http://www.esa.int ESA Human Spaceflight and Exploration newsspaceen-us600Copyright 2010 European Space Agencyrss@esa.intFri, 27 Aug 2010 00:00:01 +0100Fri, 27 Aug 2010 16:37:00 +0100http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss One of the most complex space scientific instruments ever built, the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer (AMS-02) arrived at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, escorted by astronauts who will fly with it on the Space Shuttle in February 2011. ]]> http://www.esa.int/esaHS/SEMZE8BO3DG_index_0.html SEMZE8BO3DGThu, 26 Aug 2010 16:18:00 +0100 Nearing the end of its third month of continuous operation, the International Space Station’s ship-tracking experiment has experienced a marked increase in data quality. Now it operates along with a dedicated satellite carrying the same receiver. ]]> http://www.esa.int/esaHS/SEMA7AZNZBG_index_0.html SEMA7AZNZBGThu, 26 Aug 2010 09:21:00 +0100 In the fourth diary entry, Diego tells us about watching the World Cup with a time delay and 'hunting' for food. With no supermarket on the way to Mars, tracking and monitoring of supplies is vital. ]]> http://www.esa.int/esaHS/SEM6WXAO3DG_index_0.html SEM6WXAO3DGWed, 18 Aug 2010 12:00:00 +0100 You can do a lot in 25 seconds! Like simulating weightlessness, lunar gravity or martian surface operations aboard an A300 Zero-G aircraft flying on a special trajectory. ESA is now calling for scientists to come along. ]]> http://www.esa.int/esaHS/SEMCQH5OJCG_index_0.html SEMCQH5OJCGFri, 13 Aug 2010 09:21:00 +0100 ESA PR 2010-18 European media are invited to Florida on 26 August to view the next experiment to fly to the Space Station. One of the most exciting scientific instruments ever built, the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer will arrive that day at the Kennedy Space Center. ]]> http://www.esa.int/esaHS/SEM0R65OJCG_index_0.html SEM0R65OJCGWed, 11 Aug 2010 09:50:00 +0100 One of the European Space Agency experiments involves the collection of air samples to measure the quality of air in a confined space such as the Mars500 modules. Romain Charles demonstrates the collection procedure and describes the scope of this experiment. ]]> http://www.esa.int/esaHS/SEMJ2Y4OJCG_index_0.html SEMJ2Y4OJCGMon, 9 Aug 2010 09:00:00 +0100 Romain writes in his second diary from the Mars500 facility about the morning routines, packed feeling on the central corridor and about his first birthday in isolation. ]]> http://www.esa.int/esaHS/SEMZQPWNPBG_index_0.html SEMZQPWNPBGThu, 22 Jul 2010 12:00:00 +0100 A fascinating new experiment that will expand the range of research on the International Space Station was given the green light last Friday with the signature of the ACES atomic clock contract. ]]> http://www.esa.int/esaHS/SEM7L2WNPBG_index_0.html SEM7L2WNPBGTue, 20 Jul 2010 11:20:00 +0100 ESA, together with the UK Space Agency, the Italian space agency and industry, will be exhibiting its wide range of activities - also human spaceflight related - in a dedicated Space Zone at the Farnborough International Air Show during 19–25 July. ]]> http://www.esa.int/esaHS/SEMHFQZOFBG_index_0.html SEMHFQZOFBGMon, 12 Jul 2010 11:40:00 +0100 At the end of June, ESA’s six astronaut candidates were thrown out of a helicopter, left to drift at sea and abandoned under the hot Mediterranean sun. Fortunately, their survival training allowed them to cope with the tough situations. ]]> http://www.esa.int/esaHS/SEMVXMO2CBG_index_0.html SEMVXMO2CBGFri, 9 Jul 2010 10:21:00 +0100 It was three days of listening, learning, brainstrorming and networking for forty secondary school teachers from all ESA Member States, when they participated the