ESApod, audio and video from space

Herschel, the largest telescope ever launched, will study objects within and outside our Galaxy. It will be able to peer through clouds of gas and dust and observe stars as they form. Unlike Herschel, Planck will rotate continuously about its axis, scanning the whole sky to compile the most detailed and complete map ever of the Cosmic Microwave Background, or CMB. This CMB radiation is the relic radiation left over from the Big Bang, which occurred about 14 thousand million years ago. Herschel and Planck will be launched together atop an Ariane 5 rocket in spring 2009.ESApod video programme

Data on the climate and vegetation cover collected by ESA’s Earth observation satellites are proving to be an invaluable tool to fight food scarcity. With the aid of Earth observation data, the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) of the United Nations state that, in Ethiopia there has been four successive years of increased cereal production. This shows that Earth observation data is leading to better understanding of the conditions that affect crops and grazing pastures, both fragile but vital components in African food production. At the FAO Headquarters in Rome, Italy, satellite data are used to follow vegetation coverage and weather conditions virtually in real-time. That gives scientists a valuable forecasting tool and to some degree, an early-warning system. In addition, at ESA's Centre for Earth Observation just outside Rome, satellite data are being used to map vegetation coverage on an unprecedented scale. This map provides the FAO and the UN with a precise and up-to-date view of global vegetation coverage.ESApod video programme

On 25 and 26 November in The Hague, Ministers in charge of space activities within the now 18 ESA Member States and Canada meet to define the role of space in delivering Europe's global objectives. In a dedicated interview, ESA Director General Jean-Jacques Dordain explains the situation in space today and tomorrow and what ESA proposes in front of the current context of economical crisis. Jean-Jacques Dordain defines the priorities for Europe in space, talks about new programmes and how ESA will evolve.ESApod video programme

Since the very first satellites carrying scientific instruments were launched, our understanding of the cosmos has improved. The Sun is studied to the core and, beyond our star, the Universe is becoming less obscure. Knowledge of the Universe relates directly to humanity’s future. Over decades, ESA’s science programme has been conducted with long-term vision and, on many occasions, in international partnerships. The Cosmic Vision initiative is now paving the way for future missions that will launch starting in 2015. Understanding the nature of dark matter, bringing back samples of an asteroid, returning to the moons of Saturn or Jupiter, and establishing whether life existed on Mars, are difficult choices with budgets that are not indefinitely expandable. Priorities have to be set, responsibilities shared, and work must be done in international teams. In pursuing its Space Science effort, Europe is consolidating its technological know-how in many, often unrelated disciplines. The spirit of adventure and exploration also fires the imagination of youngsters, prompting their interest in science.ESApod video programme

The successful docking of the European Columbus module and the launch of the Automated Transfer Vehicle have opened a new era for Europe’s presence in space with the aspiration to consolidate its independence. Now, ESA is working on a proposed programme to develop new versions of the Automated Transfer Vehicle (ATV). The projects ESA is considering are essentially based on a re-use of the ATV's service module and the replacement of the integrated cargo carrier with a re-entry capsule. This would allow for atmospheric re-entry, bringing down to the Earth first some cargo and then in the future a complete crew. ESA and its industrial partners will have to develop new technologies to satisfy other crucial requirements, such as the ejection system to ensure the absolute safety of a space capsule’s crew in case of an anomaly on the launch pad or during its ascent phase.ESApod video programme

Relying largely on satellite data, the Global Monitoring for Environment and Security (GMES) programme will provide accurate and timely data to better manage the environment, understand and mitigate the effects of climate change and ensure civil security. ESA is responsible for the Space Component of GMES. It will provide continuous, accurate satellite data from Earth observation satellites, like Envisat and ERS. As part of the GMES programme, ESA is also developing, building and launching a new series of Earth monitoring satellites called Sentinels. The Sentinels are five families of satellites that will monitor the land, oceans, ice and atmosphere for markers of environmental change. Data from the Sentinel satellites as well as other ESA and non-ESA missions contributing to GMES will be combined with measurements taken on Earth. As changes in parameters such as air quality and ocean height are recorded over time, legislation can be put in place to tackle issues such as flooding, deforestation and drought.ESApod video programme

