The first ESA instrument to land on the Moon has detected the presence of negative ions on the lunar surface produced through interactions with the solar wind.
The European team working with the Negative Ions at the Lunar Surface (NILS) instrument confirmed the success of this scientific mission that flew to the far side of the Moon aboard the Chang’e-6 spacecraft.
The discovery of a new component of plasma at the surface of the Moon opens a new window for space physics and for human and robotic missions in an era of renewed lunar exploration.
Sniff, our most successful scientific Spacecraft by publications. The new Voyage 2050 programme certainly provides science topics that could lead to a worthy successor.
It is crucial to ensure that the following already agreed-upon elements remain unchanged through to implementation:
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3. A Shift in Mindset – Need for Speed: To compete globally, Europe must embrace a cultural shift towards speed and innovation. Laws and regulations should be evaluated based on their ability to accelerate progress, with speed as the primary KPI. […]
This doesn’t seem like a great idea when dealing with rockets…It’s wasteful, immediately hazardous to any crews, and eventually (if not also immediately) harmful to the environment with any wreckage and other pollution that may be produced. And this is from someone that supports space initiatives and research.
It’s wasteful, immediately hazardous to any crews, and eventually (if not also immediately) harmful to the environment with any wreckage and other pollution that may be produced.
Interesting, I interpret “Europe must embrace a cultural shift towards speed and innovation” in almost exactly the opposite way.
Ariane 6 was essentially an outdated design before it even launched. All of the major American and Chinese launch companies are operating or developing reusable rockets. The launch startups which wrote the open letter are some of the only European organizations actively pursuing reusability, something Arianespace has ignored for far too long.
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