ESA’s exoplanet-observer Cheops acquired the first image of its initial target star, following the successful telescope cover opening on 29 January 2020. The intentionally blurry image is a product of the specially designed telescope optics, which are deliberately defocused to maximise the precision of Cheops’ measurements and enable its unprecedented study of exoplanets, or planets […]
Watch the launch of ESA’s new powerful Sun explorer, Solar Orbiter, on ESA Web TV on Monday 10 February from 03:30 GMT (04:30 CET). To source
Image: ESA astronaut Luca Parmitano emerges from the Soyuz MS-13 spacecraft after landing in the steppes of Kazakhstan at 09:12 GMT (10:12 CET), 6 February 2020. Luca returned to Earth, after six months on the International Space Station mission, alongside US astronaut Christina Koch and Russian cosmonaut Alexander Skvortsov. This was Luca’s second mission to […]
ESA astronaut Luca Parmitano returned to Earth today alongside NASA astronaut Christina Koch and Roscosmos cosmonaut Alexander Skvortsov, marking the end of his second six-month International Space Station mission known as ‘Beyond’. To source
A grand synthesis of Rosetta data has shown how its target comet repeatedly changed colour during the two years it was watched by the spacecraft. The chameleon comet’s nucleus became progressively less red as it made its close pass around the Sun, and then red again as it returned to deep space. To source
For the first time, an ESA deep space antenna has sent commands to two ESA spacecraft, simultaneously, at the Red Planet. To source
As ESA astronaut Luca Parmitano marks his 200 days in space as part of his Beyond mission, it is time to pack up a few experiments, wrap up science reports and give way to further research that will continue beyond his second spaceflight. To source
Image: ESA’s Solar Orbiter spacecraft being encapsulated into the fairing of the US Atlas V 411 rocket at the Astrotech payload processing facility near Kennedy Space Center in Florida during launch preparations on 20 January 2020. Solar Orbiter is an ESA-led space mission with strong NASA participation to study the Sun, its outer atmosphere and […]
Image: ESA’s new Sun-observing spacecraft Solar Orbiter inside the fairing of the US Atlas V 411 rocket at the Astrotech payload processing facility near Kennedy Space Center in Florida during launch preparations on 21 January 2020. Solar Orbiter is an ESA-led space mission with strong NASA participation to study the Sun, its outer atmosphere and […]
Image: ESA’s Solar Orbiter spacecraft being encapsulated into the fairing of the US Atlas V 411 rocket at the Astrotech payload processing facility near Kennedy Space Center in Florida ahead of the launch on 21 January 2020. Solar Orbiter is an ESA-led space mission with strong NASA participation to study the Sun, its outer atmosphere […]
Image: The fairing of the US Atlas V 411 rocket with ESA’s Solar Orbiter spacecraft inside at the Astrotech payload processing facility near Kennedy Space Center in Florida during launch preparations on 21 January 2020. Solar Orbiter is an ESA-led space mission with strong NASA participation to study the Sun, its outer atmosphere and what […]
Wetlands worldwide are vanishing at an alarming rate. New maps produced by ESA’s GlobWetland Africa project show how satellite observations can be used for the effective use and management of wetlands in Africa. To source
After six months on the International Space Station and just over four as commander, ESA astronaut Luca Parmitano will return to Earth together with US astronaut Christina Koch and Russian cosmonaut Alexander Skvortsov in the Soyuz-MS13 spacecraft. To source