Sharing news on Europe's human and robotic exploration, from astronaut training to the next giant leap to the Moon and Mars.
Estec, Noordwijk
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Astronauts like @soph_astro 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.
🔗 esa.int/Science_Exploration/… #εpsilon
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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 @ESA_fr
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🌕🤝 One lunar lander, many European countries.
Argonaut brings together expertise from across the continent to create a new European capability for lunar exploration 🌍.
ALT An infographic showing the industrial consortium of the Argonaut lunar lander. Credit: ESA
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🌕 Argonaut Mission 1 is already taking shape
🚀 Launch: 2030, Ariane 6
📍 Destination: the Moon's south polar region
🤖 Payloads: robotic mobility and dexterity demonstrators
ALT An Argonaut lander on the lunar surface. Credit: ESA-XR Lab-G. Nadaud
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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🌙
🔗: esa.int/Science_Exploration/…
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🕹️ Play a game, train a model, map the Moon.
Players of @esa's IMPACT game marked craters on real lunar images, creating data used to train an AI model that detected 3192 potential craters in this patch of the Moon measuring 1.25 x 1.27 km.
🔗 esa.int/ESA_Multimedia/Image…
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Human Spaceflight retweeted
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.
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🌕⛵ 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... 🌙
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There's more to the Argonaut patch than meets the eye – can you spot the hidden messages?
If you need a hint 👉 blogs.esa.int/exploration/ar…
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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.int/Science_Exploration/…
ALT An Argonaut lander on the right, the wide lunar desert to the left, with hills and valleys. Credit: ESA-XR Lab.
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🌍 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 🔬.
ALT Astronauts at the European LUNA facility next to a 1:1 model of an Argonaut lander. Credit: DLR/ESA
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🤝 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 🌕👨🚀.
ALT An astronaut on the Moon looking ahead at two Argonaut landers on the surface and an ESA flag. Credit: ESA-XR Lab
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📡🌕 Lunar Link is complete.
@esa’s lunar telecommunications system is now fully assembled, tested and ready for space.
Built by ESA and European industry led by @Thales_Alenia_S, Lunar Link represents years of engineering excellence from across Europe.
🔗 esa.int/Science_Exploration/…
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Human Spaceflight retweeted
🔴 Ten Mars-velous years at the Red Planet! 🎉
Here’s to a decade full of:
✨ Discovery
🤝 Teamwork
🛰️ Evolving capabilities
And to all that is yet to come! Thank you, TGO!
Learn more here 👉 esa.int/Enabling_Support/Ope…
ALT Large group photo of the ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter team gathered around a model of the spacecraft at an ESA event.
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A prolific decade in Mars orbit.
@esa’s Trace Gas Orbiter slipped into orbit around Mars at 17:24 CEST on 19 October 2016.
Here are some impressive facts and figures about our largest Mars explorer 👇
ALT Infographic with facts and figures about ESA's largest Mars explorer, the ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter.
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🌕🚀 Over the past two weeks we’ve gone from lunar laser ranging to resource prospecting and lunar communications. Here’s a recap of
@esa’s upcoming lunar science and tech demo missions, in order of launch 🔗esa.int/Science_Exploration/…
ALT Moonset over Earth, captured by ESA astronaut Sophie Adenot from the International Space Station.
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🌑 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 @OHB_SE
esa.int/Science_Exploration/…
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