Satellites provide crucial, and increasingly important, information to help understand our changing climate. However, better understanding Earth observation data can be a daunting task for new users. A new online course, developed by the University of Twente, on behalf of ESA, helps students, researchers and other professionals analyse satellite data to help measure and mitigate against the effects of climate change.

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Spaceflight participants Yusaku Maezawa and Yozo Hirano and Russian cosmonaut Alexander Misurkin were welcomed to the International Space Station on 8 December 2021 for a 12 day stay in space. Experience their arrival and farewell in 360° as captured by ESA astronaut Matthias Maurer from within the Russian segment.

Also seen in this video are Expedition 66 Commander Anton Shkaplerov, Roscosmos cosmonaut Pyotr Dubrov and NASA astronauts Mark Vande Hei, Raja Chari, Tom Marshburn, and Kayla Barron.

Matthias was launched to the International Space Station for his six-month ESA mission known as Cosmic Kiss on 11 November 2021. During

Hibernating astronauts could be the best way to save mission costs, reduce the size of spacecraft by a third and keep crew healthy on their way to Mars. An ESA-led investigation suggests that human hibernation goes beyond the realm of science-fiction and may become a game-changing technique for space travel.

Moscow, Russia (SPX) Jan 26, 2022
The origin of water on our planet is a hot question: Water has immense implications for plate tectonics, climate, the origin of life on Earth, and potential habitability of other Earth-like planets. In a recent study in Physical Review Letters, a Skoltech professor and his Chinese colleagues suggest a chemical compound that - although now extinct - could have preserved water deep underground in

Milan, Italy (SPX) Jan 20, 2022
A research group at the Politecnico di Milano analysed the orientation of ancient Japanese tombs - the so-called Kofun. This study has never been carried out before, due to the very large number of monuments and the fact that access to these areas is usually forbidden. For these reasons, high-res satellite imagery was used. The results show that these tombs are oriented towards the arc of

Greenbelt MD (SPX) Jan 20, 2022
A powerful volcanic eruption has obliterated a small, uninhabited South Pacific island known as Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha'apai. Damage assessments are still ongoing, but preliminary reports indicate that some communities in the island nation of Tonga have been severely damaged by volcanic ash and significant tsunami waves. The volcano had sporadically erupted multiple times since 2009. The most

Tsukuba, Japan (SPX) Jan 19, 2022
It's been becoming more and more clear that global warming means more than just warmer temperatures. Extreme weather events are becoming more frequent and more intense in many different parts of the world, creating an urgent need to predict and prepare for these changes. In a new study published in Geophysical Research Letters, a research team led by the University of Tsukuba has reported

Xian (XNA) Jan 26, 2022
A health check on all 52 in-orbit satellites of China's BeiDou Navigation Satellite System (BDS) has been completed, according to the Xi'an Satellite Control Center. The center said the satellites met all key indicators, meaning the constellation can provide services without issue. The evaluation was conducted without interrupting the satellites' usual navigation services, and develo