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Posts tagged european space agency
Planck satellite creates most detailed map ever of cosmic microwave background radiation
Mar 21st
The European Space Agency’s Planck satellite has been gathering data since its launch in 2009, slowly building up a map of the cosmic microwave background radiation — a distant remnant of the Big Bang. The resulting image, seen above, is the most detailed ever put together of the cold glow that uniformly covers the universe, taking us all the way back to just a 380,000 years after the explosive inflation that gave birth to all matter, energy and time. There were some surprises, including more extreme temperature fluctuations between hemispheres than predicted by the standard model and confirmation of a pronounced cold spot that can no longer be dismissed as an artifact of previous satellite instruments. For more about just what Planck has taught us, along with a few more visualizations, check out the source link.
Via: Wired
Source: European Space Agency
Scientists Make Plans To Blast Threatening Asteroids
Mar 9th
The recent meteor blast in Russian has brought renewed public attention to the risk posed by meteors on a collision course with the earth. It’s a risk Dr. Andrew Cheng of the John Hopkins Applied Physics Lab is working to avert. In a joint venture with NASA and the European Space Agency, Cheng is heading up a plan to develop a rocket that could collide with an asteroid and knock it off course. He talks about it with Weekends on All Things Considered host Jacki Lyden.
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"Made in space" coming soon to a product near you
May 4th
BERLIN May 4 (Reuters) – The European Space Agency is
hatching plans for a branding campaign aimed at making people
more aware of the benefits of spending their hard-earned taxes
on the International Space Station (ISS).
ESA’s Vega rocket takes flight, delivers low-tonnage objects to high places
Feb 13th
On Monday, the European Space Agency (ESA) conducted a successful test of its newest projectile, the Vega rocket. Designed to carry up to nine objects totaling less than 2.5 metric tons (“tonnes,” for those in the know) into orbit, the four-stage vehicle stands 30 meters tall and weighs in at just under 140 metric tons when fully loaded. The rocket aims to solve a key — if slightly humdrum — problem: at present, European researchers send their instrumentation into space on retrofitted Russian intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBM). The Vega platform should provide greater launch flexibility and reduce the delay (which can be months) scientists experience while waiting to hitch a ride on an ICBM. Although still in the testing stage, Monday’s maiden voyage was a promising first step for the new spacecraft. Hit the source for more rocket-related excitement.
ESA’s Vega rocket takes flight, delivers low-tonnage objects to high places originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 13 Feb 2012 16:24:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Russia in talks for Moon base timeshare with European Space Agency, NASA
Jan 20th
Whether or not you believe we actually put a man on the moon, there’s about to be a whole gaggle of’em bouncing about the place and mucking things up in the name of Science. Taking that whole “one giant leap for mankind” motto a few baby steps further, is an in-development initiative that would see our former, space race frenemy Russia teaming up with the ESA and NASA to develop a Moon base. Citing recently discovered reservoirs of water located near the polar caps, Roscosmos chief Vladimir Popovkin believes the time is ripe to continue exploration of Earth’s satellite via the installation of a settlement on its surface or an orbiting station. As with all things outer space, expect this cooperative project to take some time coming to fruition. After all, there are billions of dollars, not to mention a bevy of international egos on the line here.
Continue reading Russia in talks for Moon base timeshare with European Space Agency, NASA
Russia in talks for Moon base timeshare with European Space Agency, NASA originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 20 Jan 2012 03:16:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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ESA abandons Russian space probe, hopes it doesn’t plummet to earth
Dec 5th
Things have gone from bad to worse for the orbit locked Phobos-Grunt space probe, having lost contact with the European Space Agency, the probe faces abandonment and disaster. The soviet star-gazer got stuck in Earth’s orbit shortly after launch, stunting its two and a half year jaunt to the Martian moon Phobos. Attempts to send commands that would break the craft loose of the Earth’s grip have failed, and the ESA has since given up hope of contacting the probe. The Russians will continue to try and reestablish contact with the probe, hopefully avoiding an enviably expensive disaster. Weighing 13.2 metric tons, most of which is fuel, the probe threatens to return to Earth with a bang, crashing down to terra firma with a toxic payload. It’s certainly not been a good couple of months for Euro based space travel. In the meantime let’s just hope it doesn’t bump into anything else while it’s up there, or you might miss the big game.
