News.Astrohobby.PL Blog

ESA PR-14 2010: The media are invited to ESA’s Space Operations Centre in Darmstadt, Germany to follow Rosetta’s encounter with asteroid Lutetia on 10 July, 18:00–23:00. The first images of the asteroid will be released before midnight, with experts available for interview.

This magnificent view of the region around the star R Coronae Australis was created from images taken with the Wide Field Imager (WFI) at ESO’s La Silla Observatory in Chile. R Coronae Australis lies at the heart of a nearby star-forming region and is surrounded by a delicate bluish reflection nebula embedded in a huge dust cloud. The image reveals surprising new details in this dramatic area of sky.

These animations of Antarctica (above) and Greenland, derived from the radar altimeter instrument on ESA’s Envisat satellite, illustrate the variations in the surface height on each ice sheet from 2003 to 2010.

Today, a focus at ESA's Living Planet Symposium is on the innovative SMOS mission, which recently became operational. Early results are proving very encouraging with its first observations due to be released in early July.

Proba-2 is a small but innovative member of ESA’s spacecraft fleet, crammed with experimental technologies. In its first eight months of life it has already returned more than 90 000 images of the Sun.

Mars Exploration Rovers Update: Spirit Rests on Big Find, Opportunity Finishes Half-Marathon on Way to Endeavour (from Planetary News)

NASA and Lockheed Martin Space Systems Company will hold a ceremony at 9 a.m. CDT on Thursday, July 8, at the agency's Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans.

The Mercury 7 astronauts examine their 'couches.' Each astronaut's couch was molded to fit his body to help withstand the G-loads of the launch. Plaster casts of the astronauts were created in order to properly mold the couches. Left to right are Alan Sheppard, John Glenn, Walter Schirra, Scott Carpenter, Gordon Cooper, Deke Slayton, Gus Grissom and Bob Gilruth. Gilruth was director of the Space Task Group, which planned and managed the Mercury Project. Image Credit: NASA

The next trio of International Space Station residents will hold a news conference at 1 p.m. CDT on Tuesday, July 13, at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston.

What are these strange color bands being seen from the International Space Station?