Tag: European Space Agency
-

Lost Philae lander found on comet
Rosetta’s lander Philae has been identified in OSIRIS narrow-angle camera images taken on Sept. 2, 2016 from a distance of 1.7 miles (2.7 kilometers). The image scale is about 2 inches (5 centimeters) per pixel. Philae’s 3-foot-wide (1-meter) body and two of its three legs can be seen extended from the body. The images also…
-

Images from European satellite reveal possible impact with space junk
The picture shows Sentinel 1A’s solar array before and after the impact of a millimeter-size particle on the second panel. The damaged area has a diameter of about 40 centimeters (16 inches), which is consistent on this structure with the impact of a fragment of less than 5 millimeters (0.2 inches) in size. Credit: ESA…
-

Pow! Rosetta probe spots comet eruption
The OSIRIS wide-angle camera on the European Space Agency’s Rosetta probe captured this view of an outburst from the Atum region on Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko on Feb. 19. (Credit: ESA / Rosetta / MPS for OSIRIS Team, MPS / UPD / LAM / IAA / SSO / INTA / UPM / DASP / IDA) The scientists…
-

Ariane 6 rocket holding to schedule for 2020 maiden flight
Artist’s illustration of the Ariane 64 rocket version, with four solid rocket boosters. Credit: ESA–David Ducros, 2016 Europe’s top rocket contractor is pressing ahead with development of the Ariane 6 rocket, a versatile launcher with half the cost of Europe’s current Ariane 5 booster, keeping the new vehicle on track for its 2020 debut. The…
-

ExoMars orbiter fine-tunes path toward red planet
Artist’s concept of the ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter. Credit: Thales Alenia Space. A European spacecraft cruising toward Mars fired its main engine Thursday, tweaking its trajectory and helping set up for carefully-choreographed simultaneous maneuvers Oct. 19 to place part of the tandem mission into orbit around the red planet and deposit a stationary battery-powered lander…
-

Scientists to land, and switch off, Rosetta comet probe in September
Artist’s concept of the Rosetta spacecraft at comet 67P. Credit: ESA/Rosetta/NAVCAM/ATG medialab The European Space Agency’s Rosetta mission will end Sept. 30 with a dicey descent to the core of comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko, a risky, but potentially rewarding finale punctuated by commands to automatically safe the probe’s rocket thrusters and turn off its radio transmitter. The…
-

Photos: Soyuz crew capsule parachutes to landing in Kazakhstan
A Soyuz spacecraft carrying a three-man crew parachuted to the flat grasslands of Kazakhstan on Saturday, returning home from the International Space Station with cosmonaut Yuri Malenchenko, NASA astronaut Tim Kopra and British flight engineer Tim Peake. The Soyuz TMA-19M spaceship touched down at 0915 GMT (5:15 a.m. EDT; 3:15 p.m. Kazakh time) about 90 miles…
-

Soyuz spacecraft brings home three-man station crew
STORY WRITTEN FOR CBS NEWS & USED WITH PERMISSION Credit: NASA/Bill Ingalls A Russian cosmonaut, a NASA astronaut and a British flier strapped into a Soyuz spacecraft, undocked from International Space Station and plunged back to Earth Saturday, safely landing on the steppe of Kazakhstan to close out a 186-day mission. Dropping out of a partly cloudy…
-

Three station fliers set for Saturday return to Earth
STORY WRITTEN FOR CBS NEWS & USED WITH PERMISSION Russian cosmonaut Yuri Malenchenko will fly in the center seat on the Soyuz TMA-19M capsule. In this image, he is flanked by Tim Peake (left) and Tim Kopra (right). Credit: NASA/GCTC Three space station crew members made final preparations Friday for undocking and landing in Kazakhstan early Saturday…
-

Live coverage: Space station crew concludes 186 days in orbit
Live coverage of the Expedition 47 mission on the International Space Station. Text updates will appear automatically below; there is no need to reload the page. Follow us on Twitter.