Space Science Image of the Week: Find out what this stormtrooper has to do with space science at ESA, and what we’re doing at a sci-fi convention this weekend

Thomas Pesquet reflects on living in space for six months and voyages of discovery and exploration

Thomas Pesquet reflects on living in space for six months and voyages of discovery and exploration

Our week through the lens: 22-26 May 2017

The new synestia theory proposes a new type of planetary object and another theory for how the Moon formed.

Earth observation image of the week: wildfires in the boreal forests of eastern Russia, also featured on the Earth from Space video programme

A NASA study finds during Greenland’s two hottest summers on record, ice in Rink Glacier didn’t just melt faster, it slid through the glacier’s interior in a gigantic wave.

Astronomers have watched as a massive, dying star was likely reborn as a black hole.

Early results from NASA’s Juno mission to Jupiter portray the largest planet in our solar system as a complex, gigantic, turbulent world.

Astronomers have watched as a massive, dying star was likely reborn as a black hole.

A NASA study finds during Greenland’s two hottest summers on record, ice in Rink Glacier didn’t just melt faster, it slid through the glacier’s interior in a gigantic wave.

Early results from NASA’s Juno mission to Jupiter portray the largest planet in our solar system as a complex, gigantic, turbulent world.

Join us Friday, 26 May, at 10:00 CEST for the ‘Earth from Space’ video programme

You know to bring eclipse glasses and a camera, but here are some things you will also want to bring along.

The first results from Juno’s brush with Jupiter reveal swarms of cyclones, massive ammonia plumes and complex interactions between a turbulent magnetic field and powerful streams of electrons. The findings are published today in Scienceand Geophysical Research Letters.
The Juno team is still sifting through the massive piles of data the probe is sending back from the gas giant. Since arriving last year, the probe has begun to study the composition and internal structure of Jupiter. We&rs

Bye bye supernove

Psyche, NASA’s mission to a unique metal asteroid, has moved up one year, with launch in the summer of 2022, and a planned arrival at the main belt asteroid in 2026.

Psyche, NASA’s mission to a unique metal asteroid, has moved up one year, with launch in the summer of 2022, and a planned arrival at the main belt asteroid in 2026.

NASA’s veteran Cassini spacecraft has reached a new milestone as of today: Saturnian solstice.

NASA’s veteran Cassini spacecraft has reached a new milestone as of today: Saturnian solstice.

The inquiry into the crash-landing of the ExoMars Schiaparelli module has concluded that conflicting information in the onboard computer caused the descent sequence to end prematurely.

The inquiry into the crash-landing of the ExoMars Schiaparelli module has concluded that conflicting information in the onboard computer caused the descent sequence to end prematurely.

Technology image of the week: a lightweight, silicon carbide mirror for space, under thermal vacuum–testing

Technology image of the week: a lightweight, silicon carbide mirror for space, under thermal vacuum–testing

Scientists observed the bleaching of Australia’s Great Barrier Reef early this year using satellite images. While capturing these events from space has been difficult in the past, Sentinel-2’s frequent revisits and its resolution makes it possible.

Scientists observed the bleaching of Australia’s Great Barrier Reef early this year using satellite images. While capturing these events from space has been difficult in the past, Sentinel-2’s frequent revisits and its resolution makes it possible.

Operations image of the week: In 1983, teams at ESA’s operations centre concentrated on flying Exosat, Europe’s first X-ray observatory satellite and one of the first with an on board computer

Land on the Moon, explore Mars, or control the whole solar system, all from the comfort of your home.

The craft to Psyche will launch a year earlier and get to its target four years early.

Human spaceflight and robotic exploration image of the week: ESA astronaut Luca Parmitano exploring places no human could go with robotic drone

Human spaceflight and robotic exploration image of the week: ESA astronaut Luca Parmitano exploring places no human could go with robotic drone

Before they were born, these mice were astronauts. Or, rather, the sperm that would go on to deliver half of their genetic material were.
For nine months, mouse sperm was kept aboard the International Space Station, freeze-dried to preserve it. Brought…

Radio astronomers have spotted something new near Cygnus A’s center.

