Archive | Science

The ExoMars 2016 mission is planned for launch at 09:31 GMT (10:31 CET) on 14 March from Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. Representatives of traditional and social media are invited to apply for accreditation to attend a day-long event at ESA’s control centre in Darmstadt, Germany. To source

The Trace Gas Orbiter and Schiaparelli have been mated together ahead of their launch to Mars next month To source

Final showcase for Astro-H, Japan’s satellite for X-ray astronomy planned for 12 February launch To source

The James Webb Space Telescope is rapidly taking shape, with 12 of the 18 mirror segments now installed To source

ESA and Airbus Defence & Space celebrate the industrial contract for building the Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer, Juice To source

Two European instruments and four European contributions on two Russian instruments have been selected for the Russian-led science platform that will land on Mars as part of the ESA–Roscosmos ExoMars 2018 mission. To source

LISA Pathfinder, ESA’s technology demonstrator for detecting gravitational-waves, is set for launch on 2 December at 04:15 GMT (05:15 CET) on a Vega rocket from Europe’s Spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana. Media representatives can follow the launch online and attend the event in ESA’s operations centre, ESOC, in Darmstadt, Germany. To source

The ESA–Roscosmos ExoMars 2016 spacecraft are ready to depart Europe for the Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan, to prepare for their launch in March.   Members of the media are invited to join ExoMars scientists and engineers from ESA, Roscosmos and Thales Alenia Space in Cannes, France on 25 November for a final glimpse of the ExoMars […]

A local cosmic celebrity was recently pictured among the multitude of stars and Solar System bodies surveyed by ESA’s Gaia satellite: Comet 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko, currently accompanied by another ESA spacecraft, Rosetta. To source

ESA’s Rosetta spacecraft has made the first in situ detection of oxygen molecules outgassing from a comet, a surprising observation that suggests they were incorporated into the comet during its formation. To source

News, images and updates about ESA’s technology demonstrator, making the first steps to observing gravitational waves from space To source

Two comets collided at low speed in the early Solar System to give rise to the distinctive ‘rubber duck’ shape of Comet 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko, say Rosetta scientists. To source

Spectacular new images of the Veil Nebula from Hubble To source