http://www.sciencedaily.com/news/space_time/esa/ European Space Agency News. Read all about ESA initiatives and programs, see space images. en-us Wed, 25 Nov 2009 10:05:01 EST Wed, 25 Nov 2009 10:05:01 EST 60 http://www.sciencedaily.com/images/logosmall.gif http://www.sciencedaily.com/news/space_time/esa/ For more science articles, visit ScienceDaily. http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/11/091113101417.htm This morning, mission controllers confirmed that ESA's comet chaser Rosetta had swung by Earth at 8:45 CET as planned, skimming past our planet to pick up a gravitational boost for an epic journey to rendezvous with comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko in 2014. Fri, 13 Nov 2009 17:00:00 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/11/091113101417.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/11/091112103425.htm When Europe's comet chaser Rosetta swings by Earth on Nov. 13 for a critical gravity assist, tracking data will be collected to precisely measure the satellite's change in orbital energy. The results could help unravel a cosmic mystery that has stumped scientists for two decades. Fri, 13 Nov 2009 02:00:00 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/11/091112103425.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/11/091111121247.htm Into its second week in orbit, Proba-2's spacecraft platform has proven to be in excellent health. This leaves the way clear for commissioning the many new technology payloads aboard the mini-satellite, among the smallest ever flown by ESA. Wed, 11 Nov 2009 00:00:00 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/11/091111121247.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/11/091110105353.htm Aerosols, very small particles suspended in the air, play an important role in the global climate balance and in regulating climate change. They are one of the greatest sources of uncertainty in climate change models. ESA's GlobAerosol project has been making the most of European satellite capabilities to monitor them. Tue, 10 Nov 2009 00:00:00 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/11/091110105353.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/10/091029111907.htm A new European Earth observation satellite will be launched in the early hours of Monday November 2 from the Plesetsk Cosmodrome in northern Russia. The European Space Agency Soil Moisture and Ocean Salinity satellite will measure moisture levels in the Earth's soils and the saltiness of the world's oceans from space for the very first time. Thu, 29 Oct 2009 23:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/10/091029111907.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/10/091021101820.htm As preparations for the launch of SMOS and Proba-2 continue on schedule, the engineers and technicians at the Russian launch site say goodbye as both satellites are encapsulated within the half-shells of the Rockot fairing. Wed, 21 Oct 2009 23:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/10/091021101820.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/10/091020122532.htm ESA's Rosetta comet chaser will swing by Earth on Nov. 13 to pick up orbital energy and begin the final leg of its 10-year journey to the outer Solar System. Several observations of the Earth-moon system are planned before the spacecraft heads out to study comet 67/P Churyumov-Gerasimenko. Tue, 20 Oct 2009 23:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/10/091020122532.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/10/091029151322.htm Starting in 2010, an international crew of six will simulate a 520-day round-trip to Mars, including a 30-day stay on the martian surface. In reality, they will live and work in a sealed facility in Moscow, Russia, to investigate the psychological and medical aspects of a long-duration space mission. ESA is looking for European volunteers to take part. Tue, 20 Oct 2009 00:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/10/091029151322.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/10/091015091605.htm The Moon is a big sponge that absorbs electrically charged particles given out by the Sun. These particles interact with the oxygen present in some dust grains on the lunar surface, producing water. This discovery, made by the ESA-ISRO instrument SARA onboard the Indian Chandrayaan-1 lunar orbiter, confirms how water is likely being created on the lunar surface. Mon, 19 Oct 2009 05:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/10/091015091605.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/10/091016094030.htm Direct communication between Earth and Mars can be strongly disturbed and even blocked by the Sun for weeks at a time, cutting off any future human mission to the Red Planet. An European Space Agency engineer working with engineers in the UK may have found a solution using a new type of orbit combined with continuous-thrust ion propulsion. Fri, 16 Oct 2009 17:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/10/091016094030.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/10/091013104342.htm A recent NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope image captures what appears to be one very bright and bizarre galaxy, but is actually the result of a pair of spiral galaxies that resemble our own Milky Way smashing together at breakneck speeds. The product of this dramatic collision, called NGC 2623, or Arp 243, is about 250 million light-years away in the constellation of Cancer. Wed, 14 Oct 2009 08:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/10/091013104342.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/09/090925102055.htm The European Space Agency's SMART-1 team has released an image of the future impact site of NASA's Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite (LCROSS). LCROSS will search for water ice on the Moon by making two impacts into a crater named Cabeus A at the lunar South Pole. The impacts are scheduled for 11:30 and 11:34 am UT on 9 October 2009. Sun, 27 Sep 2009 17:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/09/090925102055.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/09/090921175008.htm What's about the size of a large refrigerator, weighs a ton and may help pave the way for new and improved metals or glasses here on Earth? It's the Materials Science Research Rack -- a new laboratory on board the International Space Station. Tue, 22 Sep 2009 05:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/09/090921175008.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/09/090917111503.htm Planck, the European Space Agency's mission to study the early Universe, started surveying the sky regularly from its vantage point at L2 on August 13. The instruments of ESA's "time machine" were fine-tuned for optimum performance in the period preceding this date. In preparation for routine scientific operations, their long-term stability has been verified by conducting a first trial survey. Sun, 20 Sep 2009 05:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/09/090917111503.