European Space Agency

Trying to explain satellite communication to children is no easy task, so why not let robot host ROBert help? In the third of the ROBert Knows videos created by ESA and PLAYMOBIL, ROBert examines how satellite communication works with a little help from our own expert Director of TIA, Elodie Viau. View the full article

Webb launch kit Interactive infographics and background information to prepare for Webb's launch View the full article

Image: A touch of sun View the full article

For the hundreds of millions of people living in coastal regions around the world, rising seas driven by climate change pose a direct threat. In order for authorities to plan appropriate protection strategies, accurate information on sea-level rise close to the coast is imperative. For various reasons, these measurements are difficult to get from satellites. However, new ESA-funded research demonstrates how a specific way of processing satellite altimetry data now makes it possible to determine sea-level change in coastal areas with millimetre per year accuracy, and even if the sea is covered by ice. View the full article

Image: The heart of the Exospheric Mass Spectrometer (EMS) is visible in this image of the key sensor that will study the abundance of lunar water and water ice for upcoming missions to the Moon. This spectrometer is being delivered to NASA today as part of the PITMS instrument for its launch to the Moon later this year. EMS is based on an ‘ion trap’, an ingenious detector device that allows researchers to identify and quantify sample atoms and molecules in a gas and allows to establish a corresponding mass spectrum. Scientists at The Open University and RAL Space are developing EMS under an ESA contract. Lunar molecules entering the sensor are bombarded by electrons emitted by a heated wire to create ions. The resulting ions are stored within an electric field formed by a set of precisely-shaped electrodes. The ions are then released from this ‘trap’ in order of increasing mass/charge ratio into the detector that identifies and quantifies their chemical makeup. This will allow the instrument to measure water and other molecules in the very thin atmosphere of the Moon throughout the lunar day to study a lunar ‘water cycle’ concept. The PITMS instrument will be part of a lunar lander that will arrive on the Moon on NASA’s Astrobotic mission taking commercial lunar payloads to the Valles Mortis region in 2021. A similar Mass Spectrometer is also developed for ESA’s Prospect mission to study lunar water ice on board the Russian Luna-27 lander, set for launch in 2025. The platform will sample potential resources on the Moon to prepare technologies for future sustainable exploration. “ESA’s Exospheric Mass Spectrometer will not only acquire science data but also test our latest environmental monitoring technology for planetary environments,” says Roland Trautner, ESA project lead for EMS. “Instruments like EMS allow the detection of the impact of human activities on the lunar environment, and understanding these changes allows us to improve our science and learn how to protect the natural environment on planetary bodies. Small, lightweight detectors like EMS might become standard equipment on future lunar landers.” With the goal of developing the first long-term presence on the Moon, ESA is joining forces with NASA and other partners on humanity’s return to the Moon. The next ‘Artemis’ generation to experience lunar landings will be an international one and is opening up lunar space exploration to the global population. Follow the next major milestone in human exploration by taking part in the first-ever online lunar marathon. The French initiative On the Moon Again is hosting 24 hours of talks and lunar observations in English for a global audience. For more information and to register, see www.onthemoonagain.org. View the full article

Video: 00:05:12 The European Robotic Arm (ERA) will be launched to the International Space Station together with the Russian Multipurpose Laboratory Module, called ‘Nauka’. ERA is the first robot able to ‘walk’ around the Russian segment of the Space Station. It has the ability to anchor itself to the Station and move back and forward by itself, hand-over-hand between fixed base-points. This 11-metre intelligent space robot will serve as main manipulator on the Russian part of the Space Station, assisting the astronauts during spacewalks. The robot arm can help install, deploy and replace elements in outer space ERA is 100% made-in-Europe. A consortium of European companies led by Airbus Defence and Space Netherlands designed and assembled it for ESA. The robotic arm is largely funded by the Dutch government. This VNR includes interviews to: - Sytze Kampen: ERA project manager, Airbus Defence and Space Netherlands (in English & Dutch) - André Kuipers: Astronaut, ESA (in English & Dutch) - Philippe Schoonejans: ERA project manager, ESA (in English & Dutch) More information View the full article

Week in images: 28 June - 02 July 2021 Discover our week through the lens View the full article

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After several weeks of bad weather and strong winds, the latest pair of high-altitude drop tests of the ExoMars parachutes took place in Kiruna, Sweden. The 15 m-wide first stage main parachute performed flawlessly at supersonic speeds, while the 35 m-wide second stage parachute experienced one minor damage, but decelerated the mock-up of the landing platform as expected. View the full article

Part of the Frisian Islands, a low-lying archipelago just off the coast of northern Europe, is visible in this image captured by the Copernicus Sentinel-2 mission. View the full article