Scientists from NASA’s Juno mission to Jupiter will discuss their first in-depth science results in a media telecon at 11 a.m. PDT (2 p.m. EDT) Thursday, May 25.

Astronomers used NASA’s Kepler space telescope to confirm the orbital period of the outermost TRAPPIST-1 planet.

NASA will hold a series of events Tuesday, May 23, highlighting the agency’s Fiscal Year 2018 budget proposal.

Scientists from NASA’s Juno mission to Jupiter will discuss their first in-depth science results in a media telecon at 11 a.m. PDT (2 p.m. EDT) Thursday, May 25.

Astronomers used NASA’s Kepler space telescope to confirm the orbital period of the outermost TRAPPIST-1 planet.

NASA will hold a series of events Tuesday, May 23, highlighting the agency’s Fiscal Year 2018 budget proposal.

Space Science Image of the Week: Aoife van Linden Tol, recipient of the first ESA–Ars Electronica residency, created this sketch while researching for her art–science project at ESA

Space Science Image of the Week: Aoife van Linden Tol, recipient of the first ESA–Ars Electronica residency, created this sketch while researching for her art–science project at ESA

This discovery helps to rule out more exotic sources of antimatter, such as dark matter.

We now have a little more information about the mysterious, outermost planet.

Our week through the lens: 15-19 May 2017

Our week through the lens: 15-19 May 2017

The mystery of Tabby’s Star kicks in again.

This map uses quasar positions to reveal further clues about dark energy.

Earth observation image of the week: a Sentinel-2 image of a salt desert in western India, also featured on the Earth from Space video programme

A field campaign this June has a real shot at improving meteorologists’ ability to answer some of the most fundamental weather questions: Where will it rain? When? How much?

A field campaign this June has a real shot at improving meteorologists’ ability to answer some of the most fundamental weather questions: Where will it rain? When? How much?

NASA’s Juno mission accomplished a close flyby of Jupiter on May 19, successfully completing its fifth science orbit.

NASA’s Juno mission accomplished a close flyby of Jupiter on May 19, successfully completing its fifth science orbit.

Working inside the International Space Station is sometimes like assembling complex furniture but with the tools and paper instructions continually floating out of reach. Astronauts also face situations unforeseen by the instructions. Communication delays with ground control to troubleshoot these occasions mean even more valuable time is lost. Now, ‘mobiPV’ is looking to help. 

Working inside the International Space Station is sometimes like assembling complex furniture but with the tools and paper instructions continually floating out of reach. Astronauts also face situations unforeseen by the instructions. Communication delays with ground control to troubleshoot these occasions mean even more valuable time is lost. Now, ‘mobiPV’ is looking to help. 

Join us Friday, 19 May, at 10:00 CEST for the ‘Earth from Space’ video programme

Now is the time to voice your opinions on the lander’s instruments.

2007 OR10 gets no respect.

A team of scientists has developed a new approach to assist in development of timely tsunami detection systems, using measurements of how tsunamis disturb Earth’s atmosphere.

NASA is asking scientists to consider what would be the best instruments to include on a mission to land on Jupiter’s icy moon, Europa.

“To the Rescue,” chronicling JPL’s efforts to save the prestigious, expensive, myopic Hubble Space Telescope, premieres Tuesday evening, May 23 at Caltech. Admission is free on a first-come, first-served basis.

A team of scientists has developed a new approach to assist in development of timely tsunami detection systems, using measurements of how tsunamis disturb Earth’s atmosphere.

NASA is asking scientists to consider what would be the best instruments to include on a mission to land on Jupiter’s icy moon, Europa.

“To the Rescue,” chronicling JPL’s efforts to save the prestigious, expensive, myopic Hubble Space Telescope, premieres Tuesday evening, May 23 at Caltech. Admission is free on a first-come, first-served basis.

