EU may set up body in European Space Agency
The European Union (EU) may set up a dedicated directorate within the European Space Agency (ESA) to resolve mismatches in the way the two bodies cooperate. Read more
Rosetta wakes up and phones home
The European Space Agency’s Rosetta spacecraft has successfully woken up after almost three years in hibernation. Read more
Star-mapping mission lifts off
Gaia, a European mission to map the Milky Way, has successfully launched from the European Space Agency’s base in French Guiana. Read more
X-ray observatory confirmed as ESA’s next big mission
The European Space Agency has confirmed that its next Large (L-class) mission will be an X-ray telescope investigating the “hot and energetic Universe”. Read more
Exomars and the History of Mars Exploration – Can Russia Help?
Last month, President Obama revealed NASA’s budget for 2013. At $17.7 million the agency is taking a hit, but the biggest loser is the agency’s Mars program which has been allocated $318 million less than last year. This funding cut has forced NASA out of ExoMars, the joint mission with the European Space Agency (ESA) designed to culminate with a sample return mission. Without NASA, ESA is left in pieces; the US agency was responsible for the launch vehicles and interplanetary spacecraft, not to mention substantial funding. Now, ESA is hoping the Russian Space Agency Roscosmos will take NASA’s place. This partnership could be without payoff since neither country has had great luck with Mars. Particularly Russia, whose missions have been thwarted by the mythical galactic ghoul. Read more