Roy Gibson was ESA’s very first Director General. Born in 1924, he led the Agency from its foundation in 1975 until 1980.
Ulf Merbold was the first ESA astronaut to fly in space, as part of the crew of the STS-9 Spacelab 1 mission on Space Shuttle Columbia in 1983.
Claudie Heigneré made history in 2001 as the first female European astronaut on a ‘taxi flight’ to the International Space Station.
Gerhard Schwehm was ESA’s first planetary scientist, working on the Giotto mission that provided the first close-up images of a comet nucleus. He then became Mission Manager for the Rosetta mission until his retirement.
Paolo Ferri dedicated 20 years to Rosetta, first as Operations Manager, then as Flight Director, and eventually as Head of the Mission Operations Department.
Elsa Montagnon is currently Head of the Mission Operations Division. Previously, she was Spacecraft Operations Manager for BepiColombo, Europe’s first mission to Mercury, launched in 2018.
Josef Aschbacher became ESA Director General in 2021. From 2016–21, he was ESA Director for Earth Observation Programmes He has been a key leader of the European Copernicus programme, which is now considered to be one of the most successful Earth observation programmes in the world.
📹 European Space Agency (ESA) 📸 European Space Agency (ESA)
This video takes the viewer on a journey through space to the interacting galaxies known as Arp 142.
The distorted spiral galaxy at the centre, the Penguin, and the compact elliptical galaxy at the left, the Egg, are locked in an active embrace. A new near- and mid-infrared image from the James Webb Space Telescope, taken to mark its second year of science, shows that their interaction is marked by a faint upside-down U-shaped blue glow.
The pair, known jointly as Arp 142, made their first pass between 25 and 75 million years ago — causing ‘fireworks’, or new star formation, in the Penguin. In the most extreme cases, mergers can cause galaxies to form thousands of new stars per year for a few million years. For the Penguin, research has shown that about 100 to 200 stars have formed per year. By comparison, our Milky Way galaxy (which is not interacting with a galaxy of the same size) forms roughly six to seven new stars per year.
Arp 142 lies 326 million light-years from Earth in the constellation Hydra.
Credit: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, N. Bartmann (ESA/Webb)
The first half of 2024 saw hundreds of people across Europe building, cajoling, shipping, lowering, integrating, securing and protecting the precious pieces and parts that came together to create Ariane 6 – Europe’s new heavy-lift rocket.
Huge engines, boosters and outer shells met tiny screws, electrical boards and masses of supercooled fuel. All this came together at Europe’s Spaceport in French Guiana, for the spectacular first launch of Ariane 6 on 9 July 2024, restoring Europe’s access to space.
Get a glimpse at the teamwork, skill and care that went into this moment over many months, in this montage of Ariane 6 images, videos and timelapse photography spanning 30 January to 9 July 2024.
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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 first ESA instrument to land on the Moon has detected the presence of negative ions on the lunar surface produced through interactions with the solar wind.
The European team working with the Negative Ions at the Lunar Surface (NILS) instrument confirmed the success of this scientific mission that flew to the far side of the Moon aboard the Chang’e-6 spacecraft.
The discovery of a new component of plasma at the surface of the Moon opens a new window for space physics and for human and robotic missions in an era of renewed lunar exploration.
In November 2023 our Integral telescope spotted a sudden explosion from a rare object. For only a tenth of a second, a short burst of energetic gamma-rays appeared from the direction of the bright galaxy M82.
Only a few hours later, our XMM-Newton telescope searched for an afterglow from the explosion but found none. Astronomers realised that the burst must have been an extra-galactic flare from a magnetar, a young neutron star with an exceptionally strong magnetic field.
