This footage is from 20 January 2014, when ESA’s Rosetta spacecraft awoke from deep space hibernation, more than 800 million kilometres from Earth. After spending 31 months in a power-saving sleep mode to conserve energy while travelling through the cold, outer regions of the Solar System, Rosetta successfully reactivated and sent a signal back to Earth — a simple “Hello, world!” that marked the beginning of one of the most ambitious space missions in history. Rosetta went on to become the first spacecraft to rendezvous with a comet (67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko), orbit it, and deploy a lander, Philae, to its surface.
Smile is a brand-new space mission currently in the making. It will study space weather and the interaction between the solar wind and Earth’s magnetic environment.
At the European Space Agency’s technical heart in the Netherlands, engineers have spent the last five months unboxing and testing different elements of the spacecraft, and joining the two main parts together. Due to launch by the end of 2025, Smile is now well on its way to being ready for space.
This video provides a glimpse into what we’ve been up to recently. It is the second episode in a series of short videos, and includes interviews with Adriana González Castro (ESA Smile Project Controller), Walfried Raab (ESA Smile Lead Payload Engineer), Sylvain Vey (ESA Smile Instrument and Operations Interface Engineer), Li Jing (CAS Smile Project Manager), Benjamin Vanoutryve (Smile AIT/AIV and Launcher Interface Principal Engineer), and José Ignacio Maestra Onteniente (Airbus Smile AIT Manager).
Credit: ESA/Lightcurve Films
Acknowledgment: Direction, main camera, sound, editing, post-production by Lightcurve Films. Original music by William Zeitler. Drone footage is by The Postboat Dronedepartment.
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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.
A shoebox-sized spacecraft from our Hera mission that’s about to explore the binary asteroid system of Didymos and its moon, Dimorphos – a space rock the size of the Great Pyramid!
Using its cutting-edge radar system, Juventas will reveal whether Dimorphos is a solid monolith or simply a loose pile of rubble. Plus, it’s going to gently land and measure the asteroid’s gravity—something never done before!
This tiny spacecraft is set to rewrite what we know about asteroids and could one day help protect our planet.
Stay tuned for more on Hera’s thrilling mission!
📸 ESA – European Space Agency 📹 ESA/Science Office
Watch as the four members of NASA’s SpaceX Crew-8 mission move their Dragon Endeavour spacecraft between docking ports on the International Space Station. Aboard are:
• NASA astronauts Matt Dominick, Mike Barratt, and Jeanette Epps • Roscosmos cosmonaut Alexander Grebenkin
The crew will undock from the forward-facing port of the station’s Harmony module at 7:45 a.m EDT (1145 AM UTC), then dock at the station’s space-facing Harmony port at 8:28 a.m. EDT (1228 UTC). The spacecraft is relocating to make room for Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft, currently scheduled to arrive in May.
On Dec. 11, 2022, our uncrewed Orion spacecraft re-entered the atmosphere after completing the 1.4-million-mile, 25.5-day Artemis I mission around the Moon. Orion, which will soon take humans to the Moon, performed a “skip” entry technique, allowing it to splash down with accuracy at a selected site in the Pacific Ocean.
During reentry, the spacecraft endured temperatures about half as hot as the surface of the Sun at about 5,000°F (2,800°C), and slowed from nearly 25,000 mph (40,000 kph) to 16 mph (26 kph) for its 11-parachute-assisted splashdown.
In this video, Orion’s reentry can be seen from an in-cabin camera facing out one of four side windows. The loud sounds that can be heard are firings of the spacecraft’s 12 reaction control thrusters that are steering the capsule as it reenters.
View the full length video here: go.nasa.gov/orionreentry
Missions to Mars have made many exciting discoveries that have transformed our understanding of the planet, but the next step is to bring samples to Earth for detailed analysis in sophisticated laboratories.
On May 16, 2023, NASA’s Juno spacecraft flew past Jupiter’s volcanic moon Io, and then the gas giant soon after. Io is the most volcanically active body in the solar system. Slightly larger than Earth’s moon, Io is a world in constant torment. Not only is the biggest planet in the solar system forever pulling at it gravitationally, but so are its Galilean siblings – Europa and the biggest moon in the solar system, Ganymede. The result is that Io is continuously stretched and squeezed, actions linked to the creation of the lava seen erupting from its many volcanoes.
This rendering provides a “starship captain” point of view of the flyby, using images from JunoCam. For both targets, Io and Jupiter, raw JunoCam images were reprojected into views similar to the perspective of a consumer camera. The Io flyby and the Jupiter approach movie were rendered separately and composed into a synchronous split-screen video.