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/09/090916123643.htm Speeding along in orbit at more than seven kilometres per second, the International Space Station has its surfaces carefully shielded against potentially catastrophic collisions with micrometeoroids or man-made debris. Except that is for a trio of unprotected panels until recently attached to external payload platform of ESA’s Columbus module, specifically intended to sustain impacts from tiny specks of space dust. Thu, 17 Sep 2009 11:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/09/090916123643.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/08/090814202536.htm The Planck space telescope has begun to collect light left over from the Big Bang explosion that created our universe. Sun, 16 Aug 2009 05:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/08/090814202536.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/08/090810085308.htm Mars may not be as dormant as scientists once thought. The 2004 discovery of methane means that either there is life on Mars, or that volcanic activity continues to generate heat below the martian surface. ESA plans to find out which it is. Either outcome is big news for a planet once thought to be biologically and geologically inactive. Thu, 13 Aug 2009 08:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/08/090810085308.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/08/090805114618.htm The Naval Research Laboratory's satellite suite, the Atmospheric Neutral Density Experiment 2 (ANDE-2), was deployed from NASA's Space Shuttle Endeavour on July 30, 2009. Wed, 05 Aug 2009 00:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/08/090805114618.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/07/090707121411.htm The US civil space program should be aligned with widely acknowledged national challenges, says a new report from the National Research Council. Tue, 07 Jul 2009 00:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/07/090707121411.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/06/090628174451.htm Plans for a new international space hotel students have been unveiled by students this month as part of a project for their Masters degree. Students had to grapple with the challenges of designing that could function in a zero gravity environment. Mon, 06 Jul 2009 05:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/06/090628174451.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/07/090703142158.htm On July 2 the detectors of Planck's High Frequency Instrument reached their amazingly low operational temperature of -273°C, making them the coldest known objects in space. The spacecraft has also just entered its final orbit around the second Lagrange point of the Sun-Earth system, L2. Sat, 04 Jul 2009 17:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/07/090703142158.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/07/090701131301.htm A new class of black hole, more than 500 times the mass of the Sun, has been discovered by an international team of astronomers. Thu, 02 Jul 2009 14:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/07/090701131301.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/07/090701122712.htm Astronomers have unveiled an unprecedented new atlas of the inner regions of the Milky Way, our home galaxy, peppered with thousands of previously undiscovered dense knots of cold cosmic dust -- the potential birthplaces of new stars. Made using observations from the APEX telescope in Chile, this survey is the largest map of cold dust so far. Wed, 01 Jul 2009 20:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/07/090701122712.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/06/090626140124.htm Upon receipt of the last command from Earth, the transmitter on Ulysses will switch off on 30 June, bringing one of the most successful and longest missions in spaceflight history to an end. Ulysses, which operated for more than 18 years, had charted the unexplored regions of space above the poles of the sun. Sun, 28 Jun 2009 05:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/06/090626140124.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/06/090626140128.htm ESA has informed Argentinean authorities that an area 30 km south of the town of Malargüe in Mendoza province, about 1000 km west of Buenos Aires, has been chosen as the best option to build a new 35-meter antenna in support of its programs. Fri, 26 Jun 2009 00:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/06/090626140128.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/06/090608071952.htm Scientists have developed a new cleaning protocol for space hardware, such as the scoops of Mars rovers, which could be used on future "search for life" missions on other planets. Wed, 10 Jun 2009 17:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/06/090608071952.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/06/090605112335.htm Beginning June 5, ESA's Planck satellite will carry out a critical mid-course maneuver that will place the satellite on its final trajectory for arrival at L2, the second Lagrange point of the Sun-Earth system, early in July. Fri, 05 Jun 2009 00:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/06/090605112335.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/06/090603181402.htm Cloud chasers studying Saturn's moon Titan say its clouds form and move much like those on Earth, but in a much slower, more lingering fashion. Thu, 04 Jun 2009 05:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/06/090603181402.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/05/090527073023.htm ESA's gravity mission GOCE has achieved a first in the history of satellite technology. The sophisticated electric propulsion system has shown that it is able to keep the satellite completely free from drag as it cuts through the remnants of Earth's atmosphere – paving the way for the best gravity data ever. Thu, 28 May 2009 05:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/05/090527073023.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/05/090528092732.htm ESA's next Earth Explorer, SMOS, has just passed the all-important Flight Acceptance Review, signifying that all the elements that make up the mission are in place for launch later this year. The satellite can now be prepared for its journey to the Plesetsk Cosmodrome in northern Russia. Thu, 28 May 2009 00:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/05/090528092732.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/05/090525105226.htm The historic and successful Hubble Servicing Mission 4 concluded with a trouble-free Space Shuttle landing on Sunday. During a series of unprecedented spacewalks, astronauts replaced and repaired a total of four instruments. The Wide Field Camera 3 and Cosmic Origins Spectrograph were installed and the Advanced Camera for Surveys and Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph were successfully repaired. Mon, 25 May 2009 17:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/05/090525105226.