The European Space Agency (ESA) is looking to the future and contemplating its next M-class (Medium) mission. These missions are crucial to the ESA Science Programme (part of the agency’s Science Directorate), which aims to provide the best tools to ensure Europe’s continued participation in space exploration and sustain its capabilities in space by fostering innovation, maintaining launch services, and spacecraft operations. The latest round began in December 2021, when the ESA called for proposals for the next M-class mission to launch in the mid-2030s.
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Virgin Galactic to ground its VSS Unity space plane next year: report
Virgin Galactic plans to pause flights with its VSS Unity suborbital space plane next year to ramp up work on its next-generation 'Delta class' vehicles.
Webb, Hubble Telescopes Team Up to Create "Most Colorful View of the Universe"
The Hubble and Webb Space Telescopes have revealed a bounty of galaxies in a pair of colliding clusters, capturing twinkling lights within.
Mars, Earth, or deep space? ESA narrows down finalists for a future space mission
After a rigorous selection process, ESA has arrived at three medium-sized space mission ideas for the future. Before the winner is selected, read on to decide your favorite.
1st black hole ever imaged by humans has twisted magnetic fields and scientists are thrilled
Observations from the Event Horizon Telescope show that the supermassive black hole at the heart of the galaxy M87 has twisted magnetic fields that help matter and light escape from the immense gravity in its vicinity.
Frank Borman, Apollo 8 astronaut who led first flight to the moon, dies at 95
Former NASA astronaut Frank Borman, who in 1968 led the first mission to fly humans to the moon, has died. Borman lifted off twice: on the Gemini 7 mission in 1965 and Apollo 8 into lunar orbit.
Powerful new thrusters for NASA's moon-orbiting Gateway space station get a test (photo)
The propulsion system for NASA's planned moon-orbiting Gateway space station has been undergoing qualification testing at NASA's Glenn Research Center in Cleveland.
James Webb Space Telescope gets ready for the holidays with a cosmic Christmas Tree (image)
The James Webb Space Telescope used a galaxy as a cosmic magnifying glass to find transient objects in the "Christmas Tree" cluster, a Winter Wonderland of even more galaxies.
Astronomers Find Dozens of Massive Stars Fleeing the Milky Way
The Milky Way can’t hold onto all of its stars. Some of them get ejected into intergalactic space and spend their lives on an uncertain journey. A team of astronomers took a closer look at the most massive of these runaway stars to see what they could find out how they get ejected.
Build your own AI-powered Perseverance Mars rover with this new DIY kit
A new robotics kit is coming for DIYers out there, but this one has an out of this world twist: It's a miniature robotic replica of the NASA Mars Perseverance rover.
U.S. military’s X-37B mini-shuttle to launch on SpaceX Falcon Heavy for the first time
The X-37B Orbital Test Vehicle sits on the runway at Space Florida’s Launch and Landing Facility after returning from its sixth mission on Nov. 12, 2022. Image: U.S. Space Force
The U.S. military’s experimental spaceplane will soon soar to orbit using a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket for the first time, a Pentagon news release announced. The X-37B spacecraft will launch from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center no earlier than December 7.
Astronauts might be able to grow plants on the moon, thanks to a few Earth microbes
Microbes could help unlock vital nutrients in lunar soil to one day help farms sustain astronaut crews on the moon, a new study reports.
What? Wow! That New Asteroid Image from Lucy Just Got Even More Interesting
Lucy’s images of asteroid Dinkinesh are the gift that keeps on giving. First, it was the discovery of a smaller companion. Now, it turns out that the companion itself is a contact binary. That’s two smaller objects touching each other as they orbit with Dinkinesh. So, how did they get that way?
Between Venus' atmospheric currents, a layer of reactive oxygen
Scientists found atomic oxygen buried between two dominant currents in the hellish planet's atmosphere.
NASA’s robotic prospectors are helping scientists understand what asteroids are made of, setting the stage for miners to follow someday
Some companies hope to one day search for deposits that are literally out of this world — on asteroids.
2nd rocket booster lifted into place for space shuttle Endeavour LA exhibit
For the second time, the largest part of a space shuttle-era rocket booster has been taken vertical as part of the display of the orbiter Endeavour at the California Science Center in Los Angeles.
SpaceX will launch the Space Force's mysterious X-37B space plane on a Falcon Heavy rocket Dec. 7
U.S. Space Force's X-37B reusable space plane is set to take off on its seventh mission on Dec. 7, 2023, its first launch atop a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket.
NASA's hunting for 'strategic minerals' in the desert with a modified U-2 spy plane. Here's why
NASA is flying the agency's high-altitude ER-2 aircraft over the American Southwest in order to map deposits of minerals that are critical for electronics manufacturing.
A satellite's very tiny camera took a very blurry picture of Earth — and it's perfect
ESA's TRISAT-R satellite has a camera that's only about the size of a coin, yet it managed to capture a view of our entire world.
September launch failure likely caused by 'electrical arc,' Rocket Lab says
Rocket Lab has identified an unwanted 'electrical arc' as the likely cause of its September launch failure, though the company's investigation continues.
Open doors for the ESA-ESAC Open Day
Video: 00:04:25
On Saturday 21st October, the European Space Agency opened the doors of the European Space Astronomy Centre in Villanueva de la Cañada (near Madrid), ESAC, to host the ESA Open Day. With a full program of talks and activities, the event featured tours, hands-on laboratories for children and get-togethers with science communicators, ESA astronaut and experts. More than 1800 people, among adults and children, had the opportunity to deepen their knowledge of the activities and programs in which ESA is involved every day.
