Mysteries of space dust revealed
The first analysis of space dust collected by a special collector onboard NASA’s Stardust mission and sent back to Earth for study in 2006 suggests the tiny specks, which likely orig...
Mercury’s magnetic field tells scientists how its interior is different from Earth’s
Earth and Mercury are both rocky planets with iron cores, but Mercury’s interior differs from Earth’s in a way that explains why the planet has such a bizarre magnetic field, UCLA pl...
Magnetic wormhole connecting two regions of space created for the first time
(Right) In terms of magnetism the wormhole is undetectable, which means that the magnetic field seems to disappear on the right only to reappear on the left in the form of a magnetic...
How many trees are in the world? 3 trillion, apparently
In one of the most detailed surveys ever undertaken of the world’s forests, it appears that across the globe there are approximately 3 trillion trees, but a significant number of the...
Fermi satellite detects gamma-rays from exploding novae
ASU Regents’ Professor Sumner Starrfield is part of a team that used the Large Area Telescope (LAT) onboard NASA’s Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope satellite to discover very high ene...
Construction to begin in Hawaii on world’s most advanced telescope
He is the principal investigator for the Infrared Imaging Spectrograph (IRIS), one of three scientific instruments that will be ready for use with the TMT when the telescope begins o...
Asteroid attacks significantly altered ancient Earth
A new terrestrial bombardment model based on existing lunar and terrestrial data sheds light on the role asteroid bombardments played in the geological evolution of the uppermost lay...
Venus Express snaps swirling vortex
Venus has a very choppy and fast-moving atmosphere – although wind speeds are sluggish at the surface, they reach dizzying speeds of around 400 km/h at the altitude of the cloud tops...
Touchdown! Rosetta’s Philae probe lands on comet
Rosetta’s Philae probe lands on comet 12/11/2014 871709 views 2343 likes ESA’s Rosetta mission has soft-landed its Philae probe on a comet, the first time in history that such an ex...
Top 10 at 10 km
ESA’s comet-chasing Rosetta mission spent much of the second half of October orbiting Comet 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko at less than 10 km from its surface. This selection of previousl...
Timely arrival of Pharao space clock
Comparing clocks under different gravity levels allows researchers to test Einstein’s theories on space–time and other theories in fundamental physics. Internet of clocks Pharao Accu...
The magnetic field along the Galactic plane
While the pastel tones and fine texture of this image may bring to mind brush strokes on an artist’s canvas, they are in fact a visualisation of data from ESA’s Planck satellite. The...
The effect of the winds of Mars
Here on Earth, we are used to the wind shaping our environment over time, forming smooth, sculpted rocks and rippling dunes. On the Red Planet, strong winds whip dust and sand from t...
Ten years at Titan
Science & Exploration Ten years at Titan 13/01/2015 33944 views Celebrating the 10th anniversary of the pioneering Huygens mission to Saturn’s moon Titan, the first successful l...
Space as never seen before
Agency Space as never seen before 10/03/2015 10717 views Space centres seen through the eyes of photographer Edgar Martins thanks to a partnership with ESA
Soyuz TMA-15M spacecraft transfer and liftoff
This timelapse video shows the Soyuz TMA-15M spacecraft during transfer from the MIK 40 integration facility to Baikonur Cosmodrome launch pad 31, as well as the launch on 23 Novembe...
Sentinel-2A liftoff
Replay of the Sentinel-2A liftoff on a Vega launcher from Europe’s Spaceport in French Guiana at 01:52 GMT (03:52 CEST) on 23 June 2015. Sentinel-2A is the second satellite to be lau...
Science in space
ESA astronaut Alexander Gerst gives an overview of some of the science he has performed during his Blue Dot mission on the International Space Station so far. From robotic surgery to...
Rosetta fuels debate on origin of Earth’s oceans
Science & Exploration Rosetta fuels debate on origin of Earth’s oceans 10/12/2014 158669 views 375 likes ESA’s Rosetta spacecraft has found the water vapour from its target come...
Rosetta arrives at comet destination
Science & Exploration Rosetta arrives at comet destination 06/08/2014 227480 views 724 likes After a decade-long journey chasing its target, ESA’s Rosetta has today become the f...
Replay of Vega liftoff VV04 with IXV
Replay of the liftoff of Vega VV04 with ESA’s Intermediate eXperimental Vehicle, IXV, launched from Kourou, French Guiana on 11 February 2015. IXV was launched 340 km into space atop...
Replay ATV-5 liftoff
Liftoff of an Ariane 5 launcher from Europe’s spaceport in French Guiana with ESA’s last Automated Transfer vehicle to the Space Station. The fifth and final mission of ESA’s Automat...
Radar vision maps Napa Valley earthquake
Radar images from this fledgling satellite have been used to map the rupture caused by the biggest earthquake that has shaken northern California in 25 years. Yngvar Larsen from Norw...
Proba-V maps world air traffic from space
Launched two years ago today, Proba-V has picked up upwards of 25 million positions from more than 15 000 separate aircraft. “We’ve shown that detection of aircraft can work from spa...
Preparing to build ESA’s Jupiter mission
The agency’s Industrial Policy Committee approved the award of the €350.8 million contract yesterday. Pending the negotiation of contractual details, this should allow work to start ...