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Stories about: ESA


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Report: Video Game Piracy Rampant in Russia, Spain, Brazil and Mexico

The Office of the United States Trade Representative is releasing its Special 301 Report for 2013, showing which countries in the world have failed to enforce copyright protections linked to products coming from the US. Russia, Spain, Brazil and Mexico are the countries that contribute most to the worldwide phenomen...

2 May 2013
10:20 GMT

The Universe Is Older than Previously Believed, Plank Data Shows

The European Space Agency has released the first results of its Plank mission which set out to map the universe as it was in its infancy. After 15 months of observations by the Plank instrument in space, the data is already changing the way we understand the universe. There aren't any huge revelations, though t...

21 March 2013
13:36 GMT

ESA Plans a 3D-Printed Moon Base – Gallery

While we haven't left the comfort of low Earth orbit in decades now, there has been some renewed interest in sending astronauts a little further away, to an asteroid, Mars, even just the moon. There are also more plans for bases on the moon, near the moon and even beyond. Granted, plans are one thing, putting ...

1 February 2013
10:13 GMT

Hacker Gains Access to 7 ESA Databases by Leveraging Blind SQL Injection Flaw

The hacker known as D35m0nd142 has identified a Blind SQL Injection vulnerability on a domain owned by the European Space Agency (ESA).  The hacker has managed to gain access to the information stored in 7 databases. To demonstrate his findings, he has published database and table names, but also the contents o...

30 January 2013
07:11 GMT

A Day in the Life of the Venus Express – Video

It may be the closest planet to Earth, but Venus is as much of an enigma as it was in ancient times. The planet is literally shrouded in secrecy, well, a thick layer of carbon dioxide, sulfuric acid and other nasty chemicals, making observations hard. Still, that's what the European Space Agency's Venus Ex...

22 January 2013
20:41 GMT

An Ancient Mars River to Rival Any on Earth – Photos

The scientific consensus is that Mars had surface water, in abundance, up to a couple of billion years ago. The planet dried out of course, and scientists are very curious why, but at some point the planet had lakes and even rivers flowing on it. Just like on Earth, these water bodies left marks, some more subtle tha...

17 January 2013
14:11 GMT

The First Look at NASA's Upcoming Orion Mission to the Moon – Video and Gallery

With near Earth flights left to commercial organizations, NASA has its sights set on bigger things, thankfully. The Orion spacecraft is still in the planning stages, but the first, uncrewed, mission is scheduled for 2017, which isn't that far off. Orion's first mission will also be the first flight of the...

17 January 2013
05:31 GMT

ESA Will Smash an Asteroid to Protect Earth and Wants Your Ideas on How to Do It

Humans, for whatever reason, love to think of ways our planet might be obliterated or at least how us humans will find an untimely demise. Asteroids are a popular target, a logical one since asteroids are known to have wiped out entire species and even most of the life on Earth on previous occasions. While an impact...

15 January 2013
11:51 GMT

NASA and ESA Test Space Internet, by Controlling a Lego Robot from the ISS

NASA and ESA are working on a new internet – in space. Well, not really, but it sounds more spectacular this way. What they're really working on is a new communications protocol, Disruption-Tolerant Networking (DTN), modeled after the TCP/IP protocols used by the internet, which would enable communicatio...

9 November 2012
15:21 GMT

Stunningly Detailed View of Mars' Valles Marineris, the Grandest Canyon in the Solar System

Mars has many wonders and, as the closest planet that we can explore relatively easy, many of them have been discovered. But as a rather small planet, you wouldn't expect it to stand out too much in our Solar System and you'd expect it to hold few "biggest …" titles. But it does, it's home to t...

23 October 2012
19:11 GMT

ESA's Cheops Space Telescope Will Hunt for Earth-Like Exoplanets with Thick Atmospheres

Exoplanets were theoretical not that long ago. Now thousands have been discovered. Most of those are huge gas giants, not unlike our Jupiter and Saturn, though sometimes even larger than that. Some of them are smaller, rocky planets, like the inner-planets of our Solar System, like our Earth. Even among those, most ...

22 October 2012
10:10 GMT

Titan's Surface Is Soft and Dusty, Huygens Probe Landing Data Shows [Video]

The Huygens probe landed on Saturn's moon Titan seven years ago. It lasted on the surface only about 90 minutes, much more than it was anticipated. Still, even now, the probe continues to yield important discoveries. For example, scientists have now determined the composition of the soil where the probe landed,...