🎥 ESA – European Space Agency
📸 ESA/Integral, ESA/XMM-Newton, INAF/TNG, M. Rigoselli (INAF)
📸NASA, ESA and the Hubble Heritage Team (STScI/AURA)
ESA’s Euclid space mission has released five unprecedented new views of the Universe. These never-before-seen images demonstrate Euclid’s remarkable ability to unravel the secrets of the cosmos. Scientists are now equipped to hunt for rogue planets, study mysterious matter through lensed galaxies, and explore the evolution of the Universe. Join us as we explore these groundbreaking discoveries and what they mean for the future of space exploration.
Credits: ESA – European Space Agency
Chapters: 00:00 – 00:36 Intro 00:36 – 01:14 The Galaxy Cluster Abell 2390 01:15 – 02:14 Messier 78: Stellar Nurseries and Galactic Formation 02:15 – 03:02 Galaxies in the Dorado Group 03:03 – 04:27 NGC 6744 04:28 – 05:25 Abell 2764 05:26 – 6:16 Conclusion
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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 is releasing a new set of full-colour images captured by the space telescope Euclid. Five new portraits of our cosmos were captured during Euclid’s early observations phase, each revealing amazing new science. Euclid’s ability to unravel the secrets of the cosmos is something you will not want to miss.
Credits: ESA – European Space Agency
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Today, ESA’s Euclid space mission releases five unprecedented new views of the Universe. The never-before-seen images demonstrate Euclid’s ability to unravel the secrets of the cosmos and enable scientists to hunt for rogue planets, use lensed galaxies to study mysterious matter, and explore the evolution of the Universe.
Read more about Euclid’s first images and download the individual images here:
Credits: ESA/Euclid/Euclid Consortium/NASA, image processing by J.-C. Cuillandre (CEA Paris-Saclay), G. Anselmi
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This video takes the viewer on a journey through space to reveal a new image from the NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope, the Horsehead Nebula.
This zoom video features three unique views of the Horsehead Nebula, including images from as ESA’s Euclid telescope, the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope’s infrared view of the object, and finally revealing the new image from Webb’s NIRCam (Near-InfraRed Camera) instrument. It is the sharpest infrared image of the object to date, showing a part of the iconic nebula in a whole new light, and capturing its complexity with unprecedented spatial resolution. You can learn more about this new image here.
Credit: ESA/Webb, NASA, CSA, K. Misselt (University of Arizona) and A. Abergel (IAS/University Paris-Saclay, CNRS) Music: Stellardrone – The Night Sky in Motion
This video takes the viewer on a journey to the 34th anniversary image of the launch of the legendary NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope: the Little Dumbbell Nebula (also known as Messier 76, M76, or NGC 650/651). The object is located 3400 light-years away in the northern circumpolar constellation Perseus. The photogenic nebula is a favourite target of amateur astronomers.
Credit: NASA, ESA, STScI, A. Pagan (STScI) Acknowledgment: D. Crowson, A. Fujii, Digitized Sky Survey.
On the last day of his Huginn mission, ESA astronaut Andreas Mogensen takes us on a tour of the place he called home for 6 months: the International Space Station. From the beautiful views of Cupola to the kitchen in Node 1 filled with food and friends and all the way to the science of Columbus, the Space Station is the work and living place for astronauts as they help push science forward.
Credits: ESA – European Space Agency
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Scientists might have just found the first glory on a world outside our Solar System! “Glory” are colourful concentric rings of light that occur only under peculiar conditions. If confirmed, this finding could shed light on the mysterious atmosphere of the scorching hot gas giant WASP-76b.
ESA’s Proba-2 captured two partial solar eclipses on 8 April 2024.
A solar eclipse occurs when the Moon passes between Earth and the Sun, totally or partially blocking the Sun from Earth’s point of view. On 8 April, lucky viewers across North America witnessed the Moon blocking out the Sun in its entirety for a few minutes, while those north and south of the ‘total eclipse path’ witnessed a partial eclipse.
Throughout the eclipse period, the Moon crossed Proba-2’s field of view twice, appearing as a partial solar eclipse. The satellite flies around 700 km above Earth’s surface in what is called a Sun-synchronous orbit, each orbit lasting around 100 minutes.