first ESA Human Spaceflight Teachers Workshop at ESTEC in the Netherlands last week. ]]> http://www.esa.int/esaHS/SEMDELRZ5BG_index_0.html SEMDELRZ5BGMon, 5 Jul 2010 17:45:00 +0100 The major international space agencies represented in the International Space Exploration Coordination Group met on 23 June to take stock of the work carried out in the last three years. ]]> http://www.esa.int/esaHS/SEMRM2MZLAG_index_0.html SEMRM2MZLAGFri, 25 Jun 2010 08:15:00 +0100 As the ISS circles Earth, it has begun tracking individual ships crossing the seas beneath. An experiment hosted by ESA’s Columbus module is testing the viability of monitoring global traffic from the Station’s orbit hundreds of kilometres up. ]]> http://www.esa.int/esaHS/SEMILOPK2AG_index_0.html SEMILOPK2AGTue, 15 Jun 2010 09:08:00 +0100 Ten past and present ESA astronauts will be at the ILA international aerospace show at Berlin’s Schoenefeld on Friday 11 June. At the same time, ESA will continue its presence on its shared stand. ]]> http://www.esa.int/esaHS/SEM5D8PK2AG_index_0.html SEM5D8PK2AGWed, 9 Jun 2010 08:43:00 +0100 It’s harsh, demanding, isolated and even hostile, but a unique place: Concordia research station in Antarctica. ESA is now looking for someone with medical training to join the next crew to overwinter in Concordia. ]]> http://www.esa.int/esaHS/SEML5V4XT9G_index_0.html SEML5V4XT9GMon, 7 Jun 2010 08:00:00 +0100 Mars500, the first full-length simulated mission to Mars, started today in Moscow at 13:49 local time (11:49 CET), when the six-man crew entered their ‘spacecraft’ and the hatch was closed. The experiment will run until November next year. ]]> http://www.esa.int/esaHS/SEMLUB5XT9G_index_0.html SEMLUB5XT9GThu, 3 Jun 2010 11:00:00 +0100 ESA’s Italian astronaut Paolo Nespoli will soon visit the International Space Station, and he needs your help to name his mission. ]]> http://www.esa.int/esaHS/SEM5NX4NL9G_index_0.html SEM5NX4NL9GTue, 1 Jun 2010 09:45:00 +0100 ESA and its partners are launching a new kind of fitness initiative using the example of space explorers to promote exercise and healthy nutrition to young people worldwide. 'Mission X: Train Like an Astronaut' is boarding now in eight countries. ]]> http://www.esa.int/esaHS/SEMV3MF098G_index_0.html SEMV3MF098GMon, 31 May 2010 09:13:00 +0100 ESA PR 10-2010 The first full-duration simulation of a human mission to Mars is about to begin. After closing the hatch, the crew of six will remain in their 'spacecraft' for 520 days. The media are invited to witness the 'launch' of this historic Mars500 mission. ]]> http://www.esa.int/esaHS/SEM4HM4NL9G_index_0.html SEM4HM4NL9GTue, 25 May 2010 11:54:00 +0100 On the occasion of the Open Day at the European Institutions in Brussels on 8 May, ESA astronaut Frank De Winne met the President of the European Union, Herman van Rompuy, and handed over a very special European flag. ]]> http://www.esa.int/esaHS/SEMUVIT889G_index_0.html SEMUVIT889GTue, 18 May 2010 09:02:00 +0100 Space Shuttle Atlantis lifted off on Friday evening with an important hardware delivery from Europe to the International Space Station: spare portions of the European Robotic Arm and the first Russian payloads to use the arm. ]]> http://www.esa.int/esaHS/SEMHXC19Y8G_index_0.html SEMHXC19Y8GFri, 14 May 2010 09:00:00 +0100 The second of ESA’s ATV automated cargo craft has been cleared for shipping to the launch site in Kourou. Its launch on an Ariane 5 to the International Space Station is scheduled for late this year. ]]> http://www.esa.int/esaHS/SEMMYA19Y8G_index_0.html SEMMYA19Y8GTue, 11 May 2010 09:49:00 +0100 ESA is providing many innovative and inspiring aids to teachers to enhance their curriculum with space related