The European Space Agency is developing a network of satellites – the European Data Relay Satellite System – that will use geostationary satellites to communicate with both ground stations and other satellites – whose lower orbits restrict the time that they can ‘see’ any one ground station. Allowing low-Earth orbit satellites to deliver data continuously, instead of storing it on board for transmission while overflying a ground station, will increase the timeliness with which we receive data improving global communications, navigation and Earth observation. By developing this satellite infrastructure, ESA will improve many key services, such as the monitoring of earthquakes, forest fires and floods, aircraft navigation and the observation of sea-ice zones. On-demand satellite data will be available at the right place and at the right time – improving and even saving lives.ESApod video programme

After being launched into space, the IXV - or Intermediate eXperimental Vehicle - will return to earth as if from a low-Earth orbit mission, testing brand-new European atmospheric re-entry technologies during its hypersonic and supersonic flight phases. For ESA, the mission is essential to further develop critical technologies for future robotic or manned spacecraft. In the name Intermediate eXperimental Vehicle, the word intermediate means that the vehicle builds on earlier achievements and performs the step that forms the bridge to future developments. The two-hour IXV mission is scheduled for launch in 2012 on board Vega, Europe's new, small launcher.ESApod video programme

In May 2009, Belgian ESA astronaut Frank De Winne will fly together with Russian cosmonaut Roman Romanenko and Canadian Space Agency astronaut Robert Thirsk on a Russian Soyuz spacecraft to the ISS. His back-up for the trip will be Dutch ESA astronaut André Kuipers. De Winne’s role on board the ISS will be to carry out experiments for an extensive scientific European programme. He will also be operating the Station’s robotic arm and the Japanese robotic arm after the docking of HTV, the cargo module from Japan. In preparation for these activities De Winne has been going through an intensive and long period of training aimed at preparing him physically and practising the experiments he will have to carry out on board the ISS in microgravity.ESApod video programme

On the island of Sriharikota, 150 kilometres north of Chennai, India has based its launch centre SHAR, the Satish Dhawan Space Centre, named after the research scientist and former president of the ISRO, the Indian Space Research Organisation. At SHAR two launch pads have been built for the two rockets developed by India: the PSLV, a 4-stage launch vehicle using liquid and solid propulsion and able to launch one-tonne craft into geostationary transfer orbit and the GSLV, a 2-tonne capacity launcher for geostationary transfer orbit. PSLV has the performance level required to launch Chandrayaan-1 on its way to the moon. Sriharikota is like a real town. About 2000 employees are living on the island with their families.ESApod video programme

The first venture between India and Europe took place in the 1980s. In 1981, Europe's Ariane 3 rocket launched into space India's first geostationary satellite Apple. The cooperation continues today with India's lunar mission Chandrayaan-1. India's INSAT satellites were also designed for weather forecasting and Earth observation. Thirteen of them lifted-off with Europe's Ariane launchers. Today India has developed its own launchers at its Sriharikota base in the Bay of Bengal and is about to enter a new stage with its first lunar mission Chandrayaan-1. The large antenna designed by the Indian Space Agency and specially installed outside Bangalore to monitor the Chandrayaan-1 mission forms part of India's deep space network and is a good illustration of India's desire to play a role in the conquest of space and to offer its services to other countries. India is also interested in other forms of cooperation that go beyond lunar discovery and astronomical missions.ESApod video programme

The Indian launch vehicle PSLV is now at its launch station at Shriharikota - nowadays Chennai - a small island 100 km from Madras in the Bay of Bengal. It is waiting for its passenger, the Indian spacecraft Chandrayaan-1, currently under preparation in Bangalore. Chandrayaan means ‘journey to the moon’ in Hindi. India has already built and launched many satellites but this is the first time that it will venture beyond the orbit of Earth. Six out of the 11 research instruments on board Chandrayaan are the result of international cooperative efforts, three of them with the European Space Agency (ESA). For ESA, Chandrayaan also represents an opportunity to re-use improved versions of the instruments which studied the moon on its SMART-1 lunar mission, and also a chance to send in orbit new instruments which will be used in upcoming ESA missions, such as the BepiColombo mission to Mercury.ESApod video programme

