Tag: news

  • Five reasons to join the European Space Agency!

    Five reasons to join the European Space Agency

    In 2023, ESA published more than 400 vacancies in engineering, science and business and administration and more positions continue to be published as we are always on the lookout for talented new colleagues to join us. So, what does it mean to join ESA? Here are five reasons why you should consider ESA as the next step in your career!

  • Moon vision

    Moon shot

    A camera destined for the Moon became part of the astronauts’ toolkit during ESA’s latest PANGAEA geology training in Lanzarote, Spain.

  • Hera asteroid mission – launch highlights


    Video:
    00:04:05

    ESA’s Hera mission lifted off on a SpaceX Falcon 9 from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida, USA, on 7 October at 10:52 local time (16:52 CEST, 14:52 UTC).

    Hera is ESA’s first planetary defence mission. It will fly to a unique target among the 1.3 million asteroids in our Solar System – the only body to have had its orbit shifted by human action – to solve lingering unknowns associated with its deflection.

    Hera will carry out the first detailed survey of a ‘binary’ – or double-body – asteroid, 65803 Didymos, which is orbited by a smaller body, Dimorphos. Hera’s main focus will be Dimorphos, whose orbit around the main body was previously altered by NASA’s kinetic-impacting DART spacecraft.

    By sharpening scientific understanding of this ‘kinetic impact’ technique of asteroid deflection, Hera should turn the experiment into a well-understood and repeatable technique for protecting Earth from an asteroid on a collision course.

  • Hera asteroid mission liftoff


    Video:
    00:03:03

    ESA’s Hera mission lifted off on a SpaceX Falcon 9 from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida, USA, on 7 October at 10:52 local time (16:52 CEST, 14:52 UTC).

    Hera is ESA’s first planetary defence mission. It will fly to a unique target among the 1.3 million asteroids in our Solar System – the only body to have had its orbit shifted by human action – to solve lingering unknowns associated with its deflection.

    Hera will carry out the first detailed survey of a ‘binary’ – or double-body – asteroid, 65803 Didymos, which is orbited by a smaller body, Dimorphos. Hera’s main focus will be Dimorphos, whose orbit around the main body was previously altered by NASA’s kinetic-impacting DART spacecraft.

    By sharpening scientific understanding of this ‘kinetic impact’ technique of asteroid deflection, Hera should turn the experiment into a well-understood and repeatable technique for protecting Earth from an asteroid on a collision course.

  • Why are we going back to this asteroid?


    Video:
    00:11:35

    Hera, ESA’s first planetary defence mission, is headed to space.

    Hera will fly to a unique target among the 1.3 million known asteroids of our Solar System – the first body to have had its orbit shifted by human action – to probe lingering unknowns related to its deflection.

    Hera is scheduled for launch on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida, USA, today, Monday 7 October, at 16:52 CEST / 15:52 BST.

  • Mission control GO for Hera launch

    Mission control GO for Hera launch
    Image:
    Mission control GO for Hera launch

  • Week in images: 30 September – 04 October 2024

    Nearing Hera era in space

    Week in images: 30 September – 04 October 2024

    Discover our week through the lens

  • Proba-3 double satellites set for launch following last test

    Proba-3's pair of satellites

    In a final test before its shipping to its Indian launch site, ESA’s eclipse-making double-satellite Proba-3 mission has received commands from its science team and transmitted images back, exactly as it will operate in orbit.

  • Earth from Space: Kunshan, China

    This Copernicus Sentinel-2 image captures the intricate blend of natural, rural and urban landscapes around Kunshan, a city in eastern China.
    Image:
    This Copernicus Sentinel-2 image captures the intricate blend of natural, rural and urban landscapes around Kunshan, a city in eastern China.

  • Sentinel-2 unveils the seasonal rhythm of intertidal seagrass

    Intertidal seagrass Cadiz Lagoon

    Thanks to an ESA-funded project and data from the Copernicus Sentinel-2 mission, researchers have revealed seasonal variations in intertidal seagrass across Western Europe and North Africa. As a key indicator of biodiversity, these new findings offer valuable insights for the conservation and restoration of these vital ecosystems.

  • Mercury’s magnetic landscape mapped in 30 minutes

    Mercury’s magnetosphere during BepiColombo’s third flyby (unannotated)

    As BepiColombo sped past Mercury during its June 2023 flyby, it encountered a variety of features in the tiny planet’s magnetic field. These measurements provide a tantalising taste of the mysteries that the mission is set to investigate when it arrives in orbit around the Solar System’s innermost planet.