The video was produced from images taken by Proba-2’s SWAP telescope, which observes the Sun in extreme ultraviolet light. At these wavelengths, the turbulent nature of the Sun’s surface and corona – the Sun’s extended atmosphere – become visible. These measurements have to be made from space, because Earth’s atmosphere doesn’t allow such short wavelengths of light to pass through.
A total solar eclipse provides a unique opportunity to see the Sun’s corona from Earth’s surface, using visible light. As the Moon blocks most of the Sun’s bright light, the faint corona can be discerned. By comparing the SWAP ultraviolet images to what is seen by (visible light) telescopes on Earth, we can learn about the temperature and behaviour of different structures in the corona.
Other solar missions also made the most of the unique measurement opportunities provided by the eclipse. For example, ESA’s Solar Orbiter was positioned close to the Sun and at a 90-degree angle from Earth’s view throughout the eclipse. This allowed it to complement Earth-based observations by monitoring the Sun’s corona side-on, including any solar eruptions pointing in Earth’s direction.
A total solar eclipse swept across North America yesterday, blocking out the Sun momentarily with parts of the continent plunged into darkness. Geostationary satellites orbiting 36 000 km away captured images of the rare celestial event.
These images, captured by the Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite (GOES-16), captured the moon’s shadow moving across North America from approximately 16:00 to 23:00 CEST (15:00 to 22:00 BST.)
A total solar eclipse occurs when the Moon passes between the Sun and Earth and, for a short period, blocks the face of the Sun, save for a visible ring of light, known as the Sun’s corona.
The track of the moon’s shadow across Earth’s surface, called the path of totality, spanned across the North American continent – from Mexico to the very eastern tip of Canada.
The GOES series is a collaborative development and acquisition effort between National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and NASA. The GOES-16 (GOES-East) satellite, the first of the series, provides continuous imagery and atmospheric measurements of Earth’s western hemisphere and monitors space weather.
The Copernicus Sentinel-3 mission also captured images of the eclipse with its Sea and Land Surface Temperature Radiometer (SLSTR).
The eclipse also acts as a laboratory for researching what happens to weather when the Moon’s shadow passes over. The shadow makes air temperatures drop and can cause clouds to evolve in different ways. Data from GOES, Sentinel-3 and other satellites are now being used to explore these effects.
During a solar eclipse the Earth is plunged into darkness and the Sun’s ghostly atmosphere becomes visible. Scientists travel the globe to experience total solar eclipses, which occur for just a few minutes at a time every 18 months or so. But what exactly causes solar eclipses, and how do scientists try to make their own, including with ESA’s new Proba-3 mission?
Timestaps of the video: 00:00 – 00:32 – Intro 00:33 – 01:45 – How do solar eclipses happen? 01:46 – 02:45 – How do we know anything about the solar corona given that eclipses occur so rarely? 02:46 – 04:00 – How can we create a perfect artificial solar eclipse in space?
Credits: ESA – European Space Agency Videos: ESA, NASA, Solar Orbiter/EUI (ESA/NASA), SOHO/LASCO (ESA/NASA), ESA-Magic Fennec, Getty Images
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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.
Euclid, our dark Universe detective was struggling to see the faint light from distant galaxies thanks to a tiny villain: ice! Building up on its mirrors, it was blocking the crucial light Euclid needs to unlock some of the Universe’s biggest mysteries – dark matter and dark energy.
But fear not! Across Europe, a team of brilliant scientists and engineers joined forces. Months of research led to a delicate de-icing procedure, and with a touch of targeted warmth, they were able to restore Euclid’s sight.
This icy situation turned into a shining example of international collaboration and innovative thinking. And who knows what cosmic secrets Euclid will uncover now that its vision is restored.
ESA is venturing towards putting a spacecraft into orbit around Mars using a technique that engineers have studied for over half a century but never dared to attempt.
