Copernical Team
From the Earth to the Moon and on to Mars – ESA and NASA take decisions and plan for the future
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Press Release N° 30–2022
The next steps in exploring and using space for the benefit of European citizens were this week on the agenda at ESA’s Council meeting in ESA/ESTEC, the Netherlands on 14 and 15 June. The possibility of the first-ever European astronaut to set foot on the Moon, a telecommunication satellite for lunar exploration and a mission to return precious rock samples from Mars were all discussed.
China's lunar lander finds evidence of native water on moon
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Samples from the Moon's Oceanus Procellarum, an ancient mare basalt whose name translates to "Ocean of Storms," may be able to help determine the source of lunar water.
China's lunar lander Chang'E-5 delivered the first real-time, on-site definitive confirmation of water signal in the basalt's rocks and soil via on-board spectral analysis in 2020. The finding was validated through laboratory analysis of samples the lander returned in 2021.
Satellite images suggest Iran preparing for rocket launch
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ESA mission control builds UK connections
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The ongoing collaboration between the UK and ESA’s European Space Operations Centre (ESOC) in Germany is playing a key role in the success of numerous pioneering space activities.
Watch the ESA Council information session
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The media information session following the 308th ESA Council will be streamed on 15 June from 12:40 to 13:15 CEST at esawebtv.esa.int. Join us to hear more about the cooperation between ESA and NASA.
NASA Invites Media, Public to View Webb Telescope’s First Images
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NASA, in partnership with ESA (European Space Agency) and CSA (Canadian Space Agency), will release the James Webb Space Telescope’s first full-color images and spectroscopic data during a televised broadcast beginning at 10:30 a.m. EDT on Tuesday, July 12, from NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. Going GaN: novel chips powering space missions
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Some of ESA’s most ambitious future missions for telecommunications and Earth observation have only become possible because of a switch to a novel high-power and high-temperature capable semiconductor – sometimes termed the most promising material since silicon. ESA laboratory testing has confirmed the performance of key European-made Gallium Nitride components.
Difficult-to-observe effect confirms the existence of quark mass
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A phenomenon that directly proves the existence of quark mass has been observed for the first time in extremely energetic collisions of lead nuclei. A team of physicists working on the ALICE detector at the Large Hadron Collider can boast this spectacular achievement - the observation of the dead cone effect.
The objects that make up our physical everyday life can have many different prope New feedback system can improve efficiency of fusion reactions
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Scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory (PPPL) have refined the use of magnetic fields to improve the performance of doughnut-shaped fusion facilities known as tokamaks. The improved technique protects internal parts from damage by instabilities called "edge-localized modes" (ELMs) and allows tokamaks to operate for longer without pausing.
"O Earth's magnetic poles not about to flip
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The emergence of a mysterious area in the South Atlantic where the geomagnetic field strength is decreasing rapidly, has led to speculation that Earth is heading towards a magnetic polarity reversal. However, a new study that pieces together evidence stretching back 9,000 years, suggests that the current changes aren't unique, and that a reversal may not be in the cards after all. The study is p 
