – also the largest moon in the Solar System – will help Juice enter orbit around Jupiter, where the spacecraft will spend four years observing the gas giant and three of its moons: Ganymede, Callisto and Europa.
Juice will make two flybys of Europa (July 2032), which has strong evidence for an ocean of liquid water under its icy shell. Juice will look at the moon’s active zones, its surface composition and geology, search for pockets of liquid water under the surface, and study the plasma environment around Europa, also exploring the moon’s tiny atmosphere and hunting for plumes of water vapour (as have been previously detected erupting to space).
A sequence of Callisto flybys will be used to study this ancient, cratered world that may too harbour a subsurface ocean, also changing the angle of Juice’s orbit with respect to Jupiter’s equator, making it possible to explore Jupiter’s higher latitudes (2032–2034).
A sequence of Ganymede and Callisto flybys will adjust Juice’s orbit – properly orienting it while minimising the amount of propellant expended – so that it can enter orbit around Ganymede in December 2034, making it the first spacecraft to orbit another planet’s moon. Juice’s initial elliptical orbit will be followed by a 5000 km-altitude circular orbit, and later a 500 km-altitude circular orbit.
Ganymede is the only moon in the Solar System to have a magnetosphere. Juice will investigate this phenomenon and the moon’s internal magnetic field, and explore how its plasma environment interacts with that of Jupiter. Juice will also study Ganymede’s atmosphere, surface, subsurface, interior and internal ocean, investigating the moon as not only a planetary object but also a possible habitat.
Over time, Juice’s orbit around Ganymede will naturally decay due to lack of propellant, and it will make a grazing impact onto the surface (late 2035).
The Juice launch itself will be a historical milestone for more reasons than one. It will be the final launch for Ariane 5, ending the launcher’s nearly three-decade run as one of the world’s most successful heavy-lift rockets. Its duties are being taken over by Ariane 6.
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.
It’s the first mission of its kind, set to monitor our active and unpredictable Sun and help protect us from its violent outbursts – and it has a new name.
Once known as “Lagrange,” ESA’s upcoming space weather mission needed a new name that would reflect its vital role: helping to protect Earth’s infrastructure, satellites, inhabitants and space explorers from unpredictable but violent solar events like solar flares and ‘coronal mass ejections’.
During the Name The Mission campaign, 5422 entries were submitted from across Europe and indeed around the world – and after weeks of deliberation, countless spreadsheets, three diverse and expert judges and a lively debate – a new name has been selected for our upcoming space weather mission: ESA Vigil.
“We are thrilled with our mission’s new name,” explains Juha-Pekka Luntama, ESA’s Head of Space Weather.
“When I first heard it, I thought it was just spot on. That is exactly what we do, we keep a vigilant watch and guard Earth”.
In Latin, ‘vigilis exceptus’ means sentry, or guard, while ‘vigilia’ means wakefulness and the act of keeping a devoted watch, which resonates with the mission’s role – a devoted guardian, keeping constant watch over the Sun, for Earth.
Protecting modern life, and life itself
Solar storms can damage power grids, disrupt telecommunications and threaten satellites and the vital services they provide. At the same time, as we launch ever-more satellites into orbit we are creating increasing amounts of debris – dramatically increasing the risks of collision for current and future missions.
These satellites have changed our lives and enlarged our perspective on Earth, but they – and the technologies they make possible on which modernity relies – are vulnerable.
The protection of space assets is at the heart of ESA’s Vision for the future. To do this, the new Protect ‘accelerator’ proposes the development of ‘air traffic control for space’, as well as an early warning system to help us prepare for hazardous solar activity.
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 Matthias Maurer is currently living and working aboard the International Space Station for his first space mission, Cosmic Kiss. Recently, he experimented with water in microgravity. In this water experiments video series, Matthias demonstrates the different behavior of water in weightlessness and how this research is applied to life on Earth.
In part 5, Matthias explains how studying the behavior of water and other liquids on the International Space Station is important for numerous applications on Earth, such as in industry or food technology.
Matthias will live and work in orbit for approximately six months for his Cosmic Kiss mission. During this time, he will conduct and support more than 35 European and numerous other international experiments 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.
ESA astronaut Matthias Maurer is currently living and working aboard the International Space Station for his first space mission, Cosmic Kiss. Recently, he experimented with water in microgravity. In this water experiments video series, Matthias demonstrates the different behavior of water in weightlessness and how this research is applied to life on Earth.
In part 4 of this video series, Matthias takes a closer look at the lens effect and surface tension of water.
Matthias will live and work in orbit for approximately six months for his Cosmic Kiss mission. During this time, he will conduct and support more than 35 European and numerous other international experiments 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.
In this week’s edition of the Earth from Space programme, the Copernicus Sentinel-2 mission takes us over Carrara – an Italian city known especially for its world-famous marble.
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 Matthias Maurer is currently living and working aboard the International Space Station for his first space mission, Cosmic Kiss. Recently, he experimented with water in microgravity. In this water experiments video series, Matthias demonstrates the different behavior of water in weightlessness and how this research is applied to life on Earth.