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/05/090514162555.htm The Herschel and Planck spacecraft successfully blasted into space May 14 from the Guiana Space Centre in French Guiana. Herschel will explore, with unprecedented clarity, the earliest stages of star and galaxy birth in the universe; it will help answer the question of how our sun and Milky Way galaxy came to be. Planck will look back to almost the beginning of time itself, gathering new details to help explain how our universe came to be. Thu, 14 May 2009 17:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/05/090514162555.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/05/090515084157.htm The space telescope Herschel is the largest space-borne observatory to date, carrying the biggest astronomical mirror ever launched into orbit. Calar Alto Observatory has built the telescopes applied applying the reflective aluminum coating to the mirror. Thu, 14 May 2009 00:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/05/090515084157.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/05/090511181402.htm Once Herschel and Planck are launched, ESA's Flight Dynamics team are responsible for knowing where they are, where they are headed and how soon they will get there. The team uses sophisticated techniques to solve some of spaceflight's most complex orbital problems. Wed, 13 May 2009 23:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/05/090511181402.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/05/090505123956.htm Two missions to study the cosmos, Herschel and Planck, are scheduled to blast into space May 14 aboard the same Ariane 5 rocket from the Guiana Space Center in French Guiana. Sat, 09 May 2009 11:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/05/090505123956.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/04/090429151946.htm Many of the organic molecules that make up life on Earth have also been found in space. Astronomers will use the Herschel Space Observatory to study these chemical compounds in new detail in the warm clouds of gas and dust around young stars. Wed, 06 May 2009 11:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/04/090429151946.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/04/090422085759.htm First results from the GOODS NICMOS survey, the largest Hubble Space Telescope program ever led from outside of the United States, reveal how the most massive galaxies in the early universe assembled to form the most massive objects in the universe today. Tue, 28 Apr 2009 05:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/04/090422085759.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/04/090422085837.htm Using the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope (HST), astronomers have taken the first optical images of a dramatic stellar outburst and discovered a peanut-shaped bubble expanding rapidly into space. Sat, 25 Apr 2009 17:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/04/090422085837.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/04/090409142301.htm Where does Earth stop and space begin? 118-kilometers above the ground, according to scientists who created an new instrument that is able to pinpoint the so-called "edge of space." Fri, 10 Apr 2009 17:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/04/090409142301.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/04/090401102938.htm Arctic reindeer herders are facing the challenges of adapting to climate change as a warmer Arctic climate makes it harder for herds to find food and navigate. To help them adapt, the ESA-backed Polar View initiative is providing them with satellite-based snow maps. Fri, 10 Apr 2009 05:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/04/090401102938.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/04/090406132821.htm GOCE's sophisticated electric ion propulsion system has been switched on and confirmed to be operating normally, marking another crucial milestone in the satellite's post-launch commissioning phase. Wed, 08 Apr 2009 02:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/04/090406132821.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/03/090328163312.htm New movies and images from Cassini of Saturn's moon Titan are providing a bird's-eye view of the moon's Earth-like landscapes. Sun, 29 Mar 2009 11:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/03/090328163312.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/03/090317125224.htm A new Hubble Space Telescope image shows four of Saturn's moons circling the ringed planet. Sun, 22 Mar 2009 11:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/03/090317125224.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/03/090320112112.htm Europe's GOCE satellite has been formally declared ready for work. During the critical Launch and Early Orbit Phase beginning with separation from its booster, GOCE was checked out to confirm that all of its control systems are operating normally. GOCE (the Gravity field and steady-state Ocean Circulation Explorer) is the first of a new family of ESA satellites designed to study our planet and its environment in order to enhance our knowledge and understanding of Earth-system processes and their evolution, to enable us to address the challenges of global climate change. Fri, 20 Mar 2009 00:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/03/090320112112.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/03/090302111328.htm Titan's vast dune fields, which may act like weather vanes to determine general wind direction on Saturn's biggest moon, have been mapped by scientists who compiled four years of radar data collected by the Cassini spacecraft. Wed, 04 Mar 2009 11:00:00 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/03/090302111328.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/02/090217100950.htm Scientists and engineers who have been working on the James Webb Space Telescope mission for years are getting very excited, because some of the actual pieces that will fly aboard the Webb telescope are now being built. One of the pieces, called the Backplane, is like a "spine" to the telescope. The Backplane is now being assembled by Alliant Techsystems at its Magna, Utah facility. Thu, 26 Feb 2009 02:00:00 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/02/090217100950.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/02/090218132427.htm At a recent meeting in Washington, NASA and European Space Agency officials decided to continue pursuing studies of a mission to Jupiter and its four largest moons, and to plan for another potential mission to visit Saturn's largest moon Titan and Enceladus. Wed, 18 Feb 2009 00:00:00 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/02/090218132427.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/02/090210101918.htm ESA's Science Programme Committee has extended the operations of ESA's Mars Express, Venus Express and Cluster missions until 31 December 2009. Tue, 10 Feb 2009 00:00:00 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/02/090210101918.htm