First Glimpse: OSIRIS-REx’s Historic Return With Asteroid Bennu Sample
NASA’s OSIRIS-REx spacecraft is returning from asteroid Bennu with a sample, set to land on Earth on September 24. ESA’s telescope captured the spacecraft 2.90…
European Space Agency News
Why Is Juice Taking Sooo Long? Straight Lines in Space Are a Massive Waste of Energy
Juice: Why’s It Taking Sooo Long At their closest point in orbit, Earth and Jupiter are separated by almost 600 million kilometers (375 million miles)….
Solar Orbiter Closes in on Sun’s Biggest Secret: Solving a 65-Year-Old Cosmic Mystery
A cosmic alignment and a little bit of spacecraft gymnastics have provided a ground-breaking measurement that is helping solve the 65-year-old cosmic mystery of why…
Emerald Whirlpools: Satellite Captures Spectacular Algal Blooms in Gulf of Finland
This satellite image from the European Space Agency’s Copernicus Sentinel-2 features swirls of vivid, emerald-green algal blooms in the Gulf of Finland. The Gulf of…
Stellar Sextants: Charting the Course of Celestial Bodies
This dream-like Hubble Space Telescope Picture of the Week features the galaxy known as NGC 3156. It is a lenticular galaxy, meaning that it falls…
Uncharted Solar Realms: Camera “Hack” Lets Solar Orbiter Peer Deeper Into Sun’s Atmosphere
Scientists have used Solar Orbiter’s EUI camera in a new mode of operation to record part of the Sun’s atmosphere at extreme ultraviolet wavelengths that…
Igniting Ariane 6: Europe’s Spaceport Tests the Next Big Thing in Rockets
ESA’s Ariane 6 rocket underwent successful testing in French Guiana, showcasing readiness for pre-launch procedures and system safety. Designed to succeed Ariane 5, Ariane 6…
Fiery Finale: Final Images of the Doomed Aeolus Spacecraft
Aeolus was in orbit around Earth for four years, eleven months, and six days. For three hours at the very end, a very brief period,…
Next-Generation Heavy-Lift Launcher: Trial by Fire for Ariane 6 Rocket’s Upper Stage
ESA’s Ariane 6 vehicle tested its Vinci and APU engines in Germany, marking a step forward in Europe’s space technology and collaboration efforts. On September…
Project FEAST: Webb Space Telescope Captures a Cosmic Whirlpool
The James Webb Space Telescope showcases the spiral galaxy M51’s grandeur, revealing its intricate relationship with the neighboring galaxy NGC 5195. Through the FEAST study,…
Extraordinary Convergence: Chasing Chandrayaan and the Super Blue Moon
On August 30, the rare ‘super blue Moon’ combined with ESA’s New Norcia antenna interactions with ISRO’s Chandrayaan-3 Lander, creating a unique celestial and technological…
Galactic Isolation: Lingering Energy of Catastrophically Violent Explosion
The Hubble Space Telescope photographed the isolated galaxy IC 1776, which was recently the site of a supernova. The aftermath of this explosion has been…
ESA’s Planetary Defense Mission: Hera Asteroid Spacecraft Is Complete
ESA’s asteroid defense mission, Hera, has been successfully assembled at OHB Bremen in Germany. Hera is complete. ESA’s asteroid mission for planetary defense was built…
ESA’s Hera Mission: Mini-Radar Will Probe Asteroid’s Heart
ESA’s Juventas CubeSat will house the smallest space radar, JuRa, for the Hera mission, aiming to image inside the asteroid Dimorphos. Developed by IPAG and…
Maser Mystique: Hubble’s Gaze Into a Stellar Cradle
The NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope has captured an entrancing dust-filled image of the protostellar object OH 339.88-1.26. Located 8,900 light-years away in the constellation Ara….
ISRO’s Moonshot: India’s Chandrayaan-3 Successfully Lands on the Moon
The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has successfully landed its Chandrayaan-3 Lander Module on the surface of the Moon. Mission Timeline Chandrayaan-3 launched from the…
Solar Orbiter Spacecraft Discovers Tiny Jets That Could Power the Solar Wind
The ESA/NASA Solar Orbiter spacecraft has discovered a multitude of tiny jets of material escaping from the Sun’s outer atmosphere. Each jet lasts between 20…
Scorched Earth: Wildfires Continue To Rage in Greece
A month after fires devastated the island of Rhodes in July 2023 (see image below), more fires have ripped through Greece this week as southern…