ESA Exploration

ESA Exploration

@exploration.esa.int

Sharing news on Europe's human and robotic exploration, from astronaut training to the next giant leap to the Moon and Mars.

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ESA Exploration
@exploration.esa.int

🌍🚀 Who builds the European Service Module? 100+ suppliers across 13 @esa.int Member States have contributed to the module's development before its assembly by Airbus in Bremen, 🇩🇪. One spacecraft built by many nations 🤝🌕

ESA Exploration
@exploration.esa.int

🌕 The journey back to the Moon. 🚀 Artemis I (2022): first uncrewed flight, proving the Orion spacecraft could go the distance 👨‍🚀 Artemis II (2026): first crewed Artemis mission, carrying four astronauts around the Moon and back for the first time in over 50 years.

ESA Exploration
@exploration.esa.int

Without Europe, those journeys wouldn't have been possible. @esa.int's European Service Module is the powerhouse of Orion providing: 🚀 propulsion through deep space ⚡ electricity through 4 solar arrays 💧 water 🌬️ breathable air 🌡️ temperature control

ESA Exploration
@exploration.esa.int

Astronauts and submariners may have more in common than you think. 🧑‍🚀⚓ By studying both, Exposome Signature is helping scientists understand how our bodies respond to extreme environments, with benefits for health in space and on Earth. 🔗 www.esa.int/Science_Expl... #εpsilon

ESA Exploration
@exploration.esa.int

First European woman on the International Space Station 👩‍🚀✨ 25 years ago, in October 2001, Claudie Haigneré spent eight days aboard the Space Station, conducting scientific research and helping write a new chapter in European spaceflight history. @esa.int

ESA Exploration
@exploration.esa.int

🌕🤝 One lunar lander, many European countries. Argonaut brings together expertise from across the continent to create a new European capability for lunar exploration 🌍.

ESA Exploration
@exploration.esa.int

🌕 Argonaut Mission 1 is already taking shape 🚀 Launch: 2030, Ariane 6 📍 Destination: the Moon's south polar region 🤖 Payloads: robotic mobility and dexterity demonstrators

ESA Exploration
@exploration.esa.int

Mission 1 is only the beginning. 🚀 From launch on a European rocket to landing on the Moon with a European lander, Argonaut represents our end-to-end access to the Moon and opens the door to our next great adventures beyond Earth🌙 🔗: www.esa.int/Science_Expl...

esa.intArgonaut: Europe's lunar lander programmeThe European Space Agency (ESA) lunar lander programme, Argonaut, represents Europe’s autonomous, versatile and reliable access to the Moon. From the 2030s, Argonaut landers will be launched on four-b...

ESA Exploration reposted

Josef Aschbacher
@josefaschbacher.esa.int

This week we held the 350th ESA Council in Paris, an important step on the way to the Intermediate Ministerial Meeting (IMM) on Exploration to be held in December in Rome. We made good progress on the road to a more ambitous future for Europe. 👉 lnkd.in/p/dqd8F_EM

lnkd.inThis week we held the 350th ESA Council in Paris. Here are my 5 “DG takeaways”: 1️⃣ Europe’s exploration ambitions are moving forward. Through Council Working Group, we made important progress on… |...This week we held the 350th ESA Council in Paris. Here are my 5 “DG takeaways”: 1️⃣ Europe’s exploration ambitions are moving forward. Through Council Working Group, we made important progress on ou...
ESA Exploration
@exploration.esa.int

🌕⛵ Why is Europe's lunar lander called Argonaut? Like Apollo and Artemis, the name is inspired by Greek mythology 🏛️. The name recalls the Argonauts, legendary explorers who set sail into the unknown... 🌙

ESA Exploration
@exploration.esa.int

Meet Argonaut: Europe's lunar lander programme 🌙 🚀 Launching on Ariane 6 rockets by end of 2030, Argonaut will deliver technology demonstrators 🤖, infrastructure 🏗️, science 🔬 and cargo 📦 to the Moon.

esa.intArgonaut: Europe's lunar lander programmeThe European Space Agency (ESA) lunar lander programme, Argonaut, represents Europe’s autonomous, versatile and reliable access to the Moon. From the 2030s, Argonaut landers will be launched on four-b...
ESA Exploration
@exploration.esa.int

🌍 Launched on a European rocket and landing with a European-built and operated lander, Argonaut gives Europe end-to-end access to the Moon. It will allow European researchers to send science and technology directly to the lunar surface, advancing discovery and preparing future exploration 🔬.