12 October 2012
08:50 GMT

Nearby Star Is Surrounded by a Cloud of Comets

Using the European Space Agency's (ESA) Herschel Space Telescope, a team of astronomers was recently able to determine that a nearby star called Beta Pictoris, located around 63 light-years away from Earth, is surrounded by a thick cloud of comets. The stellar object is very young, and it is still surrounded b...

4 October 2012
08:57 GMT

Insurance Companies to Use ESA Satellite Data for Flood Assessments

A group of insurance and reinsurance companies recently signed a new agreement with the European Space Agency (ESA), which enables the former to access Earth-observation data collected by ESA satellite to conduct a series of assessments related to the damages and extents of floods. As extreme-weather events begin t...

3 October 2012
10:00 GMT

ATV3 Disintegrates in Earth's Upper Atmosphere

Officials at the European Space Agency (ESA) announce that their third Automated Transfer Vehicle (ATV3), called Edoardo Amaldi, reentered Earth's atmosphere earlier today, October 3, and burned up high above the Pacific Ocean. This marked the successful conclusion of its mission. The spacecraft – Europe...

3 October 2012
05:35 GMT

Venus May Have a Snowy Atmosphere

Officials at the European Space Agency (ESA) say that data relayed to Earth by the Venus Express orbiter point to the presence of an extremely-cold layer in the planet's upper atmosphere. Temperatures there may be low enough to allow for carbon dioxide (CO2) to freeze. This means that precipitations could exist...

1 October 2012
10:20 GMT

Water Floats Confirm SMOS Ocean Salinity Measurements

Data sent back to Earth by the European Space Agency's (ESA) Soil Moisture and Ocean Salinity (SMOS) satellite have been confirmed yet again, this time by the Argo network of ocean drifters. Though SMOS is the most advanced salinity-measuring spacecraft ever developed, experts on the ground are constantly cros...

1 October 2012
09:29 GMT

Mars Like You've Never Seen It Before

The Martian crescent, in bright white, appears extremely clear in this February 2007 image collected by the European Space Agency's (ESA) Rosetta spacecraft. This is the first-ever photograph of its kind to reveal the Red Planet in this manner. It was collected during one of the four flybys that Rosetta had to...

1 October 2012
08:58 GMT

Galileo Satellite Pair Fueled Up and Ready to Go

The two new Galileo satellites the European Space Agency (ESA) plans to launch as part of its Galileo satellite navigation constellation are now fueled up, and ready to launch later this month. Current plans call for the satellites, the third and fourth in the constellation, to blast off into space on October 12, f...

1 October 2012
08:32 GMT

ATV3 Undocks from the International Space Station

Officials at the European Space Agency (ESA) announce that Edoardo Amaldi, the third Automated Transfer Vehicle (ATV-3), successfully undocked from the International Space Station (ISS) yesterday, September 28. The maneuver was completed at 2144 GMT (23:44 CEST), and was coordinated from the Toulouse, France-based A...

29 September 2012
06:37 GMT

Ariane V Carries Out Its Fifth Flight of the Year

A new Ariane V heavy-lift delivery system took off from the Kourou Spaceport, in French Guiana, South America, yesterday, September 28. This was the fifth mission carried out by such a rocket this year. The vehicle is built by French aerospace company Arianespace. The Ariane V took off at 18:18 local time (2118 GMT ...

29 September 2012
03:40 GMT

New ESA Satellite Sends Back First Science Data

Officials from the European Space Agency (ESA) announce that four of the instruments aboard their newly-launched MetOp-B satellite have been turned on this week, and that the first science data are already pouring in. The spacecraft was launched aboard a Russian-built Soyuz ST Fregat medium rocket from the Baikonur...

28 September 2012
11:37 GMT

Detection Ground Deformations with Satellite Radars

Officials at the European Space Agency (ESA) say that data from their flagship Earth-observing satellite, Envisat, are now being used to investigate landslides that occur in Switzerland. This is possible thanks to the advanced radar instrument on the spacecraft. Scientific tools such as this one are capable of detec...

26 September 2012
09:44 GMT

ATV-3 Undocking from the ISS Delayed by Error

Though the European Space Agency's (ESA) Automated Transfer Vehicle 3 (ATV-3) space capsule was supposed to undock from the International Space Station (ISS) yesterday, September 25, the maneuver was delayed on account of a computer error. The glitch was recorded on a laptop computer inside the station, and it...

26 September 2012
05:03 GMT

Hubble Zooms In on Dusty Spiral Galaxy

The amazing galaxy seen above, called NGC 4183, is the latest to be imaged by the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope. The cosmic structure is located relatively close by, at a distance of just 55 million light-years. It lies in the Ursa Major Group, which is itself located in the northern constellation of Canes Venatic...

