Category: News

This new NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope Picture of the Month presents HH 30 in unprecedented detail. This target is an edge-on protoplanetary disc that is surrounded by jets and a disc wind, and is located in the dark cloud LDN 1551 in the Taurus Molecular Cloud. 

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A group of volunteers is spending two months lying in bed—with their feet up and one shoulder always touching the mattress—even while eating, showering, and using the toilet. But why? This extreme bedrest study is helping scientists understand how space travel affects the human body and how to keep astronauts healthy on long missions.

Microgravity causes muscle and bone loss, fluid shifts, and other physiological changes similar to those experienced by bedridden patients on Earth. By studying volunteers here on Earth, researchers can develop better countermeasures for astronauts and even improve treatments for medical conditions like osteoporosis.

In this study, participants are divided into three groups: one stays in bed with no exercise, another cycles in bed to mimic astronaut workouts, and a third cycles while being spun in a centrifuge to simulate artificial gravity. Scientists hope artificial gravity could become a key tool in protecting astronauts during deep-space missions.

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A list of the top 10 global regions where natural or anthropogenic sources emit methane on a continuous, ‘persistent’ basis was recently published in a scientific journal.

The 2025 ESA Graduate Trainee positions are now open! If you’re passionate about engineering, science, IT or business, this is your chance to turn your dreams into reality.

Week in images: 27-31 January 2025

Discover our week through the lens

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This Copernicus Sentinel-2 image highlights part of the São Francisco River in eastern Brazil.

Today in Brussels, the European Space Agency (ESA) and the European Commission consolidated their cooperation on the European Quantum Communication Infrastructure (EuroQCI), marking the successful conclusion of negotiations and clearing the way for development to begin. EuroQCI is an advanced network that aims to protect everything from personal data to Europe’s critical infrastructure, using proven principles of quantum physics.

The European Space Agency (ESA) has signed a contract with Thales Alenia Space in Italy to lead European aerospace companies in building the Argonaut Lunar Descent Element, ESA’s first lunar lander.

The European Space Agency (ESA) Planetary Defence Office is closely monitoring the recently discovered asteroid 2024 YR4, which has a very small chance of impacting Earth in 2032.

 This page was last updated on 29 January 2025.

The second day of the European Space Conference saw European Space Agency astronaut Luca Parmitano join ESA Directors and the Director General on a range of panels and interactions with media.