ESA Exploration
@exploration.esa.int

🤝 Argonaut will also contribute to international exploration, helping to build the communications, power, navigation and logistics infrastructure needed for long-term operations on the Moon, as well as delivering essential supplies for astronauts 🌕👨‍🚀.

ESA Exploration
@exploration.esa.int

📡🌕 Lunar Link is complete. @esa.int’s lunar telecommunications system is now fully assembled, tested and ready for space. Built by ESA and European industry led by Thales Alenia Space, Lunar Link represents years of engineering excellence from across Europe. 🔗 www.esa.int/Science_Expl...

esa.intLunar Link complete and ready for a new adventureESA’s Lunar Link telecommunications element has completed its final major integration and testing campaign at Thales Alenia Space in Cannes, France. 
ESA Exploration
@exploration.esa.int

🌕🚀 Over the past two weeks we’ve gone from lunar laser ranging to resource prospecting and lunar communications. Here’s a recap of @esa.int’s upcoming lunar science and tech demo missions, in order of launch 👇 www.esa.int/Science_Expl...

esa.intScience and technology for the MoonReturning to the Moon is about more than reaching the surface. Before we can live and work there long-term, we need to learn how to operate safely and sustainably in the lunar environment, understand ...
ESA Exploration
@exploration.esa.int

🌑 On the Moon, night lasts almost 15 Earth days, and temperatures can plummet to below -200°C. Without power, scientific instruments can freeze in the extreme cold 🥶. OASIS is a European lunar service station designed to help them survive the lunar night and keep operating long after sunset.

esa.intOASIS: a European service station for the MoonFuture exploration on the Moon will require more than landers, orbiters, rovers and astronauts. It will also need infrastructure – systems that provide the power, communications and support needed to ...
ESA Exploration
@exploration.esa.int

🌕 Big missions aren't the only way to discover the Moon. Through the Moon Explore initiative, @esa.int is developing a new generation of smaller, faster missions to investigate the lunar environment and its resources. 🔗 Find out more: www.esa.int/Science_Expl...

esa.intSmall lunar missions, big ambitionsEurope is preparing for a future in which astronauts, robots and scientific instruments work on and around the Moon. While major missions often capture the headlines, smaller missions can move faster,...
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ESA Exploration
@exploration.esa.int

🗺 3D maps of the Moon. Proposed by NUVIEW 🇩🇪, Moonraker will use laser measurements to build precise 3D maps of the lunar poles, including permanently shadowed regions where sunlight never reaches.

ESA Exploration
@exploration.esa.int

☢️ Keeping an eye on lunar radiation Led by Remred 🇭🇺, MoonRAD will monitor radiation and energetic particles around the Moon to help protect future astronauts, spacecraft and lunar infrastructure.

ESA Exploration
@exploration.esa.int

🌕 Big missions aren't the only way to discover the Moon. Through the Moon Explore initiative, @esa.int is developing a new generation of smaller, faster missions to investigate the lunar environment and its resources. 🔗 Find out more: www.esa.int/Science_Expl...

esa.intSmall lunar missions, big ambitionsEurope is preparing for a future in which astronauts, robots and scientific instruments work on and around the Moon. While major missions often capture the headlines, smaller missions can move faster,...
ESA Exploration
@exploration.esa.int

📸 Covering the Moon from all angles Led by the University of Copenhagen 🇩🇰, Máni will photograph selected regions of the Moon from multiple angles to create highly detailed maps for future explorers.

