Tag: ESA
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Expedition 66 concludes 2021 with busy December aboard ISS
While many cultures celebrated their respective holiday traditions on Earth, the crew of the International Space Station (ISS) carried on with their busy schedules high above. December 2021 saw three major visiting vehicle movements, one spacewalk, and many of the research and maintenance tasks that allow the ISS to function as one of the world’s…
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James Webb Space Telescope en route to L2; deployment sequence underway
Following a launch on December 25 atop an Arianespace Ariane 5 rocket, the joint NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope is currently traveling toward the Sun-Earth Lagrange Point 2 (L2), where it is expected to orbit and perform future science observations. Liftoff occurred at 12:20 UTC from the ELA-3 launch complex at the Guiana Space Centre…
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Telescope’s launch makes Christmas merry for space fans, but the ride has just begun
An Ariane 5 rocket lifts off with the James Webb Space Telescope. (ESA / CNES / Arianespace / JM Guillon) The most expensive telescope in the known universe has begun its journey to a vantage point a million miles from Earth with its launch from French Guiana. Today’s liftoff of an Ariane 5 rocket from…
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NASA, ESA, CSA successfully launch the historic James Webb Space Telescope
It is a mission more than 25 years in the making. The revolutionary JWST (James Webb Space Telescope)—a partnership between NASA, the ESA (European Space Agency), and the CSA (Canadian Space Agency)— has launched atop its Ariane 5 rocket from launchpad ELA-3 at the Guiana Space Centre in South America. Liftoff of James Webb occurred…
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High cost, high risk, high hopes: There’s a lot riding on the $10B James Webb Space Telescope’s launch
An Ariane 5 rocket is set to launch NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope. (NASA Photo / Bill Ingalls) The launch of NASA’s $10 billion James Webb Space Telescope from French Guiana could mark a triumph in a tale that thousands of astronomers have been following for a generation. Or it could result in the deepest…
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Themis tanking test marks milestone in ESA’s path to reusability
The ESA (European Space Agency) has taken a major step towards developing reusable rockets with the completion of a series of tanking tests for its Themis vehicle, which will serve as a testbed for the agency to experiment with launch and landing operations. After initially announcing plans for a reusable rocket – Ariane Next –…
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Seeing the universe in the Mid-Infrared with James Webb’s MIRI instrument
The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), presently tracking toward a launch no earlier than December 22 on an Ariane 5 rocket from the Guiana Space Centre in South America, will revolutionize in-space astronomy, particularly with its Mid-InfraRed Instrument, or MIRI. The instrument itself requires special cooling to drop its temperature to just 6 Kelvin —…
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Unfolding the universe: the commissioning process of the James Webb Space Telescope
This December, an Ariane 5 rocket will launch from Kourou, French Guiana carrying the most complicated telescope ever developed — the joint NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope. However, when the telescope launches, it will not immediately be ready for scientific observations. In fact, the telescope won’t perform any observations until about six months after launch.…
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Arianespace Vega launches CERÉS satellites for CNES
Arianespace’s Vega rocket launched on its third mission of the year with the Capacité de Renseignement Électromagnétique Spatiale (CERÉS) 1, 2, and 3 satellites for the French space agency Centre National d’Etudes Spatiales (CNES). Vega lifted off on November 16, at 6:27 AM Kourou time (09:27 UTC). This mission was Vega’s 20th overall and Arianespace’s…
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Ariane 6 undergoing preparations for its 2022 debut
ArianeGroup and the European Space Agency are carrying out preparations for the maiden launch of the Ariane 6 rocket next year. Ariane 6 represents the next generation of the Ariane family of rockets, intended to allow its customers lower-cost access to space. The rocket and launch pad still have an extensive test program ahead of…