European Space Agency

Week in images: 08 - 12 November 2021 Discover our week through the lens View the full article

Cancún, situated in Quintana Roo on the northeast coast of Mexico’s Yucatán Peninsula, is featured in this image captured by the Copernicus Sentinel-2 mission. View the full article

Video: 00:06:35 Relive the moment the SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft, Endurance, docked to the International Space Station with ESA astronaut Matthias Maurer and his NASA colleagues Raja Chari, Tom Marshburn and Kayla Barron on board. Docking took place at 01:10 CET (00:10 GMT) Friday 12 November, around 22 hours after Crew-3 was launched atop a Falcon 9 rocket from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, USA. Crew Dragon docking is autonomous. Once docked, astronauts on Endeavour and aboard the Space Station conduct standard leak checks and equalise pressure between the two spacecraft before the hatch is opened. Crew-3’s arrival on board the International Space Station marks the official start of Matthias’s first space mission “Cosmic Kiss”. Over the next six months, Matthias will support over 35 European and many more international experiments in human research, biology, materials science, fluid physics, environmental science and radiation, and technology. For more information on science and operations Matthias will carry out in space, view the Cosmic Kiss mission brochure in English or German. Regular updates will also be provided on the ESA Cosmic Kiss mission page, ESA Exploration blog and Matthias’s Twitter, Facebook and Instagram channels. View the full article

The spacecraft carrying ESA astronaut Matthias Maurer and his NASA astronaut colleagues Raja Chari, Thomas Marshburn and Kayla Barron docked to the International Space Station at 00:32 CET Friday, 12 November (23:32 GMT Thursday, 11 November), marking the official start of Matthias’s first mission ‘Cosmic Kiss’. View the full article

Image: RadCube reaches out View the full article

The world’s population is expected to reach 9.7 billion in 2050, according to the UN Department of Economics and Social Affairs. Urban areas are already home to 55% of the world’s population and that figure is expected to grow to 68% by 2050. Rapid and unplanned urbanisation, combined with the challenges brought by climate change, can lead to an increase in air pollution, higher vulnerability to disasters, as well as issues related to the management of resources such as water, raw materials and energy. To improve the understanding of current trends in global urbanisation, ESA and the German Aerospace Center (DLR), in collaboration with the Google Earth Engine team, are jointly developing the World Settlement Footprint – the world’s most comprehensive dataset on human settlement. View the full article

Coverage of ESA astronaut Matthias’s Maurer’s journey to the International Space Station continues, with docking scheduled for 00:10 GMT/ 01:10 CET Friday 12 November and streaming live on ESA Web TV 2. Matthias and his NASA astronaut crew mates Raja Chari, Tom Marshburn and Kayla Barron were launched in SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft called Endurance from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, USA, at 02:03 GMT/03:03 CET Thursday 11 November. View the full article

Video: 00:06:58 ESA astronaut Matthias Maurer and NASA astronaut NASA astronauts Raja Chari, Tom Marshburn and Kayla Barron liftoff to the International Space Station in the SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft “Endurance”. Collectively known as “Crew-3”, the astronauts were launched from launchpad 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, USA. They will spend around six months living and working aboard the orbital outpost before returning to Earth. It is the first space mission for Matthias, who will be the 600th human to fly to space. He chose the name “Cosmic Kiss” for his mission as a declaration of love for space. Matthias has a background in materials science and looks forward to supporting a wide range of science and research in orbit. The work he carries out throughout his mission will contribute to the success of future space missions and help enhance life on Earth. Visit the Cosmic Kiss mission page to learn more about Matthias’s mission. View the full article

Image: ESA astronaut Matthias Maurer and NASA astronaut Raja Chari, Tom Marshburn and Kayla Barron liftoff to the International Space Station in the SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft “Endurance”. Collectively known as “Crew-3”, the astronauts were launched from launchpad 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, USA. They will spend around six months living and working aboard the orbital outpost before returning to Earth. It is the first space mission for Matthias, who is the 600th human to fly to space. He chose the name “Cosmic Kiss” for his mission as a declaration of love for space. Matthias has a background in materials science and looks forward to supporting a wide range of science and research in orbit. The work he carries out throughout his mission will contribute to the success of future space missions and help enhance life on Earth. Visit the Cosmic Kiss mission page to learn more about Matthias’s mission. View the full article