Human spaceflight and robotic exploration image of the week: Pointing the way to augmented reality in space

Operations image of the week: On this day in 1968, Europe’s ESRO-2B satellite became the first mission controlled from what is today ESA’s European Space Operations Centre

“Vacation Guide to the Solar System” offers a glimpse of future human space travel

This massive star’s death has left behind a supernova for amateur astronomers to spot.

The intrepid Dawn craft soldiers on at the largest asteroid (or smallest official dwarf planet)

A dedicated designer and cosmos lover is reproducing the famous plaque.

NASA’s Dawn spacecraft successfully observed Ceres at opposition on April 29, taking images from a position exactly between the sun and Ceres’ surface.

NASA’s Dawn spacecraft successfully observed Ceres at opposition on April 29, taking images from a position exactly between the sun and Ceres’ surface.

Chair of the DLR German Aerospace Center Executive Board, Pascale Ehrenfreund, and ESA’s Josef Aschbacher discuss their organisations’ complementary Earth observation activities

Chair of the DLR German Aerospace Center Executive Board, Pascale Ehrenfreund, and ESA’s Josef Aschbacher discuss their organisations’ complementary Earth observation activities

We’re proud to have passed a big milestone on our YouTube channel – thanks for watching!

We’re proud to have passed a big milestone on our YouTube channel – thanks for watching!

Shine bright like a supernova

NASA’s Mars rover Opportunity has reached the main destination of its current two-year extended mission — an ancient fluid-carved valley on the inner slope of a crater rim.

NASA’s Mars rover Opportunity has reached the main destination of its current two-year extended mission — an ancient fluid-carved valley on the inner slope of a crater rim.

We’ve already been treated to spectacular black and white closeup images of Saturn, beamed home to Earth by the Cassini spacecraft after it dove between the planet and its rings. Now, we’re getting to see what things look like in true color…

Hundreds of experiments planned for this summer’s total solar eclipse: We share the highlights

Space Science image of the Week: ESA’s XMM-Newton detects X-ray sources sky-wide as it moves between targets

Our week through the lens: 8-12 May 2017

Water conservation is a growing concern globally, and particularly for farmers in the USA, where decades of irrigating huge fields has depleted vital resources of fresh surface water and groundwater. An ESA spin-off that can help to preser…

Water conservation is a growing concern globally, and particularly for farmers in the USA, where decades of irrigating huge fields has depleted vital resources of fresh surface water and groundwater. An ESA spin-off that can help to preser…

This supermassive black hole may have resulted from a merger that kicked it out of place.

Rapid acceleration of an Arctic glacier over the past year has been detected by the Copernicus Sentinel-1 satellites.

Rapid acceleration of an Arctic glacier over the past year has been detected by the Copernicus Sentinel-1 satellites.

Earth observation image of the week: the border of the US states Utah and Colorado is pictured in this Sentinel-2 image, also featured on the Earth from Space video programme

A study combining observations from NASA’s Hubble and Spitzer space telescopes reveals that the distant planet HAT-P-26b has a primitive atmosphere composed almost entirely of hydrogen and helium.

A study combining observations from NASA’s Hubble and Spitzer space telescopes reveals that the distant planet HAT-P-26b has a primitive atmosphere composed almost entirely of hydrogen and helium.

Watch the replays of the “Paradigm shifts and future prospects in Earth observation” seminar

Join us Friday, 12 May, at 10:00 CEST for the ‘Earth from Space’ video programme

High in Chile’s otherworldly Atacama Desert, the 66-antenna Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array catches radio waves that remain hidden from other telescopes.

HAT-P-26b is a steamy, steamy world.

Arrays of antennas and dishes up to 1,000 feet across make radio telescopes the biggest observatories on Earth.

If you could fly a CubeSat to the Moon, what could such a tiny satellite do there? ESA posed this question – and now four proposals will be studied in more detail for possible flight over the coming decade.