Video: 00:02:26

Timelapse video made during ESA astronaut Thomas Pesquet’s second mission to the International Space Station, “Alpha”. The camera is setup to take pictures at intervals of two a second, and the pictures are then edited into this video that plays at 25 pictures a second. The video is around 12 times faster than real speed.

Thomas shared this video on social media with the caption:

“Soar over Earth for timelapse Tuesday: clouds, clouds, Baja California, and more clouds. There are often many clouds covering our planet!”

Over 200 experiments are planned during Thomas’ time in space, with 40 European ones

Video: 00:04:00

German ESA astronaut Matthias Maurer will soon begin his first mission to the International Space Station. As a member of Crew-3, he will be launched from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in a SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft alongside NASA astronauts Raja Chari, Tom Marshburn and Kayla Barron.

Matthias selected the mission name “Cosmic Kiss” for his time in orbit as a declaration of love for space. He will spend around six months living and working in microgravity, where he will carry out many European and international experiments to advance space exploration and benefit lives on Earth.

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The 72nd International Astronautical Congress opens its doors on Monday 25 October at the Dubai  World Trade Centre in the United Arab Emirates, for a week of intense interactions for the world space community. After one year online due to COVID-19 restrictions, the congress returns to an in-person event with the theme 'Inspire, innovate and discover for the benefit of humankind'.

Using ESA’s XMM-Newton and NASA’s Chandra X-ray space telescopes, astronomers have made an important step in the quest to find a planet outside of the Milky Way.

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