Video: 00:01:28 After 199 days in space, ESA astronaut Thomas Pesquet left the International Space Station together with alongside NASA astronauts Shane Kimbrough and Megan McArthur and JAXA astronaut Akihiko Hoshide, marking the end of his second six-month mission known as Alpha. The return to Earth took ten hours, including a two-hour fly-around of the International Space Station, but this highlight reel shows the key moments of the journey in just a minute. From the Space Station to undocking, fly-around, reentry and splashdown off the coast of Florida, USA. Thomas and crew splashed down on 9 November 2021 at 03:33 GMT (04:33 CET). From there Thomas flew to Cologne, Germany, where he is being monitored by ESA’s space medicine team as he readapts to Earth’s gravity at ESA’s astronaut centre and German Aerospace Centre’s ‘Envihab’ facility. View the full article

A new satellite destined to be Europe’s prime mission for monitoring and tracking carbon dioxide emissions from human activity is being put through its paces at ESA’s Test Centre in the Netherlands. With nations at COP26 pledging net-zero emissions by 2050, the pressure is on to reduce the amount of greenhouse gases we pump into the atmosphere – but the race is also on to support the monitoring that shows targets are being met. ESA, the European Commission, Eumetsat and industrial partners are therefore working extremely hard to get the Copernicus Anthropogenic Carbon Dioxide Monitoring mission ready for liftoff in 2025. View the full article

A telecommunications satellite that can be reprogrammed in-orbit, offering unprecedented mission reconfiguration capacity, has successfully passed its in-orbit acceptance review. View the full article

Video: 00:04:56 ESA astronaut Thomas Pesquet gives a brief interview in Cologne, Germany, less than 48 hours after leaving the International Space Station. He talks with ESA editor Julien Harrod about returning to Earth after his six-month International Space Station mission Alpha, how it feels to splash down in a SpaceX Crew Dragon, and the differences with the Russian Soyuz spacecraft that flew him to space on his first mission, Proxima, in 2017. After completing two six-month Space Station missions in five years, Thomas recounts the changes he saw while observing our planet Earth from 400 km above. Thomas is the first European to fly to the International Space Station and return on a commercial spacecraft. SpaceX’s Crew Dragon Endeavour transporting Crew-2 autonomously undocked from the International Space Station and after a series of burns, entered Earth’s atmosphere and deployed parachutes for a soft water-landing. Thomas and crew splashed down on 9 November 2021 at 03:33 GMT (04:33 CET). Thomas flew to Cologne, Germany, where he is being monitored by ESA’s space medicine team as he readapts to Earth’s gravity at ESA’s European Astronaut Centre (EAC) and German Aerospace Centre (DLR) ‘Envihab’ facility. Over 200 experiments were run during Thomas’ time in space, with 40 European ones and 12 new experiments led by the French space agency CNES. The experiments continue on Earth charting the astronauts physical adaptation to living with gravity again. Latest updates on the Alpha mission can be found via @esaspaceflight on Twitter, with more details on ESA’s exploration blog via thomaspesquet.esa.int. Background information on the Alpha mission is available at www.esa.int/MissionAlpha with a brochure at www.esa.int/AlphaBrochure. Access the related broadcast quality footage. View the full article

A team of astronauts, engineers and geologists is travelling to Spain’s Canary Islands, one of Europe’s volcanic hot spots, to learn how to best explore the Moon and Mars during ESA’s Pangaea geological training course. View the full article

High-resolution satellites have detected substantial quantities of methane leaking from adjacent landfill sites close to the centre of Madrid, Spain. Using data from the Copernicus Sentinel-5P mission combined with GHGSat’s high-resolution commercial imagery, scientists from the SRON Netherlands Institute for Space Research and GHGSat discovered both landfill sites combined emitted 8800 kg of methane per hour in August 2021 – the highest observed in Europe by GHGSat. View the full article