Launched on Aug. 5, 2011, Juno embarked on a 5-year journey to Jupiter. Its mission: to probe beneath the planet’s dense clouds and answer questions about the origin and evolution of Jupiter, our solar system, and giant planets in general across the cosmos. Juno arrived at the gas giant on July 4, 2016, after a 1.7-billion-mile journey, and settled into a 53-day polar orbit stretching from just above Jupiter’s cloud tops to the outer reaches of the Jovian magnetosphere. Now in its extended mission, NASA’s most distant planetary orbiter continues doing flybys of Jupiter and its moons.
Detect, fetch and collect. A seemingly easy task is being tested to find the best strategy to collect samples on the martian surface, some 290 000 million km away from home.
Testing technologies for Mars exploration is part of the daily job of Laura Bielenberg, an ESA graduate trainee for the Mars Sample Return campaign.
The test takes place at the rock-strewn recreation of the Red Planet at ESA’s ESTEC technical centre in Noordwijk, the Netherlands. The nickname of this test site is the ‘Mars Yard’ and is part of the Planetary Robotics Laboratory.
The tube is a replica of the sample caches that NASA’s Perseverance rover is leaving on Mars hermetically sealed with precious martian samples inside. They are called RSTA, an acronym of Returnable Sample Tube Assembly, and to most people on Earth they look like lightsabers. Laura is investigating sample tube collection strategies, from autonomous detection to pose estimation of sample tubes on Mars, with a testbed called the RABBIT (RAS Bread Boarding In-house Testbed).
The Sample Transfer Arm will need to load the tubes from the martian surface for delivery towards Earth. ESA’s robotic arm will collect them from the Perseverance rover, and possibly others dropped by sample recovery helicopters as a backup.
Besides cameras and sensors, the team relies on neural networks to detect the tubes and estimate their pose. Inspired by the way the human brain works, neural networks mimic the way biological neurons signal to one another.
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 spacecraft changes parking spots at the space station, a surprising look at a star in another solar system, and small satellites that could be a big help tracking tropical storms … a few of the stories to tell you about – This Week at NASA!
Link to download this video: https://images.nasa.gov/details/A%20Spacecraft%20Changes%20Parking%20Spots%20at%20the%20Space%20Station%20on%20This%20Week%20@NASA%20–%20May%2012,%202023
Video Producer: Andre Valentine Video Editor: Andre Valentine Narrator: Andre Valentine Music: Universal Production Music Credit: NASA
Watch three residents of the International Space Station relocate the Soyuz MS-23 spacecraft to a new docking port, making room for the future arrival of a Progress cargo resupply ship. Aboard are:
• Flight engineer Frank Rubio of NASA • Flight engineers Sergey Prokopyev and Dmitri Petelin of Roscosmos
Soyuz commander Prokopyev will manually pilot the spacecraft away from the space-facing Poisk module at 4:45 a.m. EDT (08:45 UTC), and dock again at the Earth-facing Prichal module at approximately 5:23 a.m. EDT (09:23 UTC). Petelin will be seated to his left and Rubio will be seated to his right.
After the uncrewed Artemis I test flight, the Artemis II mission will have astronauts demonstrate what the Orion spacecraft – powered by a European Service Module – can do on its voyage around the Moon.
Two astronauts will fly on the second Artemis mission and take over controls to show how Orion handles at close-quarter flying. While in Earth orbit the spacecraft will detach from its second stage, fly away, turn around, approach the second stage and then fly away again – all using the European Service Module’s 33 thrusters.
Whereas in the first Artemis mission the second stage fired Orion into its lunar orbit, for the second mission it will be the European Service Module that will give the spacecraft its final push to its voyage around the Moon.
The crew will fly Orion to 8889 km beyond the Moon before completing a lunar flyby and returning to Earth. The mission will take a minimum of eight days and will collect valuable flight test data.
The European Service Module is one of ESA’s many contributions to NASA’s Orion spacecraft and the Artemis programme that will send astronauts to the Moon and beyond. It provides electricity, water, oxygen and nitrogen as well as keeping the spacecraft at the right temperature and on course.
The European Service Module has 33 thrusters, 11 km of electrical wiring, four propellant and two pressure tanks that all work together to supply propulsion and everything needed to keep astronauts alive far from Earth – there is no room for error.
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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.