Image: The heatwave now hitting parts of western Canada and the US has been particularly devastating. This Copernicus Sentinel-3 image shows land surface temperature. View the full article

The international James Webb Space Telescope has passed the final mission analysis review for its launch on an Ariane 5 rocket from Europe’s Spaceport in French Guiana. View the full article

Three more nano-satellites have been launched as part of ESA’s efforts to boost the European space industry, fostering innovation and creating jobs. View the full article

ESA is diversifying its online presence with the launch of a Pinterest channel and is reaching out to this highly creative audience to plan a space-themed Halloween party around the launch of the international Webb mission later this year. View the full article

Image: For Asteroid Day, the Copernicus Sentinel-2 mission takes us over the Shoemaker Impact Structure (formerly known as Teague Ring) in Western Australia. View the full article

Image: Eye of ESA’s asteroid mission View the full article

As ESA’s Hera mission for planetary defence probes the Didymos twin asteroid system, it will be joined by a pioneering pair of breadbox-sized ‘CubeSats’. Juventas will perform radar soundings while Milani will image the bodies in a wider range of colours beyond what human eye can see, to prospect the mineral makeup of individual asteroid boulders. View the full article

An advanced telecommunications satellite that can be completely repurposed in orbit has arrived at its launch site of Europe’s Spaceport in French Guiana. View the full article

The latest ESA Impact is out now! View the full article

ESA astronaut Thomas Pesquet and NASA astronaut Shane Kimbrough performed three spacewalks in the span of 10 days to install two new solar arrays that will generate more electricity on the International Space Station. View the full article

Image: Retro meets retrofit: The Novespace Air Zero G aircraft is seen here next to Douglas the 1962 VW Transporter. The two are in Paderborn, Germany for the 76th ESA Parabolic Flight Campaign. The refitted A310 Air Zero G aircraft flies in parabolas that offer teams from various research institutes and universities altered states of gravity to perform experiments and technology demonstrations. Experiments span many disciplines including complex fluidics and human physiology, and this campaign is no exception. Running from 25 June to 1 July, the 76th campaign features an experiment studying the effect of gravity on hydrodynamics to better protect spacecraft and science instruments from the temperature fluctuations in space; a study on how immune cells flow under the stress of spaceflight; an experiment studying spinal stiffness under microgravity to mitigate lumbar pain for both astronauts and patients on Earth, to name a few. A typical parabolic flight campaign involves three flights and requires a week of on-site preparation. Each flight offers 31 periods of weightlessness. The aircraft can also fly in arcs that provide lunar or martian gravity levels by adjusting the angle of attack of the wings. Each flight of this particular campaign will split the gravity states, flying one third of parabolas at martian-G, one third at lunar-G, and one third at zero-G. The aircraft flies close to maximum speed and pulls the nose up to a 45° angle, then cuts the power to fall over the top of the curve. Whilst falling freely the passengers and experiments experience around 20 seconds of microgravity, until the plane is angled 45° nose-down, before pulling out of the dive to level off with normal flight. These “pull up” and “pull out” manoeuvres before and after the weightless period increase gravity inside the plane up to 2g, but that is just part of the ride, repeated every three minutes for almost two hours. The campaign is the fourth to take place under Covid-19 restrictions. Despite measures loosening across Europe, participants and coordinators adapted to safety measures: PCR tests were required to enter Germany, as well as rapid antigen or RT LAMP tests each day for every participant. Facilities on the ground as well as on board are adapted to allow for social distancing and cleanliness requirements. Surgical masks are worn at all times, and movement is restricted during the flights. University students can also take part in a parabolic flight campaign thanks to the ESA Education Office’s Fly Your Thesis! programme. Masters and PhD students can propose their experiment, and upon selection, will be supported in preparing their experiment for the campaign by ESA Academy, ESA and Novespace experts. The 2022 Call for Proposals is now open. View the full article

What do astronauts, rockstars, scientists and communicators have in common? You’ll find some of the best at this year’s 5-hour live Asteroid Day broadcast, bringing to life the smallest known worlds in the Solar System – with the potential to make a huge impact here on Earth. View the full article

While exploring two exoplanets in a bright nearby star system, ESA’s exoplanet-hunting Cheops satellite has unexpectedly spotted the system’s third known planet crossing the face of the star. This transit reveals exciting details about a rare planet “with no known equivalent”, say the researchers. View the full article

Using data originally gathered for spacecraft ‘housekeeping’ aboard ESA’s Rosetta and Mars Express missions, scientists have revealed how intense bursts of high-energy radiation, known as cosmic rays, behave at Mars and throughout the inner Solar System. View the full article

Week in images: 21 - 25 June 2021 Discover our week through the lens View the full article