A free app that helps people observe social distancing to slow the spread of coronavirus is about to launch. Devised by Lanterne, a UK start-up company supported by ESA, it uses satellite data and artificial intelligence technologies to identify where people are congregating anywhere in the world. To source
ESA’s cubic-metre-sized Proba-V minisatellite will soon end its nearly seven-year global mission to monitor the daily growth of all Earth’s vegetation. As Copernicus Sentinel-3 takes on this task instead, Proba-V will be free to perform experimental monitoring over Europe and Africa – including co-observations with new companion missions. To source
Jean-Marie Luton passed away on 16 April 2020 at the age of 77. He was ESA’s fourth Director General, serving from 1990 to 1997. A French aerospace engineer, he held several key positions during his remarkable career and will forever remain an important figure not just for ESA, but also for the wider European space […]
Week in images: 13-17 April 2020 Discover our week through the lens To source
Almost 50 years after the Apollo missions returned lunar material to Earth, ESA experts are helping to uncover the secrets of two previously unopened samples to learn more about ancient processes on the Moon – and to refine and practice techniques for future sample return missions. To source
Apollo 13 has been called ‘NASA’s finest hour’. What was meant to have been the third lunar landing in April 1970, 50 years ago, became a struggle to safely return the crew of three when an oxygen tank explosion crippled their Apollo spacecraft. In the end, it was a major success. The interaction between the […]
Image: The Copernicus Sentinel-2 mission takes us over Montevideo – the capital and largest city of Uruguay. To source
Video: 00:02:39 In this week’s edition of the Earth from Space programme, the Copernicus Sentinel-2 mission takes us over Montevideo – the capital and largest city of Uruguay. See also Montevideo, Uruguay to download the image. To source
With an outbreak of wildfires recently threatening the closed Chernobyl nuclear power plant in the Ukraine, the Copernicus Emergency Mapping Service has been activated and the Copernicus Sentinel-2 satellite mission has imaged the fires and smoke, and mapped the resulting area of burned ground. To source
Video: 00:00:33 A compilation of about 200 images collected by the joint European-Japanese mission BepiColombo during its first – and only – flyby of Earth on 10 April 2020, a manoeuvre needed to adjust its trajectory en route to its destination, Mercury. The spacecraft, equipped with three ‘selfie’ cameras, captured a series of stunning images of our home […]
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 […]