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The 11th annual ESA Open Day at ESTEC took place on Sunday 2 October 2022, opened by ESA Director General Josef Aschbacher and Head of ESTEC and ESA Director of Technology, Engineering and Quality Torben Henriken with ESA astronauts Matthias Mauruer and André Kuipers. Visitors were able to meet space scientists and engineers and see and learn all about the work carried out at Europe’s largest space establishment.

Week in images: 17-21 October 2022

Discover our week through the lens

Image: ESA spacecraft catch the brightest ever gamma-ray burst

Inhambane Bay, in southeast Mozambique, is featured in this true-colour image captured by the Copernicus Sentinel-2 mission.

As the world’s space agencies prepare to return to the Moon and explore the planets, space materials engineers have been getting to grips with a challenging enemy: dust. The abrasive, talcum-like dust enshrouding the Moon and other planetary surfaces can obscure surfaces, wear away at coatings and clog space mechanisms.

Orlando FL (SPX) Oct 20, 2022
Ateam of scientists led by Arecibo Observatory and the University of Central Florida has measured a change in the rotation period of the potentially hazardous near-Earth asteroid 3200 Phaethon, a future spacecraft target. Phaethon is just the 11th asteroid with a measured change in its rotation period, and it is the largest of them. The discovery is an example of progress in global e

Pasadena CA (JPL) Oct 20, 2022
For the first time in a little while we're at a new location after a drive in the last plan, which means new targets for the Geo team to investigate, and slightly different viewsheds for ENV to work with. Power was a bit tight, especially for the first sol with two hours of science time, a drive, and arm activities. Still, we managed to pack in lots of targeted science before driving away.

Magna UT (SPX) Oct 20, 2022
Northrop Grumman has delivered the first two 63-inch-diameter extended length Graphite Epoxy Motors (GEM 63XL) to Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Florida. The solid rocket boosters will support the inaugural flight of United Launch Alliance's (ULA) Vulcan Centaur rocket planned for first quarter 2023. At approximately 72-feet-long, and weighing over 117,000 pounds, the GEM 63XL is the

Greenbelt MD (SPX) Oct 20, 2022
Two very different payloads flying on one rocket are ready for their ride to space. Creating an integrated stack that stands 25 feet tall, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA) Joint Polar Satellite System-2 (JPSS-2) and NASA's Low-Earth Orbit Flight Test of an Inflatable Decelerator (LOFTID) spacecraft are safely secured inside the United Launch Alliance (ULA) Atlas V roc

Luxembourg (SPX) Oct 19, 2022
Virgin Orbit (Nasdaq: VORB) and the Luxembourg Minister of Defence has signed a Letter of Intent that will begin the process towards developing responsive space capabilities inclusive of mobile launch infrastructure that would be based in Luxembourg, but available for NATO partners, and other Allies across the European continent. As part of the agreement, Virgin Orbit, in close coordination with