Members Can Post Anonymously On This Site
-
Similar Topics
-
By European Space Agency
The European Space Agency’s Plato spacecraft has safely arrived at ESTEC, ESA’s technical heart in the Netherlands. There, engineers will complete the spacecraft by connecting its solar panels and sunshield, and carry out a series of critical tests to confirm that Plato is fit for launch and ready for its planet-hunting mission in space.
View the full article
-
By European Space Agency
Video: 00:01:38 On 11 June, engineers at OHB’s facilities in Germany joined together the two main parts of ESA’s Plato mission.
They used a special crane to lift Plato’s payload module, housing its 26 ultra-sensitive cameras, into the air and carefully line it up over the service module. The supporting service module contains everything else that the spacecraft needs to function, including subsystems for power, propulsion and communication with Earth.
With millimetre-level precision, the engineers gently lowered the payload module into place. Once perfectly positioned, the team tested the electrical connections.
Finally, they securely closed a panel that connects the payload module to the service module both physically and electronically (seen ‘hanging’ horizontally above the service module in this image). This panel, which opens and closes with hinges, also contains the electronics to process data from the cameras.
Now in one piece, Plato is one step closer to beginning its hunt for Earth-like planets.
In the coming weeks, the spacecraft will undergo tests to ensure its cameras and data processing systems still work perfectly.
Then it will be driven from OHB’s cleanrooms to ESA’s technical heart (ESTEC) in the Netherlands. At ESTEC, engineers will complete the spacecraft by fitting it with a combined sunshield and solar panel module.
Following a series of essential tests to confirm that Plato is fit for launch and ready to work in space, it will be shipped to Europe’s launch site in French Guiana.
The mission is scheduled to launch on an Ariane 6 in December 2026.
Access the related broadcast quality video footage.
ESA’s Plato (PLAnetary Transits and Oscillations of stars) will use 26 cameras to study terrestrial exoplanets in orbits up to the habitable zone of Sun-like stars.
Plato's scientific instrumentation, consisting of the cameras and electronic units, is provided through a collaboration between ESA and the Plato Mission Consortium. This Consortium is composed of various European research centres, institutes and industries, led by the German Aerospace Center (DLR). The spacecraft is being built and assembled by the industrial Plato Core Team led by OHB together with Thales Alenia Space and Beyond Gravity.
View the full article
-
By NASA
Earth (ESD) Earth Explore Explore Earth Home Air Quality Climate Change Freshwater Life on Earth Severe Storms Snow and Ice The Global Ocean Science at Work Earth Science at Work Technology and Innovation Powering Business Multimedia Image Collections Videos Data For Researchers About Us 4 min read
NASA-Assisted Scientists Get Bird’s-Eye View of Population Status
Through the eBird citizen scientist program, millions of birders have recorded their observations of different species and submitted checklists to the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. Through a partnership with NASA, the lab has now used this data to model and map bird population trends for nearly 500 North American species.
Led by Alison Johnston of the University of St. Andrews in Scotland, the researchers reported that 75% of bird species in the study are declining at wide-range scales. And yet this study has some good news for birds. The results, published in Science in May, offer insights and projections that could shape the future conservation of the places where birds make their homes.
“This project demonstrates the power of merging in situ data with NASA remote sensing to model biological phenomena that were previously impossible to document,” said Keith Gaddis, NASA’s Biological Diversity and Ecological Forecasting program manager at the agency’s headquarters in Washington, who was not involved in the study. “This data provides not just insight into the Earth system but also provides actionable guidance to land managers to mitigate biodiversity loss.”
Rock wren in Joshua Tree National Park. National Park Service / Jane Gamble A team from Cornell, the University of St. Andrews, and the American Bird Conservancy used land imaging data from NASA’s Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) instruments to distinguish among such specific bird habitats as open forests, dense shrublands, herbaceous croplands, and forest/cropland mosaics. They also drew on NASA weather information and water data that matched the dates and times when birders made their reports.
