European Space Agency

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Europe Has the Next Best Thing to a New Moon

European Space Agency opens astronaut training facility with a faux lunar surface

(Newser) - Donning heavy spacesuits and visors to protect them from sunlight, astronauts Thomas Pesquet of France and Matthias Maurer of Germany, accompanied by their trusty canine robot, move slowly on what looks like the lunar surface. But it's not the moon. It will be years before the European Space Agency...

Dead Satellite Spotted Falling Toward Earth

ERS-2 expected to mostly burn up in Earth's atmosphere on Wednesday

(Newser) - Sometime on Wednesday, a 5,000-pound satellite will come crashing down to Earth. The European Space Agency's European Remote Sensing 2 (ERS-2) satellite, which orbited Earth from 1995 to 2011, is expected to reenter Earth's atmosphere Wednesday, though exactly when is uncertain. As of Tuesday morning, the satellite...

Gravitational Wave Detector Will Be a 'Game-Changer'

2035 LISA mission will hunt for ripples in space-time

(Newser) - As part of his theory of general relativity, Albert Einstein predicated a body accelerating in space would create radiating ripples in space-time. He was, of course, correct. But he was wrong about one thing. Einstein believed gravitational waves, even those caused by the collision of massive objects, would be too...

'Impossible Satellite' Just Pulled Off a Big First

European Space Agency successfully steers defunct Aeolus to crash into the ocean

(Newser) - Aeolus was never designed to come back to Earth after its space mission. Now, however, the defunct weather satellite is home, after the European Space Agency successfully guided it to crash into the Atlantic Ocean—something that had never been done before, reports the Guardian . US Space Command confirmed that...

Mars Has Its First Livestream
Images
Show Mars
in Real Time
video
Jun 2, 2023 2:12 PM CDT

Images Show Mars in Real Time

With a slight delay, European Space Agency sends images for an hour

(Newser) - People of Earth had their first almost live view of Mars on Friday afternoon, streamed by the European Space Agency. For about an hour, a new image appeared every 50 seconds on YouTube and Twitter that was captured by a camera on the agency's Mars Express orbiter. There were...

Space Agency Says Moon Should Have Own Time Zone

ESA says joint international effort is underway

(Newser) - With more lunar missions than ever on the horizon, the European Space Agency wants to give the moon its own time zone. "This week, the agency said space organizations around the world are considering how best to keep time on the moon. The idea came up during a meeting...

Asteroid Was Correctly Forecast, Only the 7th Time Ever

ESA gave people a heads-up, and UK sky watchers got a treat

(Newser) - The European Space Agency dashed off what turned out to be a pretty impressive prediction—and people who live near the English Channel and paid attention were rewarded in the wee hours of Monday. That's when a small asteroid streaked through the sky and put on a light show...

The World’s First Disabled Astronaut Has Been Selected

European Space Agency chose former Paralympic sprinter John McFall

(Newser) - A British man who lost his right leg in a motorcycle accident when he was 19 is going to become the world's first disabled astronaut—or "parastronaut," as the European Space Agency terms it. John McFall, 41, became a Paralympic sprinter after the accident and later trained...

Solar Orbiter Begins Historic Mission

Spacecraft will provide first glimpses of sun's pole

(Newser) - Europe and NASA's Solar Orbiter rocketed into space Sunday night on an unprecedented mission to capture the first pictures of the sun's elusive poles. The $1.5 billion spacecraft will join NASA's Parker Solar Probe, launched 1.5 years ago, in coming perilously close to the sun...

Stay in Bed for 2 Months, Get Paid $19K

One catch: you'll need to speak German, but it's all in the name of science

(Newser) - Hate standing on your feet all day? So much that the thought of staying in bed for two months is appealing? Good news: You can do just that, contribute to NASA research, and get paid $19,000 for your trouble—so long as you speak German and are free from...

Permanent Ice Crater Found in Our Solar System

Skating, anyone?