Since July 2008 the GOCE Earth Explorer satellite has been at the Plesetsk Cosmodrome in northern Russia. ESA’s Gravity field and steady state Ocean Circulation Explorer (GOCE) is a unique satellite that will map the Earth's gravity field for a better understanding of our planet. Although GOCE was due to lift-off in September 2008, launch has been postponed pending a technical issue on the Rockot launcher.ESApod video programme

Two de-orbit manoeuvres will lower ESA's Jules Verne Automated Transfer Vehicle. Break up of the satellite is expected at an altitude of 65 km. The crew on board the ISS will attempt to observe the re-entry of the satellite over the Pacific. Engineers are already working on the following two ATVs. The next one is scheduled for launch in 2010 and proposals to adapt the spaceship to other tasks are ongoing.ESApod video programme

Steins is Rosetta's first nominal scientific target. Based upon ground-based observations, it has been classified as an 'E-type' asteroid, composed mainly of silicates and basalts, but its properties are not known in detail. For these reasons, it has been selected as one of the two asteroids that Rosetta will study, from among those that were within reach of the mission. The study of asteroids is extremely important as they represent a sample of Solar System material at different stages of evolution – key to understanding the origin of our own planet and of our planetary neighbourhood. The spacecraft will rendezvous with the asteroid in the course of its first incursion into the asteroid belt, while on its way to comet 67/P Churyumov-Gerasimenko.ESApod audio programme

Asteroid Steins belongs to the rare, largely unknown intermediate E-class, very bright and probably with a much-weathered surface. Steins' orbit was only known from ground observations, so Rosetta is conducting Europe's first-ever optical tracking campaign, providing highly accurate position data to Flight Dynamics specialists who are planning a series of trajectory corrections for an accurate fly-by. For over a year, Rosetta scientists and leading asteroid experts have been planning this encounter, and all the probe's science instruments will be active at some point in the fly-by. Reception of the first images is expected at the European Space Operations Centre some two hours after the encounter on 5 September 2008.ESApod video programme

ESA's GOCE mission is dedicated to measuring the Earth's gravity field and modelling the geoid with unprecedented accuracy and spatial resolution. GOCE is the first in a series of research missions known as Earth Explorers. Driven by the needs of the scientific community, Earth Explorers will provide the data to help understand critical Earth system variables and put Europe in pole position on Earth observation in the coming years. GOCE is due for launch in September 2008 on a Russian Rockot vehicle – a converted SS-19 Russian Intercontinental Ballistic Missile – from the Plesetsk Cosmodrome in northern Russia. All the data collected by GOCE will go towards creating a global gravity-field map with a level of accuracy never before available. ESA has developed an internet interface that will make these data easily and quickly available to scientists and researchers.ESApod video programme

The search for water in space has been quite successful; traces of ice have been found on Mars and water vapour has been found in several places in our galaxy. Water vapour was also recently detected on a planet outside our Solar System for the first time. It was an important discovery, although the planet is far too hot to be able to support life. Heavy water, which is also found on comets, poses the question of whether we can trace the origins of the water on earth through the heavy water found on objects like asteroids and comets. The Herschel space observatory, due for launch within a year’s time, will help explore the theory that water vapour plays an important role in regions of space where interstellar clouds of gas and dust are forming new stars.ESApod video programme

Hubble has been serviced and upgraded four times. The fifth and final tune-up is scheduled for October 2008. After this, it is expected to be in fit working order for another five years. The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), a project of partnership between ESA, NASA and the Canadian Space Agency, is scheduled for launch in 2013. It is the largest and most complex space probe ever built. JWST will observe in infrared wavelengths, providing unprecedented results.ESApod video programme

Thousands of people from the 17 countries that make up ESA responded to this dream of becoming an astronaut, but what are the qualities ESA is looking for?ESApod video programme

For more than 17 years, the joint ESA/NASA mission Ulysses studied the heliosphere (the sphere of influence of the Sun) and our local interstellar neighbourhood, providing the first-ever map of the heliosphere in the four dimensions of space and time. Ulysses was designed to last for five years but it is still returning valuable data. The mission, which takes the spacecraft over the poles of the Sun, was extended four times, allowing Ulysses to pass over the Sun