In this second clip in the series, Matthias blows air into a floating water sphere and looks at what happens when he tries to mix it with olive oil.
Matthias will live and work in orbit for approximately six months for his Cosmic Kiss mission. During this time, he will conduct and support more than 35 European and numerous other international experiments 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.
ESA astronaut Matthias Maurer is currently living and working aboard the International Space Station for his first space mission, Cosmic Kiss. Recently, he has been experimenting with water in microgravity.
In this water experiments video series, Matthias demonstrates the different behavior of water in weightlessness and how this research is applied to life on Earth.
In Part 1, Matthias lets water spheres float inside the Columbus module of the Space Station and wets a paddle with a hydrophobic surface to take a closer look at the viscosity and surface tension of water.
Matthias will live and work in orbit for approximately six months for his Cosmic Kiss mission. During this time, he will conduct and support more than 35 European and numerous other international experiments 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.
How long would it take us to reach our closest neighbour? How do astronomers know so much about the universe? Why is astronomy important for society? In this Meet the Experts episode, ESA research fellow Tereza Jerabkova discusses our place in the universe and takes us on a journey through 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.
In this week’s edition of the Earth from Space programme, the Copernicus Sentinel-1 mission takes us over the archipelago of Lofoten in northern Norway.
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.
Twenty years ago, on the first of March 2002, ESA launched a new satellite to monitor our planet from space: Envisat. This research mission, which carried 10 instruments, would become a beacon for the development of future Earth observation satellites. In orbit for 10 years, double its projected lifespan, this flagship mission provided science with a wealth of data on the health of our planet and climate change – a treasure trove of data that is still used today. Thanks to the Heritage Space Programme, ESA ensures these precious data are preserved and made accessible for future generations.
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.
Join ESA astronaut Matthias Maurer on a tour of Columbus, Europe’s science laboratory on the International Space Station.
Cosmic Kiss is Matthias’s first mission to the Space Station and the Columbus module is one of his main workplaces. It is also where he sleeps in his crew quarters known as CASA.
Columbus is Europe’s largest contribution to the orbital outpost and the first European laboratory for permanent, multidisciplinary research in space. It houses 16 standardised payload cabinets, known as racks, which host laboratory equipment and technical systems. This allows the facility to support research across a wide range of different scientific disciplines.
Work focuses on materials science, fluid physics, chemistry, remote sensing, biology, biotechnology, medicine and human physiology, as well as technology demonstrations to aid innovation on Earth. Once installed by an astronaut, many of the experiments that happen in Columbus can be remotely controlled and monitored by User Support Operations Centres on the ground.
Matthias will live and work in orbit for approximately six months for his Cosmic Kiss mission. During this time, he will conduct and support more than 35 European and numerous other international experiments 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.
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 Columbus laboratory is a hive of activity in this 360° timelapse as ESA astronaut Matthias Maurer works on an experiment called Fluidics and his @NASA colleague Raja Chari carries out activity in the Veggie plant habitat.
Developed by French space agency @CNES and co-funded by @Airbus, the Fluidics experiment investigates how liquids behave in space. It was first run by ESA astronaut Thomas Pesquet in 2017 during his Proxima mission.
Made up of six small, transparent spheres housed in the black centrifuge seen here, the experiment studies two phenomena. The first is ‘sloshing’ or how liquids move in enclosed spaces. The second is wave turbulence.
Understanding the underlying physics of how liquids move in space will help improve the fuel economy of spacecraft and our knowledge of Earth’s oceans. By observing how surface forces behave in reduced gravity and singling out interactions, scientists aim to improve climate models for forecasting sea states and better understand wave formation on Earth.
Fluidics is just one of many European and international science experiments Matthias is supporting throughout his six-month Cosmic Kiss mission.
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 recent data release from Landsat 9, this week’s edition of the Earth from Space programme features a Landsat 9 image over part of Washington state – the northwesternmost state of the US.
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.
Are you curious to know how a telescope works? Join ESA astronomer Giovanna Giardino as she gives an insight into the inner workings of the world’s largest telescope in space, the extraordinary James Webb Space Telescope.
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.
Join ESA astronaut Matthias Maurer on a 360° fly-through of Europe’s Columbus laboratory, @JAXA | 宇宙航空研究開発機構’s Kibo Module and the Crew Dragon capsule on the International Space Station.
Matthias has been living and working on the International Space Station for around 100 days, following the launch of Crew-3 from @NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on 11 November 2021. He will spend approximately six months in orbit for his Cosmic Kiss mission. Much of this time is being spent inside the Columbus lab supporting European and international science.
Columbus is ESA’s single largest contribution to the International Space Station and was also the first permanent European research facility in space. In this video you can see the different experiment racks in the module as he flies through, including NASA’s Veggie greenhouses omitting a pink light.
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.
On 11 November 2021, ESA astronaut Matthias Maurer was launched to the International Space Station for his first mission, Cosmic Kiss. Around 100 days later, we reflect on some highlights from space.