24 September 2012
09:55 GMT

Hubble Sees Amazing, Edge-On Spiral Galaxy

Astronomers operating the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope have recently released this amazing new image of the spiral galaxy NGC 4643, which lies around 70 million light-years away from Earth, in the constellation Coma Berenices. The object is seen directly edge-on, revealing a slightly distorted structure. Experts ...

24 September 2012
03:44 GMT

EUMETSAT Takes Over Control of MetOp-B Satellite

Officials at the European Space Agency (ESA) announced today that they have handed over control of the new MetOp-B weather satellites to the European Organization for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites (EUMETSAT), which will operate it from now on. The spacecraft launched into space aboard a Russian-buil...

21 September 2012
09:35 GMT

CAVES 2012 Concludes Successfully in Italy

Six astronauts who spent nearly a week inside a largely-unexplored cave system in Sicily, Italy, returned to the surface today, September 20, marking the conclusion of the Cooperative Adventure for Valuing and Exercising human behavior and performance Skills (CAVES) 2012 expedition. The purpose of the test was to s...

20 September 2012
11:17 GMT

ESA Wants Spacecraft Batteries Containing Nuclear Fuel

In an attempt to develop a new way of using existing fissionable materials, researchers at the British National Nuclear Laboratory (BNNL) are currently trying to extract the element americium-241 from spent nuclear wastes stored at the Sellafield nuclear reprocessing facility. Once sufficient amounts of compound ar...

19 September 2012
08:08 GMT

ESA Resupply Spacecraft to Depart the ISS on September 25

Next Tuesday, on September 25, the third European Automated Transfer Vehicle (ATV-3), called Edoardo Amaldi, will depart from the International Space Station, and meet its fiery end in Earth's upper atmosphere. NASA TV will broadcast the maneuver live, starting at 6:15 pm EDT (2215 GMT). Currently, Amaldi is at...

19 September 2012
02:28 GMT

ESA's MetOp-B Weather Satellite Launches Successfully

After undergoing a long period of preparation and testing, the European Space Agency's (ESA) MetOp-B weather satellite was launched into space on Monday, September 17, from the Baikonur Cosmodrome, in Kazakhstan. The spacecraft was carried to orbit aboard a Soyuz-Fregat delivery system, which was provided unde...

18 September 2012
03:52 GMT

Gaia Spacecraft Receives Its Science Instruments

Engineers at the European Space Agency (ESA) announce that the last components of the payload module, which constitutes the core of the upcoming Gaia mission, have finally been integrated. What this means is that the spacecraft, which is scheduled to start surveying more than a billion stars in 2013, can now begin i...

17 September 2012
08:57 GMT

Poland Joins the European Space Agency

On September 13, 2012, Poland officially became the European Space Agency's (ESA) 20th Member State, during a ceremony held at the Copernicus Science Center, in Warsaw. The event was attended by high-ranking Polish officials and ESA representatives. The required Accession Agreements were exchanged between ESA D...

17 September 2012
05:48 GMT

MetOp-B Weather Satellite Sealed Inside Its Rocket

On Monday, September 17, the European Space Agency (ESA) will launch its Meteosat Second Generation-3 (MSG-3) weather satellite, aboard a Russian-built Soyuz rocket. Officials with the agency say that the spacecraft has now been encapsulated in its payload fairing. The maneuver was completed in a building at the Ba...

11 September 2012
05:31 GMT

Cassini Sees Clumps in Saturn's B-Ring

One of the latest views the NASA Cassini spacecraft sent back to Earth shows a pattern of turbulences in Saturn's B-ring (visible on the left side of the photo). According to researchers at the European Space Agency (ESA), the moon Mimas may be responsible for these disruptions. The latter is the 20th largest m...

10 September 2012
10:45 GMT

Next Galileo Launch Is Less Than a Month Away

The next two spacecraft in the European Space Agency's (ESA) Galileo satellite navigation system are currently being prepared for takeoff, ahead of a planned launch date next month. The vehicles will be the third and fourth in the series, with the first two having already been launched in October 2011. The new ...

10 September 2012
10:36 GMT

Advanced Weather Satellite Ready to Launch This Month

Officials at the European Space Agency (ESA) announce that they are now ready to support the launch of the latest meteorology satellite, called MetOp-B. The vehicle is the second in a series of three spacecraft dedicated to studying Earth's weather and climate. Launch is currently scheduled to occur on Septemb...