At present it’s as though the distance ladder observed by Hubble and Webb has firmly set an anchor point on one shoreline of a river, and the afterglow of the Big Bang observed by our Planck mission from the beginning of the Universe is set firmly on the other side. How the Universe’s expansion was changing in the billions of years between these two endpoints has yet to be directly observed.
📹 ESA – European Space Agency 📸 NASA, ESA, CSA, Space Telescope Science Inst., A. Riess (JHU/STScI)
Air pollution is the largest environmental health risk in Europe and significantly impacts the health of the European population, particularly in urban areas.
Following on from the Sentinel-5P satellite – the first Copernicus mission dedicated to monitoring our atmosphere – the Sentinel-4 and Sentinel-5 missions will take current air quality measuring capabilities to the next level.
Together, the Sentinel-4 and -5 missions will provide information on atmospheric variables in support of European policies. This will include the monitoring of air quality, stratospheric ozone and solar radiation, and climate monitoring.
This video features interviews with Giorgio Bagnasco, Sentinel-4 Mission Project Manager, Ben Veilhelmann, Sentinel-4&5 Mission Scientist and Didier Martin, Sentinel-5 Mission Project Manager.
Credits: ESA – European Space Agency
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In its latest test of readiness for space, ESA’s Hera spacecraft for planetary defence is being operated for around three weeks in hard vacuum, while being subjected to the same temperature profiles it will experience during its journey to the Didymos binary asteroid system.
The 1.6 × 1.6 × 1.7 m spacecraft was slid inside the 4.5-m diameter, 11.8-m long Phenix thermal vacuum chamber at ESA’s ESTEC Test Centre in the Netherlands.
“You’re always a bit nervous when your baby gets moved about,” remarks Ian Carnelli, overseeing Hera for ESA. “Right now it’s being shut into a dark airless box for weeks on end, but we have confidence it will perform well.”
Hera can be seen receded into the rectangular ‘thermal tent’ within Phenix. The six copper walls of this internal box can be heated up to 100°C or cooled via piped liquid nitrogen down to –190°C, all independently from each other.
Then, after the main door of the stainless steel Phenix chamber was slid shut, the air within the chamber was pumped out during a lengthy 20 hours process down to approximately one billionth of outside atmospheric pressure. This will allow the Hera team from ESA, European Test Services operating the Test Centre and Hera manufacturer OHB to test the spacecraft’s thermal behaviour as the temperature changes around it.
Space is a place where it is possible to be hot and cold at the same time if one part of your spacecraft is in sunlight and another is in shade. And because there is no air, there is no conduction or convection to lose heat from your spacecraft. Instead thermal experts employ insulation and radiators to keep the body of a spacecraft within carefully chosen temperature limits. In general spacecraft electronics – just like their human makers – work best at room temperature.
“We already have detailed models of the spacecraft’s thermal behaviour, and this spacecraft-level thermal vacuum test lets us correlate these models with reality,” explains Hera’s Product Assurance and Safety manager, Heli Greus.
“More than 400 thermal sensors have been placed in and around Hera to give us precise knowledge of what is going on, and the test is being supervised on a 24/7 basis in case anything anomalous occurs. The spacecraft is now being put through a series of ‘cold plateaus’ and ‘hot plateaus’ representative of its mission, which will allow us to test the thermal limits of each specific unit aboard.”
Hera is Europe’s contribution to an international planetary defence experiment. Following the DART mission’s impact with the Dimorphos asteroid in 2022 – modifying its orbit and sending a plume of debris thousands of kilometres out into space – Hera will return to Dimorphos to perform a close-up survey of the crater left by DART. The mission will also measure Dimorphos’ mass and make-up, along with that of the larger Didymos asteroid that Dimorphos orbits around. Hera is due for launch in October 2024.
The ESTEC Test Centre in the Netherlands is the largest facility of its kind in Europe, providing a complete suite of equipment for all aspects of satellite testing under a single roof.
Climate change exacerbates droughts by making them more frequent, longer, and more severe. This can have a wide range of impacts on the environment, agriculture, ecosystems and communities including water scarcity, crop failure and food shortages.
