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A star-charting spacecraft spotted NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope while both were working in deep space. The European Space Agency’s Gaia mission and the James Webb Space Telescope both orbit around Earth-sun Lagrange point 2, or L2, a gravitationally stable point between the sun and Earth that is roughly 930,000 miles (1.5 million kilometers) from Earth. … Read more
The European Space Agency (ESA) Council will meet on Wednesday and Thursday (March 16 and March 17) in Paris for its 306th session. On the agenda: “Implications of the current geopolitical situation on ESA’s activities.” That situation is the ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine, which could end up having a significant impact on spaceflight and … Read more
The European Solar Orbiter mission will make its closest approach to the sun later this month, promising to capture images that could unravel some of the mysterious behaviours of the star at the heart of our solar system. Solar Orbiter, a European Space Agency (ESA) mission with a contribution from NASA, launched in February 2020. … Read more
Europe’s ExoMars rover, built to search for traces of life on the Red Planet, is unlikely to launch as planned in September aboard a Russian rocket as a result of sanctions rolled out by European countries in response to Russian aggression in Ukraine. The ExoMars mission, which comprises the Trace Gas Orbiter (in orbit around … Read more
Europe’s ExoMars rover, built to search for traces of life on the Red Planet, is unlikely to launch as planned in September aboard a Russian rocket as a result of sanctions rolled out by European countries in response to Russian aggression in Ukraine. The ExoMars mission, which comprises the Trace Gas Orbiter (in orbit around … Read more
Business with Russia continues as usual amid the escalating situation in Ukraine, the European Space Agency’s (ESA) chief said on Friday (Feb. 25). But it’s unclear if the partnership can survive Russia’s recent aggression, experts say. On Friday, ESA Director General Josef Aschbacher released a statement via Twitter addressing the Russian invasion of Ukraine and … Read more
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is expected to add more urgency to Europe’s efforts to break its dependence on Russian oil and gas, as well as compel Europe to accelerate its transition to cleaner energy, say experts and E.U. officials. But those efforts won’t come quickly or easily. And they’ll involve some difficult compromises. Discussions about … Read more
As Comet Leonard bid farewell to Earth and flew past Venus, a sun-studying spacecraft flew through the comet’s long tail, giving humans a new perspective on the icy wanderer. Discovered last January and also known as Comet C/2021 A1, Comet Leonard was perhaps the most spectacular visitor for skywatchers in 2021. The object put on … Read more
The European Space Agency’s Mars Express collected data from China’s Zhurong Mars rover and successfully sent it to Earth following a series of experimental communications tests. The Zhurong rover was designed only to communicate with its companion orbiter, Tianwen 1; however, the rover has long outlived its planned mission and the orbiter is no longer … Read more