8 September 2012
05:53 GMT

Multiple Poke Marks in Hadley Crater, Mars [Photo]

On April 9, the High Resolution Stereo Camera (HRSC) aboard the European Space Agency's (ESA) Mars Express orbiter was used to create this amazing new view of the awesome Hadley Crater. Planetary scientists are convinced that studying this landscape feature, which scarred the surface of Mars to a depth of 2,600...

6 September 2012
10:37 GMT

New Quantum Teleportation Record Established

A scientific installation operated by the European Space Agency (ESA) in the Canary Islands, the Optical Ground Station, has recently been used to establish a new world record in quantum teleportation. During the new experiment, the characteristics of a single photon were reproduced at a distance of 143 kilometers (...

6 September 2012
10:26 GMT

CAVES 2012 Crew Ready to Go Underground

Officials at the European Space Agency (ESA) announce that the training session for the six astronauts making up the international 2012 Cooperative Adventure for Valuing and Exercising human behavior and performance Skills (CAVES) crew is nearing completion. The astronauts, Andreas Mogensen, David Saint-Jacques, Soi...

5 September 2012
11:14 GMT

Blue Moon Caught on Camera by ESA Satellite

The second full Moon of the month was captured on tape on Friday, August 31, by the third Meteosat Second Generation (MSG-3) satellite. The spacecraft was launched into Earth's orbit on July 5, and is currently undergoing testing and commissioning. MSG-3 was able to capture this view of the blue Moon using its ...

3 September 2012
09:07 GMT

ESA Astronaut Finally Returns to Europe

Working together, pilots from the Royal Dutch Airforce and the Royal Marines delivered European Space Agency (ESA) astronaut André Kuipers back to the European Space Research and Technology Center (ESTEC), following his 6-month stay on the International Space Station. Though Kuipers, Russian cosmonaut Oleg K...

31 August 2012
11:09 GMT

ESA Microsatellite Images Hurricane Isaac from Orbit

Although more than three years old, and not much larger than a coffee cup, the microimager aboard the European Space Agency's (ESA) Proba-2 microsatellite is still capable of collecting wonderful images. This was made clear two days ago, when it captured a photo of Hurricane Isaac.The Exploration Camera (X-Cam) ...

29 August 2012
11:10 GMT

ESA Received a Small GEO Satellite on Tuesday

Officials at the European Space Agency (ESA) announce that the first model of the Small GEO communications satellite platform has finally been received in the Netherlands yesterday, August 28. The spacecraft was delivered from manufacturer RUAG, in Switzerland. Many of its components were delivered from OHB System, ...

29 August 2012
11:03 GMT

Spaceflight Simulation to Begin in Italian Cave System

On September 7, an international crew of six astronauts will venture inside a largely-uncharted cave system on the island of Sardinia, Italy. The purpose of the research effort is to simulate procedures that will be applied in the search for alien life, during upcoming space exploration missions. The caving adventu...

28 August 2012
03:40 GMT

ESA Monitors Himalayan Glaciers from Orbit

Officials from the European Space Agency say that data from their satellites in Earth's orbit are now helping scientists compile the first overview of how glaciers in the Himalayas are behaving. Over the past few years, several scientific studies have warned that ices covering the massive mountain range are be...

23 August 2012
09:59 GMT

Two New Galileo Satellites Being Prepared for Launch

On Friday, August 17, the fourth Galileo In-Orbit Validation (IOV) satellite arrived at the Cayenne Airport, in French Guiana, South America, aboard a Russian-built Ilyushin aircraft. The vehicle is scheduled to join the third IOV in the same rocket, scheduled to launch this autumn. The satellite has since been tra...

21 August 2012
09:38 GMT

ESA Releases Amazing 3D Image of Phobos

Scientists from the European Space Agency (ESA) have just released a new, 3D image of the Martian moon Phobos, revealing its structure and surface in exquisite detail. Anyone with a pair of 3D glasses can enjoy the full effect of the image. The data in the image were collected using the ESA Mars Express orbiter, wh...

20 August 2012
11:55 GMT

BepiColombo Undergoes Vibration Testing in the Netherlands

A joint mission of the European Space Agency (ESA) and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), BepiColombo is destined to survey the innermost planet of our solar system, Mercury, starting in 2015. The spacecraft just underwent vibration testing at a facility in the Netherlands. During rocket launches, spacec...

18 August 2012
06:51 GMT

CubeSat Images the Olympic Village from Orbit

Keeping in tune with the massive public interest shown worldwide in the latest Olympic Games, the European Space Agency (ESA) had its Proba-1 CubeSat collect an image of the Olympic Village from Earth's orbit. Despite its name, the High Resolution Camera is the smallest instrument on the microsatellite. Though ...

14 August 2012
08:46 GMT


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