Cameras on NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS) rocket and Orion spacecraft give us amazing views of our adventure around the Moon. See up close views of the Moon from external cameras as well as the view from inside the capsule.
Orion is the only spacecraft capable of carrying humans from Earth on Artemis missions to deep space and bringing them back to Earth from the vicinity of the Moon. More than just a crew module, Orion has a launch abort system to keep astronauts safe if an emergency happens during launch, and a European-built service module that is the powerhouse that fuels and propels Orion and keeps astronauts alive with water, oxygen, power, and temperature control, as well as a heat shield that can handle high-speed returns from deep space. SLS is the most powerful rocket in the world and the only rocket capable of launching Orion with astronauts and their supplies on Artemis missions to the Moon.
Orion launched on the SLS rocket from Launch Pad 39B at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida Wednesday, Nov. 16, 2022. Artemis I is an uncrewed flight test of our SLS rocket, Orion spacecraft, and exploration ground systems for future Artemis missions—which will provide the foundation to send humans to the lunar surface, develop a long-term presence on and around the Moon, and pave the way for humanity to set foot on Mars.
The Space Launch System (SLS) rocket with the Orion spacecraft aboard lifted off at 07:47 CET from @NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, USA on 16 November 2022.
The most powerful rocket ever built sent NASA’s Orion spacecraft and ESA’s European Service Module (ESM) to a journey beyond the Moon and back. No crew will be on board Orion this time, and the spacecraft will be controlled by teams on Earth.
ESM provides for all astronauts’ basic needs, such as water, oxygen, nitrogen, temperature control, power and propulsion.
Much like a train engine pulls passenger carriages and supplies power, the European Service Module will take the Orion capsule to its destination and back.
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 do spacecraft slow down? Rigid heat shields and retropropulsion have been the favorites of engineers for years. Now NASA is testing a new inflatable heat shield technology that could allow us to carry even larger payloads to worlds with atmospheres: https://www.nasa.gov/loftid
Launching on Nov. 1 aboard a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket along with NOAA’s JPSS-2 mission, the Low-Earth Orbit Flight Test of an Inflatable Decelerator, or LOFTID, will demonstrate the heat shield’s ability to slow down and survive atmospheric entry: https://go.nasa.gov/3N7yzBG
Producers: Scott Bednar, Jessica Wilde Editor: Daniel Salazar
The European Service Module is ESA’s contribution to @NASA’s Orion spacecraft that will send astronauts to the Moon and beyond. It provides electricity, water, oxygen and nitrogen as well as keeping the spacecraft at the right temperature and on course.
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 Artemis I mission is almost ready for launch: it will send an uncrewed spacecraft beyond the Moon and back. Join this virtual Q&A to learn more about Europe’s contribution to the mission: ESA is overseeing the development of the European Service Module, that provides air, electricity and propulsion to the spacecraft. Participants to this media briefing include Josef Aschbacher, ESA Director General ; David Parker, ESA Director for Human and Robotic Exploration ; Jean-Marc Nasr, @Airbus EVP Space Systems and Marc Steckling, Airbus Head of Space Exploration.
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 Orion spacecraft with European Service Module will fly farther from Earth than any human-rated vehicle has ever flown before. This video gives an overview of the first mission – without astronauts – for Artemis, focussing on ESA’s European Service Module that powers the spacecraft.
The spacecraft will perform a flyby of the Moon, using lunar gravity to gain speed and propel itself 70 000 km beyond the Moon, almost half a million km from Earth – further than any human has ever travelled, where it will inject itself in a Distant Retrograde Orbit around the Moon.
On its return journey, Orion will do another flyby of the Moon before heading back to Earth.
The total trip will take around 20 days, ending with a splashdown in the Pacific Ocean without the European Service Module – it separates and burns up harmlessly in the atmosphere.
The second Artemis mission will have a simplified flight plan with only a flyby of the Moon but with four astronauts. The third Artemis mission will see astronauts taken to the lunar surface.
The European Service Module is ESA’s contribution to @NASA’s Orion spacecraft that will send astronauts to the Moon and beyond. It provides electricity, water, oxygen and nitrogen as well as keeping the spacecraft at the right temperature and on course.
The European Service Module has 33 thrusters, 11 km of electrical wiring, four propellant and two pressure tanks that all work together to supply propulsion and everything needed to keep astronauts alive far from Earth – there is no room for error.