The upcoming Copernicus Land Surface Temperature Monitoring, LSTM, mission will improve sustainable agricultural productivity in a world of increasing water scarcity and variability.
The mission will carry a high spatial-temporal resolution thermal infrared sensor to provide observations of land-surface temperature.
These data are key to understand and respond to climate variability, manage water resources for agricultural production, predict droughts and also to address land degradation.
LSTM is one of six Copernicus Sentinel Expansion missions that ESA is developing on behalf of the EU. The missions will expand the current capabilities of the Copernicus Space Component – the world’s biggest supplier of Earth observation data.
This video features interviews with Ana Bolea Alamanac, LSTM Mission Project Manager, Ilias Manolis, LSTM Mission Payload Manager and Itziar Barat, LSTM Mission System and Operations Manager.
Credits: ESA – European Space Agency
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European Space Agency astronaut Andreas Mogensen shared this video on social media with the caption:
“On the weekends, we have time off and and while I like to call my friends and family or sit in the Cupola and take pictures of Earth, I sometimes like to play around a bit. I recorded this video a few weeks ago and finally got around to sharing it with you.
The way a liquid, in this case orange juice, moves around on the Space Station is fascinating, rippling when I blow on it and how sticks to me as I drink it.”
After more than 6 months on the International Space Station, ESA astronaut Andreas Mogensen returned to Earth, marking the end of his Huginn mission. It was his second mission to the Space Station and his first long-duration, where he was the pilot of Crew-7, which consisted of Jasmin Moghbeli (NASA), Satoshi Furukawa (JAXA), and Konstantin Borisov (Roscosmos).
Credits: ESA/NASA/SpaceX
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Andreas Mogensen launched on his Huginn mission in August 2023 to the International Space Station, becoming the first non-US astronaut to pilot SpaceX’s Crew Dragon spacecraft. Andreas became commander of the International Space Station in September 2023, becoming the longest serving European commander in January 2024. His mission was spent on more than 30 European experiments and plenty of international ones as well, ranging from water purification to studies of human physiology and thunderclouds. After 6 months on the International Space Station, Andreas will come down to Earth together with his Crew-7 crewmates Jasmin Moghbeli (NASA), Satoshi Furukawa (JAXA), and Konstantin Borisov (Roscosmos).
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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 upcoming Copernicus Radar Observation System for Europe in L-band (ROSE-L) will provide continuous day-and-night all-weather monitoring of Earth’s land, oceans and ice, and offer frequent images at a high spatial resolution.
ROSE-L will carry an active phased array synthetic aperture radar instrument. The radar antenna will be the largest planar antenna ever built measuring an impressive 40 sq m – roughly the size of 10 ping-pong tables.
ROSE-L will deliver essential information on forests and land cover, leading to improved monitoring of the terrestrial carbon cycle and carbon accounting.
The mission will also greatly extend our ability to monitor minute surface displacements and helping detect geohazards. It will automatically map surface soil moisture conditions and monitor sea and land ice – greatly helping climate change research and mitigation.
ROSE-L is one of six Copernicus Sentinel Expansion missions that ESA is developing on behalf of the EU. The missions will expand the current capabilities of the Copernicus Space Component – the world’s biggest supplier of Earth observation data.
This video features interviews with Malcolm Davidson, ROSE-L Mission Scientist, Nico Gebert, ROSE-L Payload Manager and Gianluigi Di Cosimo, ROSE-L Project Manager.
Credits: ESA – European Space Agency
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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 two central stages for Ariane 6’s first flight are being assembled in the launcher assembly building (BAL) at Europe’s Spaceport. The core stage and the upper stage for Europe’s new rocket Ariane 6 are set to fly in the Summer of 2024. Once assembled, the stages will be transferred to the launch pad.