ESA abandons Russian space probe, hopes it doesn’t plummet to earth originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 05 Dec 2011 03:52:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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EU to launch first two Galileo satellites today, as sat-nav system lurches forward
Oct 21st
The EU’s Galileo satellite navigation system has been beset by delays and budget overruns in recent months, but its future is looking slightly brighter, now that its first two satellites are primed for launch. The European Space Agency is expected to send the satellites into space today, as part of a long-term project that will cost an estimated €7 billion (around $9.6 billion). Slated to take off from Kourou, French Guiana, the pair of satellites will ride on the back of a Russian rocket to an altitude of nearly 15,000 miles, where they’ll test system functions both in space and on Earth. If all goes according to plan, they’ll also become Galileo’s first operational satellites, paving the way, officials hope, for many more to follow. In fact, the European Commission is looking to complete the 30-satellite constellation by the year 2019, with two scheduled to launch during every quarter, beginning in 2012. The idea, of course, is to offer Europeans an alternative to US-operated GPS, with a free consumer service scheduled to launch in 2014, followed by a more precise, paid service in 2020. Nevertheless, budgetary concerns loom large over the project, which, according to the EC, has already racked up a development and deployment bill of over €5 billion ($6.8 billion), since 2003. The commission will present a finalized proposal to EU member governments by the end of the year, in the hopes of obtaining that extra €7 billion, though it may face more acute criticism, considering today’s dour economic climate. It remains unlikely, however, that Galileo will be totally shut down, as the EU says it could bring in an extra €90 billion in annual revenue, once completed.
EU to launch first two Galileo satellites today, as sat-nav system lurches forward originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 21 Oct 2011 04:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Help for the lost: a fabric antenna to keep you from being a castaway
Oct 4th
Doesn’t look like much, does it? But the next time you’re lost at sea, you just might be thankful you’ve got it. That little square of fabric is actually a flexible antenna designed for the Cospas-Sarsat distress signal network, a Cold War-era system built to help pinpoint missing ships, planes and people. Designed to be sewn into a life vest, the antenna broadcasts an emergency beacon at a low frequency for greater range; in field tests, that helped rescuers find it within minutes. It’s also tear- and water-resistant, which you’ll be grateful for when you’re being tossed around like a ragdoll in a sea of whitecaps. The technology was developed by the European Space Agency in partnership with a Finnish company. Next on their agenda? A round, floating companion for the marooned, codenamed Wilson.
Help for the lost: a fabric antenna to keep you from being a castaway originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 04 Oct 2011 21:53:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Herschel telescope finds first evidence of oxygen molecules in space
Aug 1st
It’s not every day that scientists get to say they’ve found something in space for the first time ever, but astronomers working with the European Space Agency’s Herschel Space Observatory announced just such a discovery today, and it’s a big one. They’ve made the first confirmed finding of oxygen molecules in space (found hiding in the Orion nebula), and suggest that the oxygen is likely released when the water ice surrounding dust grains is melted by the heat from nearby stars forming. Of course, one discovery only leads to more questions, and the scientists note that they still haven’t found large amounts of oxygen, and “still don’t understand what is so special about the spots where we find it.”
Herschel telescope finds first evidence of oxygen molecules in space originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 01 Aug 2011 18:35:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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European Space Agency creates one billion pixel camera, calls her GAIA
Jul 10th
When we hear the name GAIA, our memory automatically zooms back to the Whoopi Goldberg-voiced Mother Earth from Captain Planet. This isn’t that GAIA, but it does have to do with planets. Back at the turn of the millennium, the European Space Agency devised an ambitious mission to map one billion stars in our Milky Way galaxy — in 3D (insert Joey Lawrence ‘whoa!’). To do this, it enlisted UK-based e2v Technologies and built an immense digital camera comprised of 106 snugly-fit charge coupled devices — the largest ever for a space program. These credit card-shaped, human hair-thick slabs of silicon carbide act like tiny galactic eyes, each storing incoming light as a single pixel. Not sufficiently impressed? Then consider this: the stellar cam is so all-seeing, “it could measure the thumbnails of a person on the Moon” — from Earth. Yeah. Set to launch on the Soyuz-Fregat sometime this year, the celestial surveyor will make its five-year home in the Earth-Sun L2 Lagrange point, beaming its outerspace discoveries to radio dishes in Spain and Australia — and occasionally peeping in your neighbor’s window.
European Space Agency creates one billion pixel camera, calls her GAIA originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 10 Jul 2011 15:28:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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