Category: Science

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00:03:38

An instrument destined for Jupiter orbit undergoes eight days of cryogenic radio-frequency testing using a new test facility at ESA’s ESTEC technical centre in the Netherlands. The Submillimetre Wave Instrument of ESA’s Juice mission will survey the churning atmosphere of Jupiter and the scanty atmospheres of its Galilean moons.

Testing took place in ESA’s custom-built Low-temperature Near-field Terahertz chamber, or Lorentz. The first chamber of its kind, the 2.8-m diameter Lorentz chamber can perform high-frequency radio-frequency testing in realistic space conditions, combining space-quality vacuum with ultra-low temperatures.

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00:00:59

The Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer (Juice) moved into the Large Space Simulator at ESTEC end May, in a two-day operation. During a month-long test campaign the spacecraft will be subject to extreme temperature cycles under vacuum to replicate the heating and cooling that the spacecraft will experience on its way to Jupiter. The Large Space Simulator is Europe’s single largest vacuum chamber standing 15 m high and 10 m wide.

Once in the Jovian system Juice will make detailed observations of Jupiter and its three large ocean-bearing moons – Ganymede, Callisto and Europa – with a suite of remote sensing, geophysical and in situ instruments. The mission will investigate the emergence of habitable worlds around gas giants and the Jupiter system as an archetype for the numerous giant exoplanets now known to orbit other stars.

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Moons of the giant planets

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New physical probes of the early Universe

ESA’s large-class science missions for the timeframe 2035-2050 will focus on moons of the giant Solar System planets, temperate exoplanets or the galactic ecosystem, and new physical probes of the early Universe.

EnVision will be ESA’s next Venus orbiter, providing a holistic view of the planet from its inner core to upper atmosphere to determine how and why Venus and Earth evolved so differently.

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00:00:43

Rotating Juice in the clean room at ESA’s technical heart in the Netherlands before transfer in the Large Space Simulator.

Juice will undergo environmental testing in ESTEC’s Large Space Simulator to replicate the extreme heating and cooling cycles that the spacecraft will experience on its way to Jupiter.

Once in the Jovian system the mission will spend at least three years making detailed observations of the giant gaseous planet Jupiter and its three large ocean-bearing moons: Ganymede, Callisto and Europa.

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03:32:49

For the first time in more than three years, on 26 May 2021, a total lunar eclipse coincided with a supermoon. The ‘super blood moon’ was unfortunately only visible across Australia and parts of the US and East Asia. But ESA, in cooperation with the Australian science agency, CSIRO, brought this celestial treat to European viewers through its live webcast “Lunch with the Moon”. 
Catch the replay of this unique event, which includes live footage of the Moon from across the globe and conversations with experts on the science of lunar eclipses, what would happen if there were no Moon, fascinating insights into Europe’s future at the Moon including the Moonlight project, lunar robots and robotics, a future human lunar base and much more. 

In the programme, the moment of “totality” – when the Moon is fully shrouded in Earth’s shadow – begins around 1:46:00. 
Schedule 
02:10 Deep-space communication from Australia 
13:00 All about lunar eclipses 
29:10 What if there were no Moon? 
43:20 Europe goes forward to the Moon 
58:45 Moonlight: Connecting Earth with the Moon 
1:13:20 Humans at work in a lunar setting 
1:28:20 Lunar robots 
1:43:45 Science and future exploration 

Lunar Eclipse Webcast 26 May 11:30 CEST start

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00:00:58

The beauty shot video of the international James Webb Space Telescope (Webb) showing off the telescope’s primary mirror.

The world’s most powerful space science telescope has opened its primary mirror for the last time on Earth.

As part of Webb’s final tests, the 6.5 meter (21 feet 4 inch) mirror was commanded to fully expand and lock itself into place, just like it would in space. The conclusion of this test represents the team’s final checkpoint in a long series of tests designed to ensure Webb’s 18 hexagonal mirrors are prepared for a long journey in space, and a life of profound discovery. After this, all of Webb’s many movable parts will have confirmed in testing that they can perform their intended operations after being exposed to the expected launch environment.

Making the testing conditions close to what Webb will experience in space helps to ensure the observatory is fully prepared for its science mission one million miles away from Earth.
Commands to unlatch and deploy the side panels of the mirror were relayed from Webb’s testing control room at Northrop Grumman, in Redondo Beach, California. The software instructions sent, and the mechanisms that operated are the same as those used in space. Special gravity offsetting equipment was attached to Webb to simulate the zero-gravity environment in which its complex mechanisms will operate. All of the final thermal blanketing and innovative shielding designed to protect its mirrors and instruments from interference were in place during testing.

Read more.

Webb is an international partnership between NASA, ESA and CSA. The telescope will launch on an Ariane 5 from Europe’s Spaceport in French Guiana.

Computer simulations show that the miniature solar flares nicknamed ‘campfires’, discovered last year by ESA’s Solar Orbiter, are likely driven by a process that may contribute significantly to the heating of the Sun’s outer atmosphere, or corona. If confirmed by further observations this adds a key piece to the puzzle of what heats the solar corona – one of the biggest mysteries in solar physics.

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When clouds collide

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Where did Mars’ water go?