On the launch pad, the two stages will be raised into their vertical launch position inside the mobile assembly building. Here the two boosters for Ariane 6’s first flight will be added and then the payloads will be placed on top and be covered by the fairing – Ariane 6’s nose cone that splits vertically in two.
The stages arrived at Europe’s Spaceport on novel hybrid sail ship Canopée on 21 February after a two-week transatlantic crossing from mainland Europe.
Ariane 6 is an all-new design, created to succeed Ariane 5 as Europe’s heavy-lift launch system. With Ariane 6’s upper stage restart capability, Europe’s launch capability will be tailored to the needs of multiple payload missions, for example to orbit satellite constellations. This autonomous capability to reach Earth orbit and deep space supports Europe’s navigation, Earth observation, scientific and security programmes. Ongoing development of Europe’s space transportation capabilities is made possible by the sustained dedication of thousands of talented people working in ESA’s 22 Member States.
We’re recruiting for our next class of NASA astronauts. Selected candidates could fly on Artemis missions to the Moon and, eventually, Mars. Will you be one of them?
Applications are open from March 5 through April 2, 2024. Read the requirements and start your application by visiting https://go.nasa.gov/astro2024.
Don’t think you have what it takes? There’s no such thing as a typical astronaut. We’re seeking out team players, passionate people, candidates who thrive under pressure and excel in what they do.
Video Producer: Daniel Lauchu Executive Producer: Rebecca Sirmons Editors: Shane Apple and Daniel Lauchu Narrator: Morgan Freeman Music: Universal Production Music
According to the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), global agricultural production will need to increase by 60% by 2050 to meet the food demands of the growing global population.
A new satellite called Copernicus Hyperspectral Imaging Mission for the Environment, or CHIME, is being developed to support EU policies on the management of natural resources – ultimately helping to address the global issue of food security.
CHIME will carry a unique visible to shortwave infrared spectrometer to provide routine hyperspectral observations to support new and enhanced services for sustainable agricultural and biodiversity management, as well as soil property characterisation.
CHIME is one of six Copernicus Sentinel Expansion missions that ESA is developing on behalf of the EU. The missions will expand the current capabilities of the Copernicus Space Component – the world’s biggest supplier of Earth observation data.
This video features interviews with Marco Celesti, CHIME Mission Scientist and Jens Nieke, CHIME Project Manager.
Credits: ESA – European Space Agency
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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 largest components for the first flight model of Europe’s new rocket Ariane 6 arrived at the port of Pariacabo in Kourou, French Guiana on 21 February 2024 via the novel ship, Canopée (canopy in French).
The Ariane 6 stages and components are all manufactured across Europe. On this trip, Canopée brought the central core for Ariane 6’s first flight. The main engine and the main stage were integrated in Les Mureaux, France, while the upper stage and insulation for the rocket’s exterior were built up in Bremen, Germany.
The various Ariane 6 components are then offloaded and transported by road to the new Ariane 6 launch vehicle assembly building just a few kilometres away. Here, the launcher stages are unpacked and installed on the assembly line for integration, and finally, liftoff.
The Ariane 6 boosters are already in Europe’s Spaceport after their production in Italy, they are the same P120C solid propulsion boosters as used for Europe’s Vega-C rocket.
First the central core will be assembled horizontally after which it is transported to the launchpad. Here it will be lifted into the upright position after which Boosters and the upper stage will be added inside the mobile gantry.
This summer Flight Model-1 will be ready to let its engine rumble and fly.
Credits: ESA/CNES/Arianespace/Arianegroup
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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.
Mission complete. ESA’s second European Remote Sensing (ERS-2) satellite has reentered Earth’s atmosphere over the North Pacific Ocean. The satellite returned at 18:17 CET (17:17 UTC) between Alaska and Hawaii.
ERS-2 was launched almost 30 years ago, on 21 April 1995. Together with ERS-1, it provided invaluable long-term data on Earth’s land surfaces, ocean temperatures, ozone layer and polar ice extent that revolutionised our understanding of the Earth system.