Matthias flew to the Station on a @SpaceX Crew Dragon alongside @NASA astronauts and fellow first-time fliers Kayla Barron and Raja Chari, and NASA spaceflight veteran Tom Marshburn. Collectively known as Crew-3, they were welcomed as members of Expedition 66 by Commander Anton Shkaplerov, cosmonaut Pyotr Dubrov and NASA’s Mark Vande Hei.
While in orbit, Matthias is supporting over 35 European and many more international experiments. The outcomes of these experiments will advance our knowledge in areas ranging from human health to materials science, physics, Earth observation, technology development and more.
Matthias is expected to spend approximately six months in orbit and there are many more highlights to come.
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.
As part of Agenda 2025, ESA will take preparatory steps towards a sample return mission from the moons of giant planets, and will foster innovation by challenging commercial companies to develop a next generation of competitively priced European space transportation systems.
Space science and planetary exploration have a unique inspirational power for engaging young generations in science, technology, engineering and maths, creating a highly educated workforce for the future.
Collaborating with the European space industry to foster innovation generates economic growth and new revenues, as well as creating new jobs for European citizens. All the money invested in space is spent on Earth.
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 future of human exploration is a major topic to be discussed at the Space Summit taking place in Toulouse, France. In favour of this, European astronauts have written and will release a manifesto on 16 February 2022.
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.
How did the universe go from a dark and cold place after the Big Bang, to the mesmerizing cosmos we see today? In this episode of Meet the Experts, ESA research fellow Rachana Bhatawdekar takes us on a tour of the early universe, to discover how the very first stars and galaxies were born after the Big Bang.
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.
Tour the Italian-built Permanent Multipurpose Module (PMM) of the International Space Station in 360° with ESA astronaut Matthias Maurer.
Attached to Node 3, PMM is a large, reusable, pressurised element that was originally used to ferry cargo to and from the Station. It can hold up to 16 racks of equipment, experiments and supplies and has an end-cone with additional storage space for cargo bags, trash and other items.
The only thing PMM has no room for is a fear of enclosed spaces. Watch as Matthias maneuvers between the boxes and bags in this vital module in orbit.
Matthias is currently living and working aboard the International Space Station for his first mission, Cosmic Kiss. Find out more about Matthias and his ESA mission on the Cosmic Kiss mission webpage.
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.
It’s the first mission of its kind, set to monitor our active and unpredictable Sun and help protect us from its violent outbursts – and it has a new name.
Once known as “Lagrange,” ESA’s upcoming space weather mission needed a new name that would reflect its vital role: helping to protect Earth’s infrastructure, satellites, inhabitants and space explorers from unpredictable but violent solar events like solar flares and ‘coronal mass ejections’.
During the Name The Mission campaign, 5422 entries were submitted from across Europe and indeed around the world – and after weeks of deliberation, countless spreadsheets, three diverse and expert judges and a lively debate – a new name has been selected for our upcoming space weather mission: ESA Vigil.
“We are thrilled with our mission’s new name,” explains Juha-Pekka Luntama, ESA’s Head of Space Weather.
“When I first heard it, I thought it was just spot on. That is exactly what we do, we keep a vigilant watch and guard Earth”.
In Latin, ‘vigilis exceptus’ means sentry, or guard, while ‘vigilia’ means wakefulness and the act of keeping a devoted watch, which resonates with the mission’s role – a devoted guardian, keeping constant watch over the Sun, for Earth.
Protecting modern life, and life itself
Solar storms can damage power grids, disrupt telecommunications and threaten satellites and the vital services they provide. At the same time, as we launch ever-more satellites into orbit we are creating increasing amounts of debris – dramatically increasing the risks of collision for current and future missions.
These satellites have changed our lives and enlarged our perspective on Earth, but they – and the technologies they make possible on which modernity relies – are vulnerable.
The protection of space assets is at the heart of ESA’s Vision for the future. To do this, the new Protect ‘accelerator’ proposes the development of ‘air traffic control for space’, as well as an early warning system to help us prepare for hazardous solar activity.
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.
Scientist, engineer, test subject and tradesperson – astronauts in orbit wear many different hats. In this 360° timelapse, ESA astronaut Matthias Maurer works to repair a faulty valve behind EXPRESS-Rack 3.
Water On-Off Valve 8 (WOOV-8), along with WOOV-6 and WOOV-7, determines whether the cooling water of Europe’s Columbus module flows through, or bypasses, the heat exchange system that transfers waste heat to downstream cooling circuits outside the International Space Station. The valve has been a problem child for ground teams and astronauts for the past few years and was first replaced during a complicated operation in 2013.
It was last replaced by ESA astronaut Thomas Pesquet in October 2021, but continued issues led Matthias to try out a reserve valve to see if an unplanned conversion was possible. The operation was successfully completed on the real WOOV-8 in December 2021, and all involved breathed a sigh of relief.
Performing maintenance and repair tasks in weightlessness is especially difficult as astronauts have the added challenge of trying to hold themselves in position while turning a screw or securing a hatch. Watch Matthias carefully fold down the rack, set-up lighting and complete the task as you explore his workspace in 360°.
Matthias was launched to the International Space Station for his Cosmic Kiss mission on 11 November 2021. He will spend approximately six months living and working in orbit, supporting over 35 European and many more international experiments on board.
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.
