European Researchers Plan for Future
Last Friday was an anxious day for Europe's space scientists. At issue was the future direction of European solar system exploration and space-based astronomy between 2008 and 2013. For two difficult...
View ArticleThe European Space Agency (ESA) a menu of new space missions, for 2008-2013.
WASHINGTON -- The European Space Agency (ESA) announced today a go-ahead on a wide-ranging menu of new space missions, to be implemented in the years 2008-2013. Five spacecraft projects -- including a...
View ArticleMysteries of Mercury: New Search for Heat and Ice
NO EMBARGO Giuseppe Colombo helped NASA go to Mercury. Now it's his turn. The Italian mathematician, who died in 1984, performed the orbital calculations that allowed the Mariner 10 spacecraft to visit...
View ArticleEurope's 1st lunar mission set to land
BERLIN - Europe's first mission to the moon is due to crash-land in a cloud of dust and rock Sunday, ending a three-year voyage that gathered data about the lunar surface and tested a new engine...
View ArticleMercury Spacecraft Moves To Testing Ahead Of 2016 Launch To Sun’s Closest Planet
After facing down a couple of delays due to technical difficulties, Europe’s and Japan’s first Mercury orbiter is entering some of the final stages ahead of its 2016 launch. Part of the BepiColombo...
View ArticleMercury MESSENGER Mission Concludes with a Smashing Finale!
The planet Mercury will soon have a brand new 52-foot-wide crater. At 3:26 p.m. this afternoon, NASA’s MESSENGER spacecraft will finally bite the Mercurial dust, crashing into the planet’s surface at...
View ArticleLooking Ahead: Space Exploration in 2017
An exciting year lies ahead for science and planetary spaceflight — by NASA and by other spacefaring nations. An artist's conception of NASA's Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS). NASA What...
View ArticleBepiColombo: ESA and JAXA join hands to explore Mercury in 2018!
The spacecraft will reach Mercury over a span of seven years. It will fly by Earth in 2020 and Venus in 2021. ......
View ArticleNew Way to Make Plasma Propulsion Lighter and More Efficient
Plasma propulsion is a subject of keen interest to astronomers and space agencies. As a highly-advanced technology that offers considerable fuel-efficiency over conventional chemical rockets, it is...
View ArticleMercury’s next manmade visitors will be European-Japanese orbiters
BepiColombo is a joint project between the European Space Agency (ESA) and Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), designed to travel to Mercury, the least explored rocky planet and the one...
View ArticleBepiColombo Mercury mission tested for journey into ‘pizza oven’
A view of the BepiColombo spacecraft stacked in launch configuration at the European Space Agency’s ESTEC test center in the Netherlands. The sunshield cover for Japan’s Mercury Magnetospheric Orbiter...
View ArticleJWST launch slips to early 2019
Artist’s concept of the James Webb Space Telescope. Credit: Northrop Grumman Extra testing of the James Webb Space Telescope and delays in assembling the powerful observatory will push back the $10...
View ArticleEngineers Are Busy Conducting Simulations Ahead Of The BepiColombo Mission To...
Sometime between October 5 and November 29, the BepiColombo mission will launch a spacecraft to Mercury, and engineers are now busy preparing for...
View ArticleBepiColombo: Joint Mission to Mercury
BepiColombo is a planned European-Japanese mission to Mercury. It is set to launch in 2018. ......
View ArticleBepiColombo rocket launch: UK-built spacecraft set to blast off on 5 billion...
A British-built spacecraft is set to blast off from Earth on a five billion mile mission to Mercury, the planet closest to the sun. ......
View ArticleSpacewatch: mission to Mercury braced for blast-off
A European-Japanese mission to Mercury is in the final stages of preparation for launch on Saturday 20 October. The mission, known as BepiColombo, will lift-off from the European Space Agency’s space...
View ArticleBepiColombo spacecraft launches on mission to Mercury
A mission to Mercury, one of our solar system’s least studied planets, is about to embark on its seven-year journey....
View ArticleDundee hardware boldly goes on mission to Mercury
Hardware developed in Dundee will embark on a seven-year, 48 million-mile mission to Mercury this weekend. . ......
View ArticleBepiColombo spacecraft launch: A long mission to Mercury begins
BepiColombo is set to begin its long journey to one of the least studied of Earth's seven neighboring planets. It is hoped the probe will offer insights into how our solar system was formed. ......
View ArticleThe BepiColombo Mission To Mercury Launches Tonight — Here’s Where To Watch...
For the first time in more than 14 years, a spacecraft is headed toward Mercury — the smallest and innermost planet of our solar system. Known as...
View ArticleBepiColombo in Pictures: A Mercury Mission by Europe and Japan
Tiny Mercury is a strange planet that may hide secrets to how our solar system formed — and that's why the European and Japanese space agencies decided to build a pair of spacecraft to study it. ......
View ArticleBepiColombo to Launch on Long Journey to Mercury
The European-Japanese spacecraft will be the third mission to the rocky planet closest to the sun. ......
View ArticleBepiColombo orbiters take off for Mercury tonight
If you've ever wondered what's happening over on Mercury, you'll have an answer soon. Well, soon-ish. BepiColombo, a joint effort between the space agencies of Europe and Japan, will send off a...
View ArticleBepiColombo: Two Orbiters Head to Mercury
Paris, France (SPX) Oct 19, 2018 Known since Antiquity, Mercury has not yet delivered all its secrets. The international mission BepiColombo, scheduled to launch in the coming days, will study the...
View ArticleBepiColombo launch: Incredible images show UK-built spacecraft blast off on...
A British-built spacecraft fitted with Star Trek-style "impulse engines" has jetted off to Mercury, the planet closest to the sun. ......
View ArticleBepiColombo's Path: Why Does It Take So Long to Get to Mercury?
The European and Japanese space agencies launched their first mission to Mercury yesterday, but now, the mission's engineers and admirers have to endure a seven-year wait before the project's science...
View ArticlePhotos: BepiColombo is on its way to Mercury
A joint project between European and Japanese space agencies, BepiColombo, was successfully launched earlier today. The €3 billion ($3.5 billion)...
View ArticleBepiColombo’s First Picture is a Black and White View of Its Solar Wings
BepiColombo’s mostly chilly trek to Mercury is going to take seven years. Friday’s launch went smoothly with the spacecraft deploying its solar wings and antennas once it reached space. Soon after, the...
View ArticleBepiColombo Mission To Mercury Beams Back ‘First Space Selfies’
Last week, an ambitious European-Japanese space mission took off on a seven-year journey to Mercury — our solar system’s innermost and least...
View ArticleBepiColombo Mission Hits First Milestone On Its Way To Mercury
The BepiColombo mission to Mercury is inching its way toward the solar system’s smallest and innermost planet. The European-Japanese spacecraft...
View ArticleMercury-Bound BepiColombo is About to Start Using the Most Powerful Ion...
A handful of spacecraft have used ion engines to reach their...
View ArticleBepiColombo ready for long cruise to Mercury
The ESA/JAXA BepiColombo spacecraft now bound for Mercury. Image: ESA/ATG medialab Following a series of tests conducted in space over the past five months, the ESA-JAXA BepiColombo mission has...
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