News archive

News archive

XMM schools competition - deadline extended to 15 October!
In view of the enthusiastic response to the XMM schools competition,with the kind cooperation of Arianespace, the deadline for submission ofdrawings has been extended by one week.To celebrate the December launch of XMM, its new X-ray spaceobservatory, the European Space Agency is challenging young Europeans toreach for the stars! Details can befound on the special competition website : http://sci.esa.int/xmm/competition. Francais- Deutsch- Espanol -Italiano- Svenska
Published: 13 September 1999
Freelance service contracts for Communication Experts
The ESA Science Programme has been extending its outreach through anincreased effort in communication and provision of information about theProgramme and its missions.
Published: 10 September 1999
European astronomers see relics of ancient explosions in symbiotic stars
One thousand years ago an explosion in the vicinity of a star created a huge bubble of gas, one of those objects that astronomers call a nebula. Some hundred years afterwards a second outburst followed and another nebula was born. Today, European astronomers have pictured the relics of both events with the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope: two hourglass-shaped nebulae, one nestled inside the other like Russian dolls. The system, called 'Southern Crab Nebula' (He2-104) because it looks like the body and legs of a crab, is located a few thousand light years from Earth in the Southern Hemisphere.
Published: 3 September 1999
XMM ready to cross the Atlantic
After completing all its mechanical and electrical verifications, XMM is ready for shipping to its launch site in French Guiana. On 1 September ESA's giant X-ray observatory was packed in its special transport container and is now ready to leave the ESTEC integration facility in Noordwijk, Netherlands.
Published: 2 September 1999
X-ray study of the 'Winking Demon' reveals its flaring secrets
An X-ray observation of the 'Winking Demon', one of the sky's nearest and X-ray brightest stars, has revealed that its huge X-ray explosions take place in structures similar in relative size to those of our own Sun - contrary to what had been previously suggested. The study by J|rgen Schmitt at Hamburg University and Fabio Favata at the ESA-ESTEC Space Science Department has just been published by the magazine 'Nature' (dated 1 September 1999) and in 'Astronomy and Astrophysics' (currently in press).
Published: 1 September 1999
X-ray study of the 'Winking Demon' reveals its flaring secrets
An X-ray observation of the 'Winking Demon', one of the sky's nearest and X-ray brightest stars, has revealed that its huge X-ray explosions take place in structures similar in relative size to those of our own Sun - contrary to what had been previously suggested. The study by J|rgen Schmitt at Hamburg University and Fabio Favata at the ESA-ESTEC Space Science Department has just been published by the magazine 'Nature' (dated 1 September 1999) and in 'Astronomy and Astrophysics' (currently in press).
Published: 1 September 1999
Integral Engineering Model test campaign successfully completed
On 23 August 1999 ESA's new gamma-ray observatory, Integral, has passed a most important milestone in its development. The Engineering Model tests, which lasted more than a year and which were to verify that all satellite subsystems and instruments interface well and function as a system, were successfully completed.
Published: 27 August 1999
Early scientific results from the Cassini/Huygens Earth swingby
This remarkable observation of the Cassini/Huygens spacecraft was made from Australia while it was on its way out towards Jupiter a few hours after it had successfully completed its Earth flyby on 18 August at 3:38 UTC. The swingby was performed to give the NASA/ESA Cassini/Huygens space probe a 5.5 km/s boostin speed, propelling it towards Saturn, more than 1 billion kilometres away.
Published: 24 August 1999
XMM sub-contractors see their baby
From Spain to Finland, from Great Britain to Austria, 14 countries were represented at ESTEC on the 19th August when the XMM sub-contractors came to see Europe's X-ray space observatory before it is shipped to its Kourou launchsite.
Published: 24 August 1999
A Zeppelin for Mars exploration proposed by the students at Alpbach Summer School 1999
Students at the annual Alpbach Summer School on Space Research and Technology proposed the use of a Zeppelin as a highly versatile vehicle to explore Mars. Space scientists so far had concentrated their efforts on rovers, balloons or planes - i.e. systems that are bound to the surface, free-flying but not steerable or too fast for detailed local investigations.
