Four pioneering ESA Technology CubeSats reentered Earth’s atmosphere over the last few months. Each was only about the size of a shoebox or smaller, but despite their diminutive dimensions the missions left an outsize legacy in terms of demonstrating innovative space technology, industrial capacity building and scientific data return.
#engineering #technology #space #science #esa #europeanspaceagency
posted by pod_feeder_v2
https://astrodon.social/@esoastronomy/113669009506943775 esoastronomy@astrodon.social - After all, black holes are not as destructive as we thought! 😮
Using our Very Large Telescope, astronomers have discovered, for the first time ever, a binary star close to our galaxy's supermassive black hole. Binary stars are extremely common throughout the galaxy but not close to the black hole, which makes this new system really interesting!
Named D9, it looks like a single dot, but its speed wobbles periodically back and forth, revealing that this is in fact two stars orbiting each other as they move together around the black hole.
Interested? Read more: https://www.eso.org/public/news/eso2418/
Video summary: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SQVG7pqcHTc
📷 ESO/F. Peißker et al., S. Guisard
Video: 00:01:20
In December 2024 the first Themis – Europe’s demonstrator of a reusable rocket first stage – completed a ‘full fit-check’ standing tall at ArianeGroup’s facility in Les Mureaux, France.
This step in the rocket development proves that all main elements fit together as planned, confirming the mechanical connections and interfaces from the lower to the upper parts of the rocket stage connect smoothly and as intended.
The 28-m tall model includes the main elements for Themis such as the engine bay, the fuel tanks, the flight control bay and the upper part. It is powered by the new-generation European Prometheus, an engine developed by ArianeGroup that runs on liquid methane and liquid oxygen and can vary its throttle in flight that is necessary for landing.
This fit-check was one of the key requirements and one of the final steps in Les Mureaux to conclude the development phase of Themis – designated T1H for Themis 1-engine Hop – opening the way for its transport to the Esrange Space Center in Sweden from where it will have its first flight next year. Its first flight will be a short hop, taking off and landing from the same location, organised as part of the European Commission Salto programme.
#launchers #space #science #esa #europeanspaceagency
posted by pod_feeder_v2
Video: 00:11:10
In 2024, ESA continued to drive Europe’s innovation and excellence in space, equipping the continent with advanced tools and knowledge to address global and local challenges. The year saw pioneering missions, cutting-edge satellites and the pivotal restoration of Europe’s independent access to space.
The first Ariane 6 launch was perhaps ‘the’ highlight of the year but it was only one of many achievements. We saw the last Vega launch and then the return to flight of Vega-C, the more powerful, upgraded version carrying Sentinel-1C.
Far away in our Solar System, the ESA/JAXA BepiColombo spacecraft performed twoMercury flybys in 2024, needed so that it can enter orbit around Mercury in 2026. Juice also performed a crucial gravity assist, this time becoming the first spacecraft to conduct a Moon-Earth double flyby on its way to Jupiter.
Twenty years after ESA’s Rosetta was launched and 10 years since its historic arrival at the comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko, we launched another spacecraft to a small body, the Hera planetary defence mission to investigate asteroid Dimorphos.
2024 was an important year for Europe’s Galileo constellation which continued to expand with the launch of four new satellites and an updated Galileo ground system. The year also saw the launch of ESA’s Proba-3 mission: two precision formation-flying satellites forming a solar coronagraph to study the Sun’s faint corona.
In human spaceflight, Europe continues to contribute to science from the ISS as Andreas Mogensen’s Huginn mission continued into 2024. Andreas even met up in space with ESA project astronaut Marcus Wandt who was launched on his Muninn mission, making it the first time two Scandinavians were in space together.
Meanwhile the latest class of ESA astronauts completed basic training and graduated in April. Two of them, Sophie and Raphaël, were then assigned to long-duration missions to the ISS in 2026.
We made crucial steps for Europe in gaining access to the Moon: the inauguration of our LUNA facility with DLR, and the delivery of a third European Service Module for NASA’s Orion spacecraft as part of the Artemis programme.
Europe is also contributing to the international Lunar Gateway and developing and ESA lunar lander called Argonaut. These landers will rely on ESA Moonlight, the programme to establish Europe’s first dedicated satellite constellation for lunar communication and navigation.
As 2024 draws to a close, ESA’s achievements this year have reinforced Europe’s role in space. ESA’s journey continues to explore new frontiers, shaping the space landscape for generations to come.