When combined with a 14-year set of eBird checklists — 36 million sets of species observations and counts, keyed directly to habitats — the satellite data gave researchers almost a strong foundation to produce a clear picture of the health of bird populations. But there was one missing piece.
Wrestling with Wren Data
While some eBird checklists come from expert birders who’ve hiked deep into wildlife preserves, others are sent in by novices watching bird feeders and doing the dishes. This creates what Cornell statistician Daniel Fink described as “an unstructured, very noisy data set,” complete with gaps in the landscape that birders did not reach and, ultimately, some missing birds.
To account for gaps where birds weren’t counted, the researchers trained machine learning models to fill in the maps based on the remote sensing data. “For every single species — say the rock wren — we’ve created a simulation that mimics the species and a variety of ways that it could respond to changes in the environment,” Johnston said. “Thousands of simulations underlie the results we showed.”
CornellLab eBird The researchers achieved unprecedented resolution, zeroing in on areas 12 miles by 12 miles (27 km by 27 km), the same area as Portland, Oregon. This new population counting method can also be applied to eBird data from other locations, Fink said. “Now we’re using modeling to track bird populations — not seasonally through the year, but acrossthe years — a major milestone,” he added.
“We’ve been able to take citizen science data and, through machine learning methodology, put it on the same footing as traditionally structured surveys, in terms of the type of signal we can find,” said Cornell science product manager Tom Auer. “It will increase the credibility and confidence of people who use this information for precise conservation all over the globe.”
The Up Side
Since 1970, North America has lost one-quarter of its breeding birds, following a global trend of declines across species. The causes range from increased pollution and land development to changing climate and decreased food resources. Efforts to reverse this loss depend on identifying the areas where birds live at highest risk, assessing their populations, and pinpointing locations where conservation could help most.
For 83% of the reported species in the new study, the decline was greatest in spots where populations had previously been most abundant — indicating problems with the habitat.
“Even in species where populations are declining a lot, there are still places of hope, where the populations are going up,” Johnston said. The team found population increases in the maps of 97% of the reported species. “That demonstrates that there’s opportunity for those species.”
“Birds face so many challenges,” said Cornell conservationist Amanda Rodewald. “This research will help us make strategic decisions about making changes that are precise, effective, and less costly. This is transformative. Now we can really drill in and know where specifically we’re going to be able to have the most positive impact in trying to stem bird declines.”
By Karen Romano Young
NASA Headquarters, Washington
Share
Details
Last Updated Jun 25, 2025 Related Terms
Earth Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) Explore More
3 min read NASA Scientists Find Ties Between Earth’s Oxygen and Magnetic Field
Article
1 week ago
1 min read From Space to Soil: How NASA Sees Forests
NASA uses satellite lidar technology to study Earth’s forests, key carbon sinks.
Article
1 week ago
12 min read NASA’s Hurricane Science, Tech, Data Help American Communities
With hurricane season underway, NASA is gearing up to produce cutting-edge research to bolster the…
Article
2 weeks ago
Keep Exploring Discover More Topics From NASA
Earth
Your home. Our Mission. And the one planet that NASA studies more than any other.
Explore Earth Science
Earth Science in Action
NASA’s unique vantage point helps us inform solutions to enhance decision-making, improve livelihoods, and protect our planet.
Earth Multimedia & Galleries
View the full article
-
By European Space Agency
The European Space Agency’s (ESA) newest planetary defender has opened its ‘eye’ to the cosmos for the first time. The Flyeye telescope’s ‘first light’ marks the beginning of a new chapter in how we scan the skies for new near-Earth asteroids and comets.
View the full article
-
By European Space Agency
The activities to assemble the European Space Agency’s Plato mission are progressing well now that 24 of the spacecraft’s 26 cameras have been installed. Once in space, Plato will use its many eyes to survey a very large area of the sky and hunt for terrestrial planets. The spacecraft’s supporting element is also coming together in parallel.
View the full article
-
-
Check out these Videos
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.