Tag: European Space Agency
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Last data from Schiaparelli Mars lander hold clues to what went wrong
Artist’s concept illustrating the moment the Schiaparelli lander was to jettison its back shell and parachute and ignite its descent engines. Credit: ESA/ATG medialab The first sign of trouble from Europe’s Schiaparelli lander came around the time the probe was supposed to jettison its parachute and fire thrusters to brake for touchdown on the vast…
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Live coverage: ExoMars orbiter steers into orbit around Mars, lander’s fate TBD
Live coverage of the ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter and the Schiaparelli lander arriving at Mars. Text updates will appear automatically below; there is no need to reload the page. Follow us on Twitter.
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European Space Agency hails orbiter’s arrival at Mars but loses track of lander
An artist’s conception show the European Space Agency’s Trace Gas Orbiter releasing the Schiaparelli lander for its descent to Mars. (Credit: D. Ducros / ESA) For the first time in 13 years, the European Space Agency has put a spacecraft in orbit around Mars – and has sent a piggyback lander to an unknown fate…
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ESA celebrates ExoMars orbiter success, keeps vigil for lost lander
Artist’s concept of the ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter firing its main engine to enter orbit around Mars. Credit: ESA/ATG medialab A European-built orbiter designed to seek out the source of methane on Mars slipped into orbit around the red planet Wednesday after a seven-month interplanetary journey, but mission control lost contact with an experimental landing…
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European Mars lander released from ExoMars mothership
Artist’s concept showing separation of the ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter and the Schiaparelli landing module. Credit: ESA/ATG medialab A saucer-shaped entry, descent and landing demonstrator separated from Europe’s ExoMars orbiter Sunday, beginning a three-day approach aiming to become the first European-built craft to set down on the red planet and return data. Named for Giovanni…
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Ariane 5 goes on test run after launching two satellites
The Ariane 5 rocket lifted off at 2030 GMT (4:30 p.m. EDT; 5:30 p.m. French Guiana time) with the Sky Muster 2 and GSAT 18 communications satellites. This view of the launch comes from the Toucan observation deck about 3 miles (5 kilometers) from the pad. Credit: ESA/CNES/Arianespace – Photo Optique Video du CSG –…
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Ariane 5 goes on test run after launching two satellites
The Ariane 5 rocket lifted off at 2030 GMT (4:30 p.m. EDT; 5:30 p.m. French Guiana time) with the Sky Muster 2 and GSAT 18 communications satellites. This view of the launch comes from the Toucan observation deck about 3 miles (5 kilometers) from the pad. Credit: ESA/CNES/Arianespace – Photo Optique Video du CSG –…
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Rosetta’s last photos of comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko
Just before settling to a soft crash landing Friday, the European Space Agency’s Rosetta spacecraft captured close-range images of comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko, peering into a stadium-sized pit and recording a final dataset to keep scientists busy long after the mission’s end. The craft’s OSIRIS science camera took images throughout Rosetta’s descent and sent the data back…
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Rosetta mission ends with comet touchdown
Sequence of images captured by Rosetta during its descent to the surface of comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko. The Deir el-Medina pit is just right of center. Credit: ESA/Rosetta/MPS for OSIRIS Team MPS/UPD/LAM/IAA/SSO/INTA/UPM/DASP/IDA Europe’s Rosetta mission ended its 12-year mission Friday with a low-speed belly-flop on comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko, concluding an interplanetary odyssey that gave humanity a first close-up…
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Live coverage: Rosetta’s final hours
Live coverage of the final descent of Europe’s Rosetta spacecraft to the surface of comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko. Text updates will appear automatically below; there is no need to reload the page. Follow us on Twitter.