Published: 19 August 1999
XMM is progressing fast toward launch in December '99 on Ariane 5
The European Space Agencys XMM X-ray space telescope will be launched in early December by Arianespace - the European commercial launch services company. XMM is truly tailored to the new Ariane 5's heavy-lift launch capabilities.
Published: 19 August 1999
Integral at the Swiss Museum of Transport and Communication
Europe's most diverse Museum of Transport and Communication in Lucerne, Switzerland opened a new space travel exhibition. In the Cosmorama visitors can experience life in space, but they also learn more about future science missions like Integral, the International Gamma-Ray Astrophysics Laboratory to be launched by the European Space Agency in 2001.
Published: 18 August 1999
PR 34-1999: Cassini-Huygens swings by Earth and accelerates towards Saturn
The NASA/ESA Cassini-Huygens spacecraft bid goodbye to Earth as it completed a highly accurate pass by our planet and swung away towards its encounter with Saturn in 2004. The Earth flyby occurred at 03:28 UT on 18 August and gave the space probe a 5.5 km per second boost in speed, propelling it towards the ringed planet, more than 1 billion kilometres away.
Published: 18 August 1999
Rosetta Comet Chaser on the move
It may not seem much of a journey compared with a multi-million kilometre space trek, but ESA's Rosetta spacecraft today completed its first small step along the road to a rendezvous with Comet Wirtanen in 2011. After a 2000 km hike across Europe, the Structural and Thermal Model (STM) platform structure of the Rosetta orbiter was safely delivered this morning to Alenia Aerospazio's Turin plant.
Published: 18 August 1999
XMM spreads its wings for the last time on Earth
After a successful second System Validation Test between 20 and 30 July - during which all aspects of the XMM spacecraft including its science instruments were controlled in real-time from the XMM Mission Control Centre at ESOC in Darmstadt as if the satellite was already in orbit - XMM has deployed its solar arrays, another important milestone before the spacecraft is packed for shipping to the Kourou launchsite.
Published: 18 August 1999
ISO detects signal from dark matter in a galaxy similar to the Milky Way
Galaxies are known to have much more matter than telescopes can currentlysee. Up to 90% of the total mass of the galaxies is simply missing: ithas to be there, astronomers know, but it remains undetected. Is thisso-called 'dark matter' made up of exotic, virtually undetectableparticles, or is it merely ordinary matter hidden to instruments for somereason? A new result obtained by a Dutch team with the European SpaceAgency's infrared space telescope, ISO, favours the last idea.
Published: 17 August 1999
Cassini-Huygens speeds up towards Earth, Saturn
The Cassini-Huygens spacecraft today successfully performed a final adjustment to its trajectory and is on course for a flyby of Earth that will take place on Wedneday, 18 August at 5:28 CEST (03:28 Universal Time).
Published: 12 August 1999
Eclipse Riders in the Sky
We promised to bring you the exciting adventure of ESA's astronomer Leo Metcalfe, who planned to chase the eclipse by plane. Well, he made it.. And here's the story and his personal account!
Published: 12 August 1999
XMM controlled as if in orbit
Controlling XMM from a distance as though it were in space: that wasone of the main objectives of the System Validation Test (SVT) whichtook place at the end of July. The spacecraft, which was located inESTEC Noordwijk, the Netherlands was actively controlled by the XMM Mission Operations Centre (MOC) at ESOC in Darmstadt, Germany.
Published: 10 August 1999
Boom Time for Cluster II Spacecraft.
We are all familiar with normal gravity which holds us to the ground andpulls us backto Earth when we try to jump or fly. However, as images of space missionsshow,people and objects become 'weightless' once they enter orbit. Over theyears,spacecraft engineers have been obliged to develop various ways of copyingsuchunusual conditions.
Published: 6 August 1999
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