ERS-2’s reentry was ‘natural’. ESA used the last of its fuel, emptied its batteries and lowered the satellite from its altitude of 785 km to 573 km. This reduced the risk of collision with other satellites and space debris. As a result, it was not possible to control ERS-2 at any point during its reentry and the only force driving its descent was unpredictable atmospheric drag. As well as leaving a remarkable legacy of data that still continue to advance science, this outstanding mission set the stage for many of today’s satellites and ESA’s position at the forefront of Earth observation.
The ERS-2 reentry is part of ESA’s wider efforts to ensure the long-term sustainability of space activities. These include ESA’s Clean Space initiative which promotes the development of new technologies for more sustainable space missions in collaboration with the wider European space community, as well as the Zero Debris Approach, which will even further reduce the debris left in both Earth and lunar orbits by future missions.
Credits: ESA – European Space Agency
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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 design of buildings and spaces can greatly affect how people feel and perform. Windows, wall colours and even plants in a room can improve your productivity and mood. In extreme environments, the layout of a habitat becomes even more important.
Tracking ice lost from the world’s glaciers, ice sheets and frozen land shows that Earth is losing ice at an accelerating rate. Monitoring the cryosphere is crucial for assessing, predicting and adapting to climate change.
The Copernicus Polar Ice and Snow Topography Altimeter (CRISTAL) mission will provide a full picture of the changes taking place in some of the most inhospitable regions of the world. It will carry – for the first time – a dual-frequency radar altimeter, and microwave radiometer, that will measure and monitor sea-ice thickness, overlying snow depth and ice-sheet elevations.
These data will support maritime operations in the polar oceans and contribute to a better understanding of climate processes. CRISTAL will also support applications related to coastal and inland waters, as well as providing observations of ocean topography.
CRISTAL is one of six Copernicus Sentinel Expansion missions that ESA is developing on behalf of the EU. The missions will expand the current capabilities of the Copernicus Space Component – the world’s biggest supplier of Earth observation data.
This video features interviews with Kristof Gantois, CRISTAL Project Manager and Paolo Cipollini, CRISTAL Mission Scientist.
Credits: ESA – European Space Agency
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European Space Agency astronaut Andreas Mogensen shared this video on social media with the caption:
“After almost six months on the International Space Station, it is time to go home. We have gotten the date for our return: No earlier than 8 March 2024 will Jasmin, Satoshi, Konstantin, and I enter our Crew Dragon “Endurance” and undock from the Space Station and splash down near the coast of Florida. The return is dependent on Crew 8’s launch on the 1 March and weather at the landing site off the coast of Florida.
It has been a fantastic mission, where I became the commander of the crew on Expedition 70, a fantastic international crew where we have explored new science and worked together to make it a great expedition. Unfortunately, the spacewalk I was planned to go out on will not be performed this time, but maybe in the future by another crew.
My Huginn mission has been a dream come true, where I got to live and work on International Space Station once more, this time for a little bit longer than in 2015 😉 I will do my best to make the most of these last few weeks, and at the same time, I look forward to coming home to my family.”
The Arctic is experiencing disproportionately higher temperature increases compared to the rest of the planet, triggering a series of cascading effects. This rapid warming has profound implications for global climate patterns, human populations and wildlife.
The Copernicus Imaging Microwave Radiometer mission (CIMR) will provide measurements to decision makers with evidence of change and impact in the polar regions – with a focus on the Arctic.
The mission has the largest radiometer developed by ESA and will provide high-resolution measurements related to sea ice, the ocean, snow and ice-sheet surfaces. This will be crucial in understanding the evolution of the climate in the polar region.
CIMR is one of six Copernicus Sentinel Expansion missions that ESA is developing on behalf of the EU. The missions will expand the current capabilities of the Copernicus Space Component – the world’s biggest supplier of Earth observation data.