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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 and NASA are working hand in hand before the first Artemis mission to the Moon through a series of joint mission simulations. Teams based at the Erasmus Support Facility (ESF) at ESA’s ESTEC facility in The Netherlands, the German Space Operations Centre at ESA’s Columbus Control Centre in Oberphfaffenhofen and NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston are combining their expertise in a series of exercises to ensure a successful launch.
When it comes to simulations, it’s important that not everything goes perfectly right as it recreates – in real time – different stages of the mission to monitor the spacecraft’s position, propulsion, power, avionics and thermal properties. The European team, consisting of 40 people from ESA and industry, apply their considerable expertise from working on the European Service Module (ESM) to any unexpected problems. The ESM will provide power for the Orion spacecraft and propel it along its orbit to the Moon.
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 commercial cargo spacecraft safely arrives at the space station, space station crewmembers conduct a spacewalk, and an update on plans to launch our Artemis I mission … a few of the stories to tell you about – This Week at NASA!
Watch the landing of Boeing’s uncrewed Starliner, targeted at 6:49 p.m. EDT (22:49 UTC) at White Sands Space Harbor at the U.S. Army’s White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico. This return to Earth will wrap up the six-day Orbital Flight Test-2, which will provide valuable data toward NASA certifying Boeing’s crew transportation system for regular flights with astronauts to and from the International Space Station.
Boeing’s Starliner launched to the space station on Thursday, May 19 aboard a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket, and docked to the orbiting laboratory on Friday, May 20. The crew opened Starliner’s hatch on Saturday, May 21. The spacecraft will return home with more than 600 pounds of cargo, including Nitrogen Oxygen Recharge System reusable tanks that provide breathable air to station crew members. The tanks will be refurbished on Earth and sent back to station on a future flight.
Solar Orbiter is a space mission of international collaboration between ESA and @NASA.
Solar Orbiter’s closest approach to the Sun, known as perihelion, took place on 26 March. The spacecraft was inside the orbit of Mercury, at about one-third the distance from the Sun to the Earth, and its heatshield was reaching around 500°C. But it dissipated that heat with its innovative technology to keep the spacecraft safe and functioning.
One of the many milestones in the leadup to the launch of Artemis is its rollout: this is when a crawler will carry the SLS rocket with Orion and ESM from the Vehicle Assembly Building to launchpad 39B. @NASA’s John Giles gives us a tour of the crawler and explains the adaptations made to this “wonderful piece of machinery” since it was first built for the Apollo programme in the 1960s. ESA is playing a key role in NASA’s Artemis programme, which will bring astronauts back to the Moon. The European Service Module – or ESM – will provide propulsion, power and thermal control for the Orion spacecraft.
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.
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.
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.
The James Webb Space Telescope lifted off on an Ariane 5 rocket from Europe’s Spaceport in French Guiana, at 13:20 CET on 25 December 2021 on its exciting mission to unlock the secrets of the Universe.
This timelapse shows highlights of the launch campaign from the arrival of Webb in French Guiana through to liftoff.
Every launch requires meticulous planning and preparation. For Webb, this process began about 15 years ago. Webb arrived from California on board the MN Colibri which sailed the Panama Canal to Pariacabo harbour in French Guiana. The shallow Kourou river was specially dredged to ensure a clear passage and the vessel followed high tide to safely reach port on 12 October 2021.
Though the telescope weighs only six tonnes, it was more than 10.5 m high and almost 4.5 m wide when folded. At Europe’s Spaceport it was unpacked inside a dedicated spacecraft preparation facility fitted with walls of air filters to protect the telescope from contamination during preparations for launch.
After its arrival in the final assembly building, Webb was lifted slowly about 40 m high and then carefully manoeuvred on top of Ariane 5 – one of the most delicate operations during the entire launch campaign. A ‘shower curtain’ about 12 m high and 8 m in diameter was installed in between two platforms, to create a closed-off space around Webb to avoid any contamination.
On the day of encapsulation, the fairing was lowered over the observatory and locked in place for liftoff. A laser guiding system assisted this particularly delicate operation for a perfect fit inside Ariane 5’s fairing.
Ariane 5 with Webb was rolled out from the final assembly building to the launch pad on 22 December. On 25 December, Ariane 5 performed the flawless launch of this once in a generation mission. Ariane 5’s highly precise launch meant that Webb saved its own fuel which can be used to significantly extend its expected lifetime of 10 years.