#news #space #science #esa #europeanspaceagency
posted by pod_feeder_v2
Image: Fit for service: Themis reusable rocket stage demonstrator
#launchers #space #science #esa #europeanspaceagency
posted by pod_feeder_v2
Submarines are emerging as a unique research platform to study human adaption to extreme environments – from ocean depths to outer space.
#human #space #science #esa #europeanspaceagency
posted by pod_feeder_v2
Our understanding of planet formation in the Universe’s early days is challenged by new data from the NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope. Webb solved a puzzle by proving a controversial finding made with the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope more than 20 years ago.
#space #science #esa #europeanspaceagency
posted by pod_feeder_v2
A multi-orbit constellation of about 300 satellites that will deliver resilient, secure and fast communications for EU governments, European companies and citizens will be put in orbit after two contracts were confirmed today in Brussels.
#news #space #science #esa #europeanspaceagency
posted by pod_feeder_v2
Relive Europe’s greatest space achievements of the year
#news #space #science #esa #europeanspaceagency
posted by pod_feeder_v2
https://mastodon.social/@65dBnoise/113652700422346377 65dBnoise@mastodon.social - What's very interesting in this telescopic view of the ground ~4m away from #Perseverance at the place called Lookout Hill, is that, contrary to what we saw inside the crater, here not one of the pebbles/regolith grains in the 8-9 cm wide area is rounded.
Jezero once had rivers and a lake.
Processed SUPERCAM_RMI
looking WNW (290°) from RMC 64.0000
Sol 1357, LMST: 09:14:57
Credit: #NASA/JPL-Caltech/LANL/CNES/IRAP/65dBnoise
source: https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/nasa-performs-first-aircraft-accident-investigation-on-another-world/
The European Space Agency (ESA) and the Austrian Research Promotion Agency (FFG) are hosting a symposium to explore space-based solutions for global quantum networks.
#telecommunications #space #science #esa #europeanspaceagency
posted by pod_feeder_v2
ESA and Nokia have successfully demonstrated how advanced artificial intelligence (AI) combined with space-enabled 5G networks can perform unprecedented real-time activities – from early wildfire detection to remote infrastructure inspection and immersive multimedia experiences in rural areas.
#telecommunications #space #science #esa #europeanspaceagency
posted by pod_feeder_v2
A key element of ESA’s role as Europe’s space agency is the expansion of space knowhow, by encouraging new actors into the field. Case in point: a Polish software company previously specialising in smartphone apps took on the challenge of designing the operating system for the main instrument of Proba-3 – an ambitious double spacecraft mission to reveal secrets of the Sun’s fiery atmosphere, the corona.
#news #space #science #esa #europeanspaceagency
posted by pod_feeder_v2
Image: These summer images from the Copernicus Sentinel-2 and Sentinel-1 missions showcase different satellite views of Greenland’s west coast.
#news #space #science #esa #europeanspaceagency
posted by pod_feeder_v2
Video: 00:01:22
On 9 December 2024, the Smile Platform arrived safely at Amsterdam Schiphol airport and was subsequently transported to ESA's European Space Research and Technology Centre (ESTEC) in Noordwijk, the Netherlands. It came a long way, having travelled all the way from Shanghai, China.
This marks an important step in the Smile mission, as the spacecraft's two halves are now in the same location, ready to be joined together. Launching in around a year from now, Smile will study space weather and the interaction between the solar wind and Earth’s environment.
The Platform, built by the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), includes the propulsion and service modules responsible for powering, steering and controlling the spacecraft. The European half of the spacecraft – the so-called Payload Module – was built by Airbus in Madrid and is already at ESTEC. It hosts three of the four science instruments of the mission, commands all four of them and downlinks all the data back to Earth.
The Platform didn't travel alone. It was accompanied by a team of Smile engineers and managers from CAS. They will closely work together with their European counterparts from ESA and Airbus during the coming ten months to assemble the Smile spacecraft and fully test it at ESA's ESTEC Test Centre.
After that, Smile will be shipped to Europe's Spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana. Its launch is planned for late 2025.
All Let's Smile videos will be listed here: Let's Smile
#space #science #esa #europeanspaceagency
posted by pod_feeder_v2
On 4 December 2024, the European Space Agency (ESA) and the Indian Space Research organisation (ISRO) signed an agreement that will see ESA provide ground station support to the missions in ISRO’s Gaganyaan human spaceflight programme.
#operations #space #science #esa #europeanspaceagency
posted by pod_feeder_v2
