Tag: European Space Agency
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On Apollo anniversary, Soyuz crew set for launch to space station
STORY WRITTEN FOR CBS NEWS & USED WITH PERMISSION NASA astronaut Andrew Morgan, Russian cosmonaut Alexander Skvortsov and Italian flight engineer Luca Parmitano during training in Star City, Russia. Credit: NASA/Beth Weissinger Fifty years to the day after Neil Armstrong stepped onto the surface of the moon, a NASA astronaut, an Italian flight engineer and a Russian…
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Soyuz crew vehicle arrives at launch pad in Kazakhstan
A Russian Soyuz rocket rolled out to a launch pad in Kazakhstan early Thursday in preparation for liftoff Saturday with a Russian commander, Italian flight engineer and U.S. astronaut heading for the International Space Station. The three-stage Soyuz-FG rocket rode a rail car from an assembly building to Launch Pad No. 1 at the…
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Final assembly and test milestones on tap for NASA’s first Orion moon ship
The Orion crew module for the Artemis 1 mission, an unpiloted test flight to lunar orbit and back, completed a direct field acoustic test earlier this year inside the Armstrong Operations and Checkout Building at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Credit: NASA The pressurized crew module and European-built service module for NASA’s first Orion…
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The moon in 2069: Top space scientists share their visions for lunar lifestyles
The European Space Agency’s vision for lunar settlement includes habitats shielded by piled-up moon dirt. (ESA / Foster + Partners Illustration) LAUSANNE, Switzerland — Fifty years ago this month, NASA’s Apollo 11 mission transformed the idea of putting people on the moon from science fiction to historical fact. Not much has changed on the moon…
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European space mission to get close-up view of new comet
This view of Comet C/2012 S1, or ISON, was captured in November 2013 by the TRAPPIST–South telescope at the European Southern Observatory’s La Silla facility in Chile. Comet ISON was a dynamically new comet that likely began its journey to the inner solar system from the Oort Cloud, spherical shell of icy objects located between…
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ESA books launch of Jupiter orbiter with Arianespace
Artist’s illustration of the Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer, or JUICE, spacecraft during a flyby of Jupiter’s moon Europa. Credit: ESA The European Space Agency has reserved an Ariane launcher to send a spacecraft toward Jupiter in May 2022, and the mission’s project manager said Tuesday officials could assign the probe to Europe’s new Ariane 6…
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Sweet! Scientists narrow down source of mysterious burst of methane on Mars
The European Space Agency’s Mars Express orbiter, shown in this artist’s conception, has been circling Mars since 2003. (Spacecraft image credit: ESA / ATG Medialab; Mars: ESA / DLR / FU Berlin, CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO) It may sound like an April Fool’s joke about flatulent aliens, but this is serious: The scientists behind the…
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All-Italian launch from French Guiana lofts innovative environmental satellite
A Vega rocket lifted off from French Guiana at 10:50 p.m. local time (9:50 p.m. EDT) Thursday. Credit: ESA/CNES/Arianespace – Photo Optique Video du CSG – S. Martin A Vega rocket fired into orbit Thursday night from French Guiana with Italy’s PRISMA hyperspectral Earth-imaging satellite, commencing a busy period for the Vega launcher program as…
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Facing more delays, NASA opens door to launching lunar mission with commercial rockets
Artist’s illustration of NASA’s Orion spacecraft and its European-built service module, powered toward the moon by an upper stage engine. Credit: NASA In a major shift, NASA is considering using two commercial launchers to send an unpiloted Orion crew capsule and its European-built service module on a test flight around the moon next year, maintaining…
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Israeli moon lander prepared for launch
The completed SpaceIL Beresheet lunar lander is pictured with its solar panels attached. Credit: SpaceIL The privately-funded Israeli Beresheet lunar lander is ready for its historic mission to the moon, aiming to become the first space probe to land on another planetary body without government funding. Funded by philanthropists and donors, the Beresheet lunar lander…