As ESA’s Hera planetary defence mission flew past planet Mars it autonomously locked onto dozens of impact craters and other prominent surface features to track them over time, in a full-scale test of the self-driving technology that the spacecraft will employ to navigate around its target asteroids.
A quick search says final, because it is supposed to enter Mercury’s orbit late this year and then split into two different spacecrafts: Europe’s Mercury Planetary Orbiter and Japan’s Mercury Magnetospheric Orbiter
Last night a crucial step in the European Space Agency’s eclipse-making Proba-3 mission was completed: the two spacecraft, flying jointly since launch, have successfully separated.
ESA welcomes inauguration of the African Space Agency (www.esa.int)
"Big surprise": astronomers find planet in perpendicular orbit around pair of stars (www.eso.org)
NASA's Chandra Releases New 3D Models of Cosmic Objects (chandra.si.edu)
Hubble celebrates 35th year in orbit (www.esa.int)
Astronomers confirm the existence of a lone black hole (phys.org)
Polish firm signs biggest ever contract with European Space Agency to launch satellite constellation (notesfrompoland.com)
ESA Concludes Key Testing Phase for Space Rider Service Module (europeanspaceflight.com)
ESA Space Environment Report 2025 (www.esa.int)
Hera asteroid mission tested self-driving technique at Mars (www.esa.int)
As ESA’s Hera planetary defence mission flew past planet Mars it autonomously locked onto dozens of impact craters and other prominent surface features to track them over time, in a full-scale test of the self-driving technology that the spacecraft will employ to navigate around its target asteroids.
Airbus wins contract for ExoMars lander platform (spacenews.com)
Airbus Defence and Space will build the landing platform for ESA’s ExoMars rover, replacing a critical component originally to be provided by Russia.
Farewell, Gaia! Spacecraft operations come to an end (www.esa.int)
ESA finally has a commercial launch strategy, but will member states pay? (arstechnica.com)
ESA Taps Spaceo-Led Consortium to Test Inflatable Satellite Deorbit System (europeanspaceflight.com)
ESA Issues Call for European Launcher Challenge Proposals (europeanspaceflight.com)
Baldur's Gate 3 Karlach actor says CEOs "just want to save money" with AI: "It'll destroy their reputation, their company, everything" (www.gamesradar.com)
Dark energy: mysterious cosmic force appears to be weakening, say scientists (www.theguardian.com)
Euclid's first deep dive into the Universe (www.youtube.com)
Euclid opens data treasure trove, offers glimpse of deep fields (www.esa.int)
Scientists hail ‘avalanche of discoveries’ from Euclid space telescope (www.theguardian.com)
Vera Rubin Gets its Camera Installed (www.universetoday.com)
Watch the moon turn red during a total lunar eclipse in March (phys.org)
First CubeSat joins ESA's Ramses mission to asteroid Apophis (www.esa.int)
Time-lapse of the construction of the world's largest telescope (www.youtube.com)
ESA and Red Cross partnership brings space technology to disaster management (www.esa.int)
Solar Orbiter ready for close encounter with Venus (www.esa.int)
Steam now warns you if an ‘early access’ PC game might be abandoned (www.theverge.com)
James Webb Space Telescope will study asteroid 2024 YR4 (blogs.esa.int)
Euclid discovers a stunning Einstein ring (www.esa.int)
ESA to Launch In-Orbit Refuelling Demonstration Mission (europeanspaceflight.com)
ESA and European Commission to build quantum-secure space communications network (www.esa.int)
Argonaut: a first European lunar lander (www.esa.int)
Planet hunter Plato to fly on Ariane 6 (www.esa.int)
Astronomers seek global ban on space advertising (spacenews.com)
The IAC confirms the existence of a Super-earth in the habitable zone of a Sun-like Star (www.iac.es)
Astronomers just deleted an asteroid because it turned out to be Elon Musk’s Tesla Roadster (www.astronomy.com)
ESA seeks modest boost to science budget (spacenews.com)
ESA Member States to Vote on Future of Space Rider in November (europeanspaceflight.com)
European Launch Startups Send Open Letter to ESA Outlining Key Priorities (europeanspaceflight.com)
Astronomers discover repeating radio bursts from distant 'dead' galaxy (abcnews.go.com)
See 6 Planets Align on January 21 (www.wired.com)
ESA Selects Consortia to Define Payload Platforms for Mars Tug (europeanspaceflight.com)
Seed-sized space chip (www.esa.int)
Astronomers discover rule-breaking neutron star with an incredibly slow six-hour spin (www.abc.net.au)
Supermassive black hole spotted 12.9 billion light-years from Earth — and it's shooting a beam of energy right at us (www.livescience.com)
Astronomers detect new eclipsing binary system (phys.org)
Timelapse of BepiColombo's sixth Mercury flyby (www.youtube.com)
Proba-3 becomes two: satellites separated (www.esa.int)
Last night a crucial step in the European Space Agency’s eclipse-making Proba-3 mission was completed: the two spacecraft, flying jointly since launch, have successfully separated.