(Newser) - Water on Mars? That's an ongoing question, but there's definitely a crater filled with ice year-round, Science Alert reports. New images from the European Space Agency's Mars Express show the Korolev crater, which measures 50.6 miles in diameter and 1.2 miles deep, filled nearly to...

7-Year Trip to Mercury to Begin
7-Year Trip to
Mercury to Begin
Oct 19, 2018 12:00 PM CDT

7-Year Trip to Mercury to Begin

Twin probes scheduled to reach planet in 2025

(Newser) - Final preparations are underway for the launch of a joint mission by European and Japanese space agencies to send twin probes to Mercury, reports the AP . An Ariane 5 rocket is scheduled to lift the uncrewed spacecraft into orbit from French Guiana shortly before midnight Friday, the start of a...

Space Lab Is Likely Only Weeks From Falling

New estimates suggest re-entry in late March or early April

(Newser) - China's "Heavenly Palace" will tumble to Earth within weeks, experts say. Two new estimates suggest the Tiangong-1 space lab will fall from space in an uncontrolled re-entry in late March or early April. According to a "highly variable" estimate put forth Tuesday, the European Space Agency predicts...

Huge Glaciers Found Hiding Beneath Mars Surface
Huge Glaciers Found Hiding
Beneath Mars Surface
NEW STUDY
Jan 12, 2018 9:54 AM CST

Huge Glaciers Found Hiding Beneath Mars Surface

Scientists already knew they were there, but they've just seen them in a whole new light

(Newser) - Scientists already knew that water ice lurked below Mars' surface. But a new study published in the journal Science sheds new light on what Space.com calls "apparent glaciers," seen anew thanks to high-res imagery from the HiRISE camera on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. Using this data,...

Astronaut's Pics of Belgium Are Beautiful—and Bothersome

Country leaves most of its streetlights on all night long, and it's obvious from space

(Newser) - After Thomas Pesquet gets off work and completes his exercise routine, he often whiles away his evenings with his camera, taking pictures he thinks others will enjoy—and those images recently exposed to the entire world the odd obsession Belgium has with leaving its lights on all night long. Pesquet,...

Glitch Caused Mars Lander to Plummet 2.3 Miles

It thought it had landed, but it was mid-air

(Newser) - The European Space Agency's Mars lander ended up as a smudge on the red planet's surface because of what Gizmodo calls a "crazy miscalculation." According to a report released by the ESA, the Schiaparelli lander had deployed its parachute and was descending normally when the device...

It Seems Mars Lander's Crash Made Quite the Explosion

The European Space Agency lost contact with its lander Wednesday

(Newser) - We now have the most definitive sign yet—courtesy of a NASA orbiter—that the European Space Agency's Mars lander crashed onto the planet's surface in what the AP describes as a "fiery ball of rocket fuel." ESA lost contact with the Schiaparelli lander Wednesday, approximately...

Plenty Went Wrong With ESA's Mars Lander

Schiaparelli probably fell a half-mile or more

(Newser) - The Schiaparelli spacecraft that tried to land on Mars Wednesday is probably dead or badly injured, the European Space Agency confirmed Thursday. It's placing the blame on a problem with the lander's parachute, reports CNN . "The ejection itself appears to have occurred earlier than expected," which...

Europe Fears Its Mars Lander Has Crashed

The ESA lost contact with its robot less than a minute before it landed

(Newser) - It appears Europe's latest attempt to put a lander on the surface has Mars has once again resulted in failure. The BBC reports the European Space Agency lost communication with the Schiaparelli robot less than a minute before it was supposed to reach the Martian surface Wednesday. The lander'...

3-2-1—Crash! Rosetta Lands on Comet
A Comet Crash
Landing for
the Ages
Sep 30, 2016 6:35 AM CDT

A Comet Crash Landing for the Ages

Space probe Rosetta makes final journey onto comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko

(Newser) - It took the Rosetta a decade to catch up with Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko, and on Friday, the space probe was sent to crash-land on the comet, ending its 12-year mission and giving European Space Agency scientists "emotional closure," the Guardian reports. "Rosetta has been comparable to the moon...

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