Image: Webb’s Ariane 5 core stage was raised vertical in the launch vehicle integration building at Europe’s Spaceport in French Guiana View the full article

Tune in from Wednesday 10 November at 21:45 GMT/22:45 CET to see ESA astronaut Matthias Maurer be launched to the International Space Station for his first mission, Cosmic Kiss. View the full article

Thawing permafrost in the Arctic is already unleashing methane and carbon dioxide to the atmosphere, exacerbating global temperature rise. As well adding to the climate crisis, this ground, which has been frozen for thousands of years, is becoming unstable and causing serious issues for local communities. For the first time, data from the Copernicus Sentinel-1 and Sentinel-2 missions along with artificial intelligence have been used to offer a complete overview of the Arctic to identify communities and infrastructure that will be at risk over the next 30 years. View the full article

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Video: 00:02:43 What if the Titanic had help from satellites? Its journey would likely have ended completely differently. We live in an ever-changing world; the shipping industry still faces the old dangers, but today also encounters risks due to climate change as well as incentives to become greener. Fortunately ships today have satellite support. Satellites designed for science, weather monitoring, Earth observation, navigation and communication serve our security needs on a daily basis. Not only in the ocean, but worldwide, in any situation. From fighting organised crime to monitoring climate change. From establishing worldwide food security to ensuring aviation safety. Global challenges are increasing in breadth and diversity and our notion of safety and security has become much broader in recent decades. Space programmes have become key; most risks to our society and economy require space in order to be adequately avoided, mitigated or managed. Keep an eye out for new webpages coming soon that highlight how space technology is being applied to safety and security applications on Earth. In the meantime, find out more at esa.int/spaceforearth View the full article

After almost 200 days in space it is time to return to planet Earth for ESA astronaut Thomas Pesquet, JAXA astronaut Aki Hoshide and NASA astronauts Shane Kimbrough and Megan McArthur. View the full article

ESA offers an opportunity for payloads and experiments to ride on board the first flight of Ariane 6 planned in 2022. Notice of interest should reach ESA by 15 November. View the full article

Week in images: 01 - 05 November 2021 Discover our week through the lens View the full article

Video: 00:01:19 After its arrival at Pariacabo harbour in French Guiana on 12 October 2021, the James Webb Space Telescope was transported to Europe’s Spaceport and unboxed in the cleanroom. It is now being prepared for its launch on an Ariane 5 rocket in December. Though the telescope weighs only six tonnes, it is more than 10.5 m high and almost 4.5 m wide when folded. It was shipped in its folded position in a 30 m long container which, with auxiliary equipment, weighed more than 70 tonnes. After arriving in the harbour, the telescope inside its container was towed by a heavy-load tractor unit to the spacecraft processing facility at Europe’s Spaceport. There, Webb’s special shipping container was opened, and the telescope was unboxed inside the facility’s cleanroom and installed on a rollover fixture to raise it vertical. This is how it will stand inside the Ariane 5 fairing. Webb’s launch campaign involves more than 100 specialists. Teams will work separately to prepare the telescope and the launch vehicle until they become one combined team to join the telescope with its rocket for a momentous liftoff. Webb will be the largest, most powerful telescope ever launched into space. As part of an international collaboration agreement, ESA is providing the telescope’s launch service using the Ariane 5 launch vehicle. Working with partners, ESA was responsible for the development and qualification of Ariane 5 adaptations for the Webb mission and for the procurement of the launch service by Arianespace. Webb is an international partnership between NASA, ESA and the Canadian Space Agency (CSA). Find out more about Webb in ESA’s launch kit. Access the related broadcast quality footage. View the full article

Melt – ESA’s newly released documentary Glaciers across the globe have lost over nine trillion tonnes of ice in half a century. How will glaciers look over the coming decades? View the full article