subjects. Now ESA is inviting educators to a summer workshop at ESTEC in the Netherlands this summer from 28 to 30 June 2010. ]]> http://www.esa.int/esaHS/SEMA8319Y8G_index_0.html SEMA8319Y8GMon, 10 May 2010 14:51:00 +0100 A special exhibition opened on Monday at the EU Parliament in Brussels: 'European Amateur Radio Benefiting Society – Emergency Communications, Education and Space' shows how ham radios on the ground and in space can help Europeans in many different ways. ]]> http://www.esa.int/esaHS/SEMNN2HMI8G_index_0.html SEMNN2HMI8GTue, 27 Apr 2010 14:49:00 +0100 For astronauts aboard the ISS, a small multiband amateur radio station is a relaxing way to be in contact with people on Earth. It is also an effective tool for education. Now this Amateur Radio in the International Space Station project (ARISS) has been awarded the prestigious 2010 Boselli prize. ]]> http://www.esa.int/esaHS/SEMSTEFKZ6G_index_0.html SEMSTEFKZ6GTue, 23 Mar 2010 14:49:00 +0100 In space, many things work differently, but not always. Take the movement of liquid in fine tubes. Gravity has something to do with this capillary action, but what? Students using ESA’s 'Take Your Classroom into Space' kit can now find out. ]]> http://www.esa.int/esaHS/SEM2KD9KF6G_index_0.html SEM2KD9KF6GTue, 9 Mar 2010 10:07:00 +0100 There are of course many technical challenges when planning missions to the Moon and beyond, but there is another important question: what should the astronauts have for dinner? ]]> http://www.esa.int/esaHS/SEMR49PJH4G_index_0.html SEMR49PJH4GMon, 25 Jan 2010 07:24:00 +0100 On 15 December, graduates of the fourth International Master Course in ’SpacE Exploration and Development Systems’,called SEEDS, presented the results of their final team project in the Erasmus Centre Auditorium at ESA’s European Space Research and Technology Centre in the Netherlands. The project focused on the subject of ‘Advanced Lunar Itinerant Caravan for Exploration’. ]]> http://www.esa.int/esaHS/SEMI8NCJD3G_index_0.html SEMI8NCJD3GMon, 21 Dec 2009 11:55:00 +0100 Getting to space is difficult, and coming back is just as hard. ESA will test the science and technology of reentry by sending the new Expert experimental vehicle on a fast and fiery return trip to space next year. ]]> http://www.esa.int/esaHS/SEM6PN4NL9G_index_0.html SEM6PN4NL9GSun, 14 Jun 2009 11:05:00 +0100 Weightlessness provides unique conditions for scientific, application-oriented and industrial research. On Earth, if a substance is heated, melted, solidified, crystallised, mixed, sprayed or burnt, then gravity has a strong influence over what will happen. Studying those processes in the absence of gravity allows uncovering the fundamental effects at work. ]]> http://www.esa.int/esaHS/SEMZ8U3XQEF_index_0.html SEMZ8U3XQEFTue, 15 Apr 2008 09:18:00 +0100 Space exploration has long emerged from the shadows of science fiction and became a tangible reality inciting man's vision and relentlessly driving technology development and science forward all over the world. ]]> http://www.esa.int/esaHS/SEMIK3NPQ5F_index_0.html SEMIK3NPQ5FWed, 19 Sep 2007 08:13:00 +0100 Marsh and Company, the world's leading insurance broker and strategic risk advisor, joined the European Space Agency's Co-operation Agreement Industrial Partners. ]]> http://www.esa.int/esaHS/SEMMR3NPQ5F_index_0.html SEMMR3NPQ5FWed, 19 Sep 2007 08:13:00 +0100 The European Space Agency has appointed a Commercial Agent Network to target the materials and processes industry to market and sell the use of services, resources and facilities that ESA can offer on the International Space Station. ]]> http://www.esa.int/esaHS/SEMV14NPQ5F_index_0.html SEMV14NPQ5FWed, 19 Sep 2007 08:13:00 +0100