Cheops, ESA’s new exoplanet mission, has successfully completed its almost three months of in-orbit commissioning, exceeding expectations for its performance. The satellite, which will commence routine science operations by the end of April, has already obtained promising observations of known exoplanet-hosting stars, with many exciting discoveries to come. To source
Further analyses are showing the continued low levels of nitrogen dioxide concentrations across Europe – coinciding with lockdown measures implemented to stop the spread of the coronavirus. New data from the Copernicus Sentinel-5P satellite, from the European Union Copernicus programme, show some cities seeing levels fall by 45—50% compared to the same period last year. […]
Video: 00:03:00 ESA’s first mission dedicated to the study of exoplanets is about to start its science operations after successfully completing its in-orbit commissioning phase. Cheops (Characterising Exoplanet Satellite) was launched from Europe’s Spaceport in French Guiana on 18 December 2019. Since then the telescope cover opened and started observing its first stars. Now that the […]
A start-up company that has repurposed upcycled solar cells to generate ultraviolet light to disinfect people’s hands has won €20 000 in a hackathon designed to share and rapidly develop ideas to combat the coronavirus pandemic. More than 12 000 people from over 100 countries took part in the Global Hack, organised by Estonian-based Garage48 and sponsored […]
Video: 01:05:04 ESA astronaut Luca Parmitano and NASA astronaut Drew Morgan take you on a unique tour of the International Space Station shot in one take with two cameras strapped together. Luca and Drew take it in turns to guide you through the modules and spacecraft docked to the orbital outpost. Starting from the Soyuz […]
Image: Seeing asteroids in the dark To source
Image: The Venetian lagoon appears almost deserted following Italy’s lockdown to limit the spread of the coronavirus disease – as seen by Copernicus Sentinel-2 To source
With increasing levels of greenhouse gases causing our climate to change, it is important to understand exactly where these gases come from and how they disperse in the atmosphere. A new dataset, produced by the European Space Agency’s Climate Change Initiative, provides a detailed view of carbon dioxide and methane – two of the most […]
Image: Power glove To source
ESA Education is launching Expedition: Home, a one-stop website for kids and parents to do fun space-based activities and keep learning while at home. To source
Some £2.6 million to develop space-enabled technology and services that can strengthen the NHS’s response to coronavirus has been launched today by the UK Space Agency in collaboration with ESA. To source
Since March 2017, ESA’s NELIOTA project has been regularly looking out for ‘lunar flashes’ on the Moon, to help us better understand the threat posed by small asteroid impacts. The project detects the flash of light produced when an asteroid collides energetically with the lunar surface, and recently recorded its 100th impact. But this time, […]
If someone had been watching as Apollo 15’s Falcon Lunar Module headed down beside the Moon’s Appenine mountains in 1971, then this is what they would have seen. ESA researchers, working with UK company Timelab Technologies , are recreating historic missions to the Moon in high-definition 360 virtual reality, as a way of gaining new […]