Webb is the largest, most powerful telescope ever launched into space. As part of an international collaboration agreement, ESA has provided the telescope’s launch service using the Ariane 5 launch vehicle. Working with partners, ESA was responsible for the development and qualification of Ariane 5 adaptations for the Webb mission and for the procurement of the launch service by @arianespace. ESA has also provided the workhorse spectrograph NIRSpec and 50% of the mid-infrared instrument MIRI, in collaboration with the University of Arizona. Webb is an international partnership between @NASA, ESA and the @Canadian Space Agency.
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 real-time video shows the separation of the James Webb Space Telescope from the Ariane 5 launch vehicle and the subsequent solar array deployment.
Webb’s launch on an ESA-provided Ariane 5 rocket was performed by @arianespace on behalf of ESA from Europe’s Spaceport in French Guiana, at 12:20:07 GMT (13:20:07 CET) on 25 December 2021.
Webb separation from the Ariane 5 occurred at 12:47:14 GMT (13:47:14 CET) with solar array deployment starting 69 seconds later.
Thanks to Ariane 5’s highly precise launch trajectory Webb’s solar array was able to deploy soon after separation from the Ariane 5, capturing sunlight to power the observatory.
This video shows the view from Ariane 5’s upper stage, taken by a camera manufactured by Irish company Réaltra Space Systems Engineering.
Webb is the next great space science observatory following Hubble, designed to answer outstanding questions about the Universe and to make breakthrough discoveries in all fields of astronomy. Webb will see farther into our origins: from the formation of stars and planets, to the birth of the first galaxies in the early Universe. Webb is an international partnership between @NASA, ESA and the @Canadian Space Agency.
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 Orion spacecraft for Artemis I is on the move, critical hardware for Artemis II is delivered, and a new telescope to study our Milky Way … a few of the stories to tell you about – This Week at NASA!
Producer/Writer: Andre Valentine Editor: Shane Apple Music: Universal Production Music
The European Space Agency is playing a vital role in humankind’s return to the Moon. In a few months @NASA will launch Artemis I from the Kennedy Space Center. The uncrewed mission will carry NASA’s Orion spacecraft incorporating ESA’s European Service Module (ESM-1), built and tested by Airbus Bremen, in Germany, with the help of 10 European nations. ESM-1’s main engine and 32 thrusters will propel Orion into orbit around the Moon and return it to Earth.
As Artemis I prepares for launch, the second European Service Module (ESM-2) is about to ship to the US with ESM-3 also currently under construction. The second Artemis mission, however, has a crucial difference: it will carry four astronauts for a lunar flyby. ESM-2 will provide propulsion, power, oxygen, water and life support as well as controlling the temperature in the orbiting crew module. ESM-3 will go one step further and put the first person on the Moon for 50 years.
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.
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.
Relocating a commercial spacecraft at the space station, while another one gets ready to launch to the station, and Perseverance prepares for a mission milestone on Mars … a few of the stories to tell you about – This Week at NASA!
A commercial cargo spacecraft leaves the space station, watching an Atlantic storm from space, and the Artemis I rocket moves closer to launch … a few of the stories to tell you about – This Week at NASA!
A U.S. commercial spacecraft departs the space station, more supplies and hardware are delivered to the station, and a moniker for the Artemis I mission’s “Moonikin” … a few of the stories to tell you about – This Week at NASA!
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.
From the @Airbus integration halls in Bremen, Germany, this replay of a live event shows a sneak peek of the two European Service Modules that will power astronauts to the Moon and back as part of @NASA’s Orion spacecraft.
Orion is NASA’s next exploration spacecraft to send astronauts farther into space than ever before, beyond the Moon to asteroids and even Mars.
ESA has contracted and is overseeing the development of the European Service Module, the part of the Orion spacecraft that provides air, electricity and propulsion. Much like a train engine pulls passenger carriages and supplies power, the European Service Module will power the Orion crew module to its destination and back to Earth.
The programme includes Andreas Hammer, Head of @Airbus Defence and Space Exploration showing the European Service Modules in production, ESA Director General Jan Wörner announcing future developments, a statement by ESA’s head of European Service Module programme Philippe Deloo, a statement by Airbus head of European Service Module programme Didier Radola, a Moon missions overview with ESA astronaut Alexander Gerst and ESA’s head of Space Transportation Nico Dettmann on how ESA is building Orion with industry.
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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 Orion spacecraft with European Service Module will fly farther from Earth than any human-rated vehicle has ever flown before. This video gives an overview of the first mission – without astronauts – for Artemis, focussing on ESA’s European Service Module that powers the spacecraft.
The spacecraft will perform a flyby of the Moon, using lunar gravity to gain speed and propel itself 70 000 km beyond the Moon, almost half a million km from Earth – further than any human has ever travelled.
On its return journey, Orion will do another flyby of the Moon before heading back to Earth. The total trip will take around 20 days, ending with a splashdown in the Pacific Ocean without the European Service Module – it separates and burns up harmlessly in the atmosphere.
The second Artemis mission will have a similar flight plan but with astronauts. The third Artemis mission will see astronauts taken to the lunar surface.
The European Service Module is ESA’s contribution to NASA’s Orion spacecraft that will send astronauts to the Moon and beyond. It provides electricity, water, oxygen and nitrogen as well as keeping the spacecraft at the right temperature and on course.
The European Service Module has 33 thrusters, 11 km of electrical wiring, four propellant and two pressure tanks that all work together to supply propulsion and everything needed to keep astronauts alive far from Earth – there is no room for error.
★ 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.
The European Space Agency and NASA signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to take Europe to the Moon.
This historic agreement will see ESA Member States contribute a number of essential elements to the first human outpost in lunar orbit, known as the Gateway.
It confirms ESA’s commitment to delivering at least two European Service Modules that provide electricity, water, oxygen and nitrogen to NASA’s Orion spacecraft – with more to come. ESA will also receive three flight opportunities for European astronauts to travel to and work on the Gateway.
ESA’s head of the Legal Services, Marco Ferrazzani, explains how these agreements will take us forward to the Moon.
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.
Let’s do this, OSIRIS-REx! Time to journey #ToBennuAndBack. Tune in to our live broadcast as our spacecraft descends to the surface of asteroid Bennu, touches down for a few seconds & attempts to capture regolith (rocks and dust) using a “Touch-And-Go,” or TAG, maneuver. The spacecraft must target Bennu’s rocky surface with great accuracy, touching down within a rocky area just 52 ft (16 m) in diameter. During the maneuver, the spacecraft and the asteroid will be approximately 207 million miles (334 million km) from Earth.
Live coverage from Lockheed Martin’s facility in Denver, Colorado, with mission managers from the University of Arizona, Lockheed Martin, and NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center begins at 5 p.m. EDT.
The spacecraft is scheduled to depart Bennu in 2021, and to deliver the collected sample to Earth on Sep. 24, 2023. It will be the first U.S. mission to carry samples from an asteroid back to Earth, and the largest sample returned from space since the Apollo era.
ESA’s Solar Orbiter spacecraft has sent back its first images of the Sun. At 77 million kilometres from the surface, this is the closest a camera has ever flown to our nearest star. The pictures reveal features on the Sun’s exterior that have never been seen in detail before.
Launched on 10 February 2020, the spacecraft completed its commissioning phase and first close-approach to the Sun in mid-June. Since then, science teams have been processing and examining this early data.
The spacecraft is currently in its cruise phase, on its way to Venus, but will eventually get even closer to the Sun.
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 http://www.esa.int/ESA to get up to speed on everything space related.
The first images from ESA’s Solar Orbiter, captured around the spacecraft’s first close pass of the Sun, some 77 million kilometres from its surface, are already exceeding expectations revealing interesting new phenomena on our parent star.
This animation shows a series of close-up views captured by the Extreme Ultraviolet Imager (EUI) at wavelengths of 17 nanometers, showing the upper atmosphere of the Sun, or corona, with a temperature of around 1 million degrees.
These images reveal a multitude of small flaring loops, erupting bright spots and dark, moving fibrils. A ubiquitous feature of the solar surface, uncovered for the first time by these images, have been called ‘campfires’. They are omnipresent minuature eruptions that could be contributing to the high temperatures of the solar corona and the origin of the solar wind.
Captured on 30 May 2020, when Solar Orbiter was roughly halfway between the Earth and the Sun, these are the closest views of the Sun ever taken, allowing EUI to see features in the solar corona of only 400 km across. As the mission continues, Solar Orbiter will go closer to the Sun and this will increase the instrument’s resolving power by a factor of two at closest approach.
The colour on this image has been artificially added because the original wavelength detected by the instrument is invisible to the human eye.
The circle in the lower left corner indicates the size of Earth for scale.
The extended grey shape visible at times moving across the field (00:00-00:25; 01:00-01:28; 01:50-02:00; 02:52-03:27) is not a solar feature but is caused by a sensor artefact.
Solar Orbiter is a space mission of international collaboration between ESA and NASA.
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 http://www.esa.int/ESA to get up to speed on everything space related.
