Space News & Blog Articles

It’s very difficult to know what lies beneath a blanket of kilometres-thick ice, so it is hardly surprising that scientists have long contested the shape and geology of the ancient supercontinent from which East Antarctica formed over a billion years ago. An ESA-funded study can now lay some of this conjecture to rest. Using sensors on aircraft to measure changes in the gravity and magnetic signatures of the different rocks under the ice, scientists have discovered a huge bay the size of the UK formed part of the edge of East Antarctica.

Discover ESA

Following a competition, ESA has selected the industrial team that will design and build the first experimental payload to extract oxygen from the surface of the Moon. The winning consortium, led by Thales Alenia Space in the UK, has been tasked with producing a small piece of equipment that will evaluate the prospect of building larger lunar plants to extract propellant for spacecraft and breathable air for astronauts – as well as metallic raw materials for equipment.

The ESA/NASA Solar Orbiter spacecraft is speeding towards its historic first close pass of the Sun. On 14 March, the spacecraft will pass the orbit of Mercury, the scorched inner planet of our Solar System, and on 26 March it will reach closest approach to the Sun.

The dusty faces of the Moon and Mars conceal unseen hazards for future explorers. Areas of highly oxidising material could be sufficiently reactive that they would produce chemical burns on astronauts’ unprotected skin or lungs. Taking inspiration from a pioneering search for Martian life, a Greek team is developing a device to detect these ‘reactive oxygen species’ – as well as harvest sufficient oxygen from them to keep astronauts breathing indefinitely.

Week in images: 28 February - 4 March 2022

Today, the Copernicus Sentinel-2 mission takes us over the Pyrenees Mountains in southwest Europe. The mountain range forms a natural border between France and Spain with the small, landlocked country of Andorra sandwiched in between.

Image: Aerial antenna for Venus mission test

Human-induced climate change is causing dangerous and widespread disruption in nature, affecting the lives of billions of people around the world, according to the latest state of the climate report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) published this week.

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Twenty years ago, on the first of March 2002, ESA launched a new satellite to monitor our planet from space: Envisat. This research mission, which carried 10 instruments, would become a beacon for the development of future Earth observation satellites. In orbit for 10 years, double its projected lifespan, this flagship mission provided science with a wealth of data on the health of our planet and climate change – a treasure trove of data that is still used today. Thanks to the Heritage Space Programme, ESA ensures these precious data are preserved and made accessible for future generations.

Press Release N° 6–2022

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Europe’s Columbus laboratory is a hive of activity in this 360° timelapse as ESA astronaut Matthias Maurer works on an experiment called Fluidics and his NASA colleague Raja Chari carries out activity in the Veggie plant habitat.

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Happy 100 days in space to ESA astronaut Matthias Maurer. The first-time space flier marked the milestone on 19 February 2022 and what a busy 100-days it been.

Week in images: 21 - 25 February 2022

To celebrate the recent data release from Landsat 9, this week we take a closer look at a part of Washington state – the northwesternmost state of the US – through the lens of Landsat 9.

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Are you curious to know how a telescope works? Join ESA astronomer Giovanna Giardino as she gives an insight into the inner workings of the world’s largest telescope in space, the extraordinary James Webb Space Telescope.

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The NIRSpec instrument is the workhorse near-infrared spectrograph on board the James Webb Space Telescope and is provided by ESA.

The ESA YGT call for applications closes 28 February 2022. Don’t hesitate to apply and kick-start your career in space today! Positions are available in engineering, science, IT and business services. Find out more and apply now.  

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Join ESA astronaut Matthias Maurer on a 360° fly-through of Europe’s Columbus laboratory, Japan’s Kibo Module and the Crew Dragon capsule on the International Space Station.