Copernical Team
Comet Interceptor construction moves forward
ESA and OHB have signed a contract to move forward with the design and construction of ESA’s ambitious Comet Interceptor spacecraft, planned for launch in 2029.
Christmas comes early for Aeolus
ESA’s wind mission continues to shine as engineers have worked their Christmas magic. With a switch back to its original laser, Aeolus is now shining more than twice as brightly with its best ever performance – just in time for the holidays.
Media session on the results of the 314th ESA Council meeting
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Watch the replay of the media session following the 314th ESA Council meeting which takes place on 14 and 15 December in Paris. ESA Director General Josef Aschbacher and ESA Council Chair Anna Rathsman share the outcome of this meeting. Updates on the outcomes of CM22 and the next implementation steps are provided to the media.
Hubble helps discover a new type of planet largely composed of water
Researchers have found evidence for the existence of a new type of planet they have called a “water world,” where water makes up a large fraction of the entire planet. These worlds, discovered in a planetary system 218 light-years away, are unlike any planets in our Solar System.
Russian ISS spacewalk cancelled due to coolant leak: NASA
A spacewalk by two Russian cosmonauts aboard the International Space Station was called off after the detection of a coolant leak, NASA said on Thursday.
The Russian space agency, Roscosmos, said that a walk in space by Sergei Prokopyev and Dmitry Petelin had been cancelled after one of the warning indicators went off in the Soyuz spacecraft docked to the ISS.
The mission had been planned for Wednesday.
NASA said that a coolant leak had been discovered "from the aft end of the Soyuz MS-22 spacecraft", towards the back of the vessel.
"NASA and Roscosmos will continue to work together to determine the next course of action following the ongoing analysis," the US space agency said.
"The crew members aboard the space station are safe, and were not in any danger during the leak."
US astronaut Frank Rubio flew to the ISS with the two Russian cosmonauts on the Soyuz rocket, which launched on September 21 from Kazakhstan.
Space has been a rare avenue of cooperation between Moscow and Washington since the start of Moscow's assault on Ukraine in February, and ensuing Western sanctions on Russia that shredded ties between the two countries.
Asteroid Ryugu samples continue to shed light on solar system history
Nearly two years after Japanese mission Hayabusa2 returned to Earth, samples from asteroid Ryugu continue to reveal valuable information about the history of the early solar system. A study by scientists from the Institut de Physique du Globe de Paris, Universite Paris Cite and CNRS1, as part of an international consortium, reveals the isotopic composition of zinc and copper of asteroid Ryugu. US conducts successful hypersonic missile test: Air Force
The US Air Force announced Monday it successfully tested a hypersonic missile, a cutting edge strategic weapon that is also being developed by China and Russia.
The AGM-183A Air-launched Rapid Response Weapon (ARRW) was launched from a B-52H bomber on Friday off California's coast and "reached hypersonic speeds greater than five times the speed of sound, completed its flight path and detonat China launches two space experiment satellites
China on Monday launched a Long March-4C rocket, placing a pair of satellites in space.
The rocket blasted off at 4:22 pm (Beijing Time) from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwest China and sent the satellites Shiyan-20A and Shiyan-20B into preset orbit.
Shiyan means "experiment" in Chinese. The two Shiyan-20 satellites will be used for in-orbit verification of new technol Outer space talks are a welcome addition to the US-Africa Leaders Summit
President Joe Biden is hosting the Second US-Africa Leaders Summit in mid-December 2022.
The focus will be on eight areas: economic engagement; peace, security and good governance; democracy and human rights; regional and global health security (including recovery from COVID-19 and pandemic preparedness); food security; climate change; diaspora ties; and education and youth leadership. 'Unexpected' space traveller defies theories about origin of Solar System
Researchers from Western have shown that a fireball that originated at the edge of the Solar System was likely made of rock, not ice, challenging long-held beliefs about how the Solar System was formed.
Just at the edge of our Solar System and halfway to the nearest stars is a collection of icy objects sailing through space, known as the Oort Cloud. Passing stars sometimes nudge these icy