Researching cosmic radiation: ESA and FAIR establish joint Summer School

It is a new high-quality offer for international young scientists and at the same time a further important step for cosmic radiation research: The European Space Agency (ESA) and the international accelerator center FAIR (Facility for Antiproton and Ion Research), which is currently being built at GSI Helmholtzzentrum für Schwerionenforschung in Darmstadt, will establish a joint Summer School for Radiation Research. The “ESA-FAIR Radiation Summer School” has now been initiated by decision of both institutions.

Voyage 2050 – Long-term planning of the ESA Science Programme

European Space Agency invites scientists to participate in Voyage 2050: Call for White Papers and Call for Membership of Topical Teams

EUROfusion takes over EIROforum presidency

In July 2018, EUROfusion is taking over the EIROforum Presidency. EIROforum combines the resources, facilities and expertise of its eight members (CERN, EMBL, EUROfusion, ESA, ESO, ESRF, European XFEL and ILL) to exploit European science to its fullest potential.

24-hour broadcast about space on Asteroid Day

ESA, JAXA and NASA join Prof. Brian Cox, astronauts, esteemed scientists and technologists on June 30, to create a global conversation about asteroids.

Mission complete: Rosetta’s journey ends in daring descent to comet

ESA’s historic Rosetta mission has concluded as planned, with the controlled impact onto the comet it had been investigating for more than two years.

Confirmation of the end of the mission arrived at ESA’s control centre in Darmstadt, Germany at 11:19 GMT (13:19 CEST) with the loss of Rosetta’s signal upon impact.

ESA announcement for new science ideas

Through this Call the Director of Science solicits from the broad scientific community proposals for the competitive selection of new “Science Ideas”, to be investigated in terms of feasibility and needed technology developments.
Interested parties planning to submit a proposal are required, as indicated below, to send a mandatory Letter of Intent by 9 May and will be invited to attend a briefing meeting on 8 June (date TBC).
The present Call is open to science ideas in all areas of Space Science. No limitations to the science goals addressed are imposed on the proposals.

Light and Innovation Ceremony at the Palazzo Edison in Milan

On the occasion of the International Year of Light and Light-based Technologies 2015 a special session entitled ‘Light and Innovation’ took place on 16 October 2015 at the wonderful Palazzo Edison in Milan, the headquarters of the Edison corporation. It was organized by Edison SpA and the Foundation Alessandro Volta, in collaboration with the European Physical Society and the Italian Physical Society. Edison SpA is Europe’s oldest energy company, and today is one of the industry leaders in Italy and Europe with business focusing on electric power and hydrocarbon exploration and production. The Alessandro Volta Foundation is located at Lake Como and has a school of Advanced Studies where scientific events are organized to promote excellence in training and research.

2015 EPS Edison Volta Prize goes to ESA’s Planck Mission team

The European Physical Society [EPS], the Centro di Cultura Scientifica Alessandro Volta and Edison S.p.A. are delighted to announce the award of the 2015 EPS Edison Volta Prize for outstanding contributions to physics to the three principal scientific leaders of the European Space Agency’s [ESA] Planck Mission:

A breakfast at ESA

On 16 January 2015, ESA Director General Jean-Jacques Dordain met the press to provide an overview of ESA’s achievements in 2014 and the opportunities ahead in 2015. The event took place at ESA headquarters in Paris, France.
After a successful Council meeting at Ministerial level, held on 2 December, 2015 will be another year when ESA launches missions that cover all the domains of the space sector, in partnership and cooperation with other European institutions and industry, demonstrating the strength of the European space programme.
Within human spaceflight, the year will start with the undocking from the International Space Station of ATV Georges …

Touchdown! Rosetta’s Philae probe lands on comet

Rosetta is a space probe of the European Space Agency [ESA] to study the comet Churyumov–Gerasimenko. It is a joint mission with contributions from its Member States and NASA. Rosetta’s Philae lander was built by a consortium led by the Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt (DLR), the Max Planck Society (MPG), the Centre National d’Etudes Spatiales (CNES) and the Agenzia Spaziale Italiana (ASI). It is the first mission in history to rendezvous with a comet. It is escorting the comet as they orbit the Sun together, and has deployed a lander to its surface. Comets are time capsules containing primitive material left over from the time when the Sun and its planets formed. By studying the …

ESA celebrated 50 years at ESOC

On 28 August 2014, the European Space Agency [ESA] celebrated 50 years of European cooperation in space. Jean-Jacques Dordain, the ESA’s Director General, invited dignitaries, former astronauts, and colleagues past and present, the workforce at the European Space Operations Centre in Darmstadt, Germany [ESOC] gathered to share the success story of the ESA.
In 1964, the Conventions of ELDO (launchers) and ESRO (science and later applications) entered into force. A decade later, a single European Space Agency was established, taking over from these two organisations.

ESA and the EU sign a contract with Arianespace

On 20 August, the European Space Agency [ESA], acting on behalf of the European Commission, and Arianespace convened at the Guiana Space Center, European spaceport, to sign a contract for three launch services with Ariane 5 ES in order to step up the deployment of the European navigation system Galileo, the European Union’s flagship program.

With this new launch contract, a total of 12 Galileo FOC [Full Operational Capability] satellites will be …