On 19–20 August 2024, Juice successfully completed a world-first lunar-Earth flyby, with flight controllers guiding the spacecraft first past the Moon, then past Earth. The gravity of the two changed […]
ESA
Posted inAnalog Studies, Artemis & Lunar Exploration, Away Teams & Field Reports, Caves, Craters, Mountains, Subsurface, Lava Tubes, Exploration Gear & Tech, Polar / Alpine Expeditions, Status Report
ESA PANGAEA 2023 Away Team Training At Bletterbach Mars Analog
ESA PANGAEA2023 course instructor, Nicolas Mangold, explains the main features that make Bletterbach a Mars analogue on Earth.
Posted inBiosignatures & Paleobiology, Europa, Exploration Gear & Tech, Ganymede, Icy Worlds, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Jupiter, Missions & Hardware, Moon, Status Report, Tricorders & Sensors, Venus, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography
Astrobiology Droid Update: Juice Rerouted To Venus After The First lunar-Earth Flyby
ESA’s Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer (Juice) has successfully completed a world-first lunar-Earth flyby, using the gravity of Earth to send it Venus-bound, on a shortcut to Jupiter through the inner […]
Posted inEuropa, Ganymede, Icy Worlds, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Jupiter, Mapping, Geodesy, Cartography, Bathymetry, Missions & Hardware, Moon, Status Report
Astrobiology Droid Update: ESA Juice Completes Moon Flyby
During the first step of humankind’s first-ever lunar-Earth flyby, ESA’s Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer (Juice) mission captured this stunning view of the Moon.
Posted inCaves, Craters, Mountains, Subsurface, Lava Tubes, Habitable Zones, Icy Worlds, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Mapping, Geodesy, Cartography, Bathymetry, Mars, Status Report, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography
Lake Eridania On Mars
Mars once hosted a lake larger than any on Earth. The broken-down and dried-up remnants of this ancient lakebed are shown here in amazing detail by ESA’s Mars Express. This […]
Posted inAstrogeology, Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Fossils & Paleontology, Habitable Zones, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Mapping, Geodesy, Cartography, Bathymetry, Mars, Press Release
Orbital View Of Chloride Salt Deposits In Terra Sirenum On Mars
A purplish, scaley wave lures the attention of a European spacecraft as it flies over Mars’s Terra Sirenum, Latin for Sea of the Sirens. It is just an optical illusion […]
Posted inAstrochemistry, Astrogeology, Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Cryobiology, Exploration Gear & Tech, Icy Worlds, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Saturn, Status Report, Titan
Titan’s Rocks Of Ice – An Interview with Christopher McKay
Huygens sent back only one picture from the surface of Titan. Some people ask, “Are there any more pictures?” They’re used to the Mars rovers, where every day you get […]
Posted inAstronomy & Telescopes, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Habitable Zones, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Press Release, Radiation, Space Weather & Heliophysics, Stellar Cartography
Sun-like Stars Have Been Found Orbiting Hidden Companions
Most stars in our universe come in pairs. While our own Sun is a loner, many stars like our Sun orbit similar stars, while a host of other exotic pairings […]
Posted inAstronomy & Telescopes, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Habitable Zones, Icy Worlds, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Missions & Hardware, PLATO, Press Release, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography
The PLATO Terrestrial Planet Hunter Telescope Will Begin Searching For Another Earth In 2026
Europe’s next big space mission – a telescope that will hunt for Earth-like rocky planets outside of our solar system – is on course to launch at the end of […]
Posted inAstronomy & Telescopes, Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Nanotechnology & SynBio, Status Report
Prototyping Liquid-crystal Coronagraphs For Exo-Earth Imaging
This paper presents initial results from the ESA-funded “SUPPPPRESS” project, which aims to develop high-performance liquid-crystal coronagraphs for direct imaging of Earth-like exoplanets in reflected light.