Impact landing ends SMART-1 mission to the Moon
ESA PR 31-2006. Early this morning, a small flash illuminated the surface of the Moon as the European Space Agency's SMART-1 spacecraft impacted onto the lunar soil, in the 'Lake of Excellence' region. view more (2006-09-05)
Cebreros marks major readiness milestone
On 9 June, a powerful new 35-metre antenna, presently undergoing acceptance testing at Cebreros, Spain, successfully picked up signals and tracked Rosetta and SMART-1. It is ESA's second deep-space ground station in its class and adds Ka-band reception capability and high pointing precision to the ESTRACK network. view more (2005-06-27)
Messenger peeks at Earth
NASA's Mercury-bound MESSENGER spacecraft - less than three months from an Earth flyby that will slingshot it toward the inner solar system - successfully tested its main camera by snapping distant approach shots of Earth and the Moon. view more (2005-05-31)
UK Provides Effective Access To Upcoming Solar Dynamics Observatory
Details of UK involvement in upcoming mission to study the Sun will be outlined at the RAS National Astronomy Meeting in Birmingham on Thursday 7th April. Dr Lidia van Driel-Gesztelyi of UCL's Mullard Space Science Laboratory will make a presentation on NASA's Solar Dynamic Observatory mission, which is due for launch in 2008. view more (2005-03-30)
Rare transit of Mercury
Scientists from Williams College and the University of Arizona will observe Mercury in front of Venus from vantage points on earthbound mountains and with orbiting spacecraft on Wednesday. Nov. 8. view more (2006-11-03)
ESA's SMART-1 satellite ready for lift-off
Follow the SMART-1 launch from an ESA or Arianespace establishment. During the night of Saturday 27/Sunday 28 September, ESA's SMART-1 satellite will be launched by an Ariane 5 rocket from Europe's spaceport at Kourou at 20:02 hrs local time (01:02 hrs Central European Summer Time, 23:02 hrs GMT). SMART-1 is the first of a series of 'Small... view more... (2003-09-24)
Lift-off for Foton microgravity mission
ESA PR 28-2007. An unmanned Foton spacecraft, carrying a payload of more than 40 ESA experiments, was successfully launched earlier today. The Soyuz-U launcher lifted off from Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan, at 13:00 CEST (11:00 GMT). view more (2007-09-17)
Europe's Mercury mission swings into action
The European Space Agency (ESA) signalled the start of a busy period for the planet Mercury, when it signed the contract for industrial development to start for the BepiColombo mission today (18th January 2008) at Astrium in Friedrichshafen, Germany. UK scientists and industry have key roles in BepiColombo, including construction of spacecraft... view more... (2008-01-21)
Scientists Wait For Beagle 2 To Call Home
The fate of Beagle 2 remains uncertain this morning after the giant radio telescope at Jodrell Bank in Cheshire, UK, failed in its first attempt to detect any signal from the spacecraft. Scientists were hopeful that the 250 ft (76 m) Lovell Telescope, recently fitted with a highly sensitive receiver, would be able to pick up the outgoing call from... view more... (2003-12-26)
Mars Express radar ready to work
MARSIS, the Mars Advanced Radar for Subsurface and Ionosphere Sounding on board ESA's Mars Express orbiter, is now fully deployed, has undergone its first check-out and is ready to start operations around the Red Planet. view more (2005-06-23)
First PROBA pictures promise wealth of environmental data
ESA's new micro-satellite PROBA has captured its first test images of the Earth's surface using its small but powerful optical instrument, just two months after its launch from the Indian equator. PROBA (Project for On Board Autonomy), the size of a small box and in orbit 600 km above the Earth's surface, has provided scientists with its first... view more... (2002-01-22)
Chinese satellites meet European instruments in London for space mission pre-nuptials
The hardware inside a Chinese space satellite is currently undergoing its final tests in London to make sure that it can 'talk' with the European science instruments it will be carrying, in advance of its mission launch in 2003. 37 scientists from the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) have spent the last three weeks in a converted seminar room at... view more... (2002-10-11)
Chain mail for rockets, or protection in a grid
A program developed by Russian scientists under support from the International Science and Technology Center (Project 1917) helps to protect spacecraft from orbital debris that rushes at great speed, in the most effective and economic manner. view more (2005-03-03)
Space is big, but not big enough
According to Douglas Adams, in his famous book The Hitch-Hikers Guide to the Galaxy, space is big. However, it seems near-Earth space is not big enough. In December 2001, the Space Shuttle pushed the International Space Station away from a discarded Russian rocket booster that was due to pass uncomfortably close. Space litter is a growing problem... view more... (2002-09-26)
Visit by Director of European Space Agency's Scientific Programme
Professor R M Bonnet, Scientific Programme Director at the European Space Agency (ESA), visited Rutherford Appleton Laboratory (RAL) today, Tuesday 30 January, to see a demonstration of the operations and data handling facilities for the Cluster spacecraft, which are due to be launched in the middle of this year. Cluster is a unique project... view more... (1996-02-01)
NRL sensor provides critical space weather observations
Launched from Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif., aboard an United Launch Alliance Atlas V launch vehicle, Oct. 18, 2009, the Special Sensor Ultraviolet Limb Imager (SSULI) developed by NRL's Space Science Division and Spacecraft Engineering Department offers a first of its kind technique for remote sensing of the ionosphere and thermosphere from... view more... (2009-11-04)
Rosetta all set for Mars swing-by
Rosetta, the European Space Agency's (ESA) spacecraft en route to comet 67P Churyumov Gerasimenko, is gearing up for a swing-by of Mars on 25th February 2007, which will help set it on the correct path to its final destination. view more (2007-02-20)
First Galileo satellite travels to launch site
GIOVE A, the first Galileo satellite, departed from ESA's test facility at the European Space Research and Technology Centre in The Netherlands on the morning of 29 November, bound for the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. view more (2005-12-02)
Chandra examines Jupiter during new horizons approach
On February 28, 2007, NASA's New Horizons spacecraft made its closest approach to Jupiter on its ultimate journey to Pluto. This flyby gave scientists a unique opportunity to study Jupiter using the package of instruments available on New Horizons, while coordinating observations from both space- and ground-based telescopes including NASA's... view more... (2007-03-02)
Royal Society Summer Exhibition - Take Part In The Cassini-Huygens Mission
UK space scientists are involved in a plethora of spacecraft that are currently exploring the planets, moons and comets in our Solar System. The UK Goes to the Planets exhibit at the Royal Society Summer Science Exhibition provides an opportunity to find out about these missions direct from the scientists. Within the last couple of years we have... view more... (2004-06-30)
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