ESA Exploration
@exploration.esa.int

🛞 A rover wheel that searches for water on the Moon 🌕 @esa.int's Rover Permittivity Sensor is built directly into a rover wheel and will measure the electrical properties of lunar soil to search for hidden water ice beneath the surface 💧 🔗 Find out more: www.esa.int/Science_Expl...

esa.intRPS: using a rover wheel in search of water on the MoonThe Rover Permittivity Sensor suite (RPS) is an ESA contribution to the United Arab Emirates’ Rashid-3 lunar rover. Using sensors that are integrated directly into one of the rover’s four wheels, the ...
ESA Exploration
@exploration.esa.int

👃 Teaching a robot to sniff the Moon 🌕 Flying on the joint JAXA-ISRO LUPEX @esa.int’s Exploration Mass Spectrometer will investigate the Moon's extremely thin atmosphere, acting as a sensitive nose to identify chemical species near the lunar surface 👩‍🔬 🔗 Find out more: www.esa.int/Science_Expl...

esa.intExploration mass spectrometer: investigating the lunar exosphereESA’s Exploration Mass Spectrometer for LUPEX (EMS-L) will investigate the Moon’s extremely thin exosphere, a tenuous mist of atoms and molecules surrounding the lunar surface.
ESA Exploration
@exploration.esa.int

🔴 LIVE at 11:00 CEST: Join @esa.int astronaut Sophie Adenot online today for her first news conference since returning from her 237-day #εpsilon mission aboard the International Space Station. 🚀🌍 Watch live on ESA Web TV ▶️ watch.esa.int

ESA Exploration reposted

ESA Navigation
@navigation.esa.int

🌕📍🕰️ Introducing NovaMoon: ESA's mission to improve positioning, navigation and timing (PNT) services on the Moon. NovaMoon will help rovers, landers and astronauts navigate on the Moon like cars, planes and pedestrians navigate on Earth. Check out our mission patch ⬇️ 🔗 www.esa.int/Applications...

ESA Exploration
@exploration.esa.int

“Space is a beautiful adventure but no one goes to space alone. Space is tough, but also very uniting” Following her first mission in space, @esa.int astronaut Sophie Adenot shares her first impressions after returning to Europe from the International Space Station. 👩‍🚀✨ #εpsilon

ESA Exploration
@exploration.esa.int

Welcome home, Sophie! 👩‍🚀💙 The aircraft carrying @esa.int astronaut Sophie Adenot has landed in Cologne, Germany. Only a couple of days after departing the International Space Station Sophie is back in Europe. #εpsilon

ESA Exploration
@exploration.esa.int

Waiting for Sophie! 👩‍🚀🇫🇷 Friends, colleagues and fellow @esa.int astronauts are gathering in Cologne, Germany, to welcome Sophie Adenot back to Europe after an exceptional first mission aboard the International Space Station. 🌍✨ #εpsilon

ESA Exploration
@exploration.esa.int

🧪 Farewell, FSL. After more than 18 years aboard the International Space Station, @esa.int's Fluid Science Laboratory begins its final chapter. Today astronauts start disassembling one of the longest-serving science facilities in Europe's Columbus laboratory. 🔗 www.esa.int/Science_Expl...

esa.intFarewell to the Fluid Science Laboratory after 18 years in orbitOn 9 October, astronauts on the International Space Station begin supporting the final decommissioning of ESA's Fluid Science Laboratory (FSL), one of the longest-serving scientific facilities inside ...

ESA Exploration reposted

European Space Agency
@esa.int

Mission accomplished. ✅ After 237 days in space, ESA astronaut Sophie Adenot has returned safely to Earth, concluding her record-breaking #εpsilon mission packed with science, technology demonstrations and three spacewalks. Welcome home, Sophie!! Credit: NASA/Keegan Barber

ESA Exploration
@exploration.esa.int

There she is! ESA astronaut Sophie Adenot is helped out of Dragon Freedom and takes her first breaths of fresh air after nearly eight months in space. 🌍 We’re so happy to see you, Sophie! #εpsilon

ESA Exploration
@exploration.esa.int

Dragon Freedom is safely aboard Shannon, securely resting in what the teams call the “Dragon nest”. ✅ The spacecraft will now be moved into position for the side hatch to be opened and the Crew-12 astronauts to be helped out one by one. #εpsilon

ESA Exploration
@exploration.esa.int

🚢 The SpaceX recovery vessel Shannon is standing by to recover Dragon Freedom and its crew from the Pacific Ocean. Once aboard, Sophie and her Crew-12 crewmates will be helped out of the spacecraft. #εpsilon