This video features interviews with Craig Donlon, CIMR Mission Scientist, Rolv Midthassel, CIMR Payload Manager, Claudio Galeazzi, CIMR Project Manager, Mariel Triggianese, CIMR Satellite Engineering and AIV Manager, and Marcello Sallusti, CIMR System Performance and Operations Manager.
In the meantime Craig has changed his role but will retain his position as Mission Scientist.
Credits: ESA – European Space Agency
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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.
After almost 20 days on the International Space Station, ESA project astronaut Marcus Wandt is coming home.
The trip back to Earth will take the Axiom Mission 3 crew around 47 hours. Marcus will serve as a mission specialist during the journey, sharing the ride with Walter Villadei from Italy, Alper Gezeravcı from Türkiye and Michael López-Alegría, a dual US-Spanish citizen.
After a series of burns to lower its orbit, the spacecraft will enter Earth’s atmosphere and deploy its parachutes for a water-landing. Marcus and crew are expected to splash down off the coast of Florida, USA, on 9 February 2024 at 13:30 GMT/14:30 CET. This will mark the end of Marcus’s mission, called Muninn.
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.
After almost 20 days on the International Space Station, ESA project astronaut Marcus Wandt is coming home.
The trip back to Earth will take the Axiom Mission 3 crew around 47 hours. Marcus will serve as a mission specialist during the journey, sharing the ride with Walter Villadei from Italy, Alper Gezeravcı from Türkiye and Michael López-Alegría, a dual US-Spanish citizen.
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.
Our Mars Express has revisited one of Mars’s most intriguing features the Medusae Fossae, revealing what seems to be layers of water ice below the dusty surface.
If melted, this potential water would be enough to fill Earth’s Red Sea, or cover Mars in a layer of water up to 2.7 m deep!
📸 Planetary Science Institute/Smithsonian Institution 📸 European Space Agency / DLR / FU Berlin 📸 CReSIS/KU/Smithsonian Institution
Join ESA project astronaut Marcus Wandt inside the seven-windowed cupola, the International Space Station’s “window to the world”.
The ESA – European Space Agency-built Cupola is the favourite place of many astronauts on the International Space Station. It serves not only as a unique photo spot, but also for observing robotic activities of the Canadian Space Agency’s robotic arm Canadarm2, arriving spacecraft and spacewalks.
Marcus was launched to the International Space Station on the Dragon spacecraft as part of Axiom Mission 3 on 18 January 2024. His two-week mission on board is known as Muninn.
Satellite communication underpins everyday life, enabling fundamental improvements not just in communication, but also in transport, healthcare, safety and security, environmental services and many other industries.
The Advanced Research in Telecommunications Systems (ARTES) 4.0 programme enables European and Canadian industry to explore, through research and development, innovative concepts that stimulates the wider economy, creating new business and jobs across almost every industry. ARTES 4.0 supports the production of market-leading and cutting-edge products and services within a fiercely competitive global satellite communications market.
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 as Marcus Wandt and his crewmates arrived to the Space Station around 36 hours after liftoff.
Marcus is the first of a new generation of European astronauts to fly on a commercial human spaceflight opportunity with Axiom Space. His mission is supported by ESA and the Swedish National Space Agency (SNSA). Marcus’s mission is called Muninn.
During his two-week mission, Marcus will devote much of his time to scientific activities and technology demonstrations that could shape the way we live and work on Earth. In total, he will run around 20 experiments.
Marcus Wandt was selected in November 2022 as a member of the ESA astronaut reserve after a year-long selection process. The 2022 ESA recruitment campaign received over 22 5000 applications from across its Member States.
Timestaps of the video: 00:00:00 – 01:55:44 – Pre-Docking programme 01:55:45 – 03:14:29 – Complete docking to the Space Station 03:14:30 – 03:16:00 – Hatching opening 03:16:01 – 03:37:24 – Axiom 3 Mission crew entering the Space Station 03:37:25 – 03:49:00 – Welcoming ceremony
Follow Marcus’s journey on the Muninn website, check our launch kit and connect with him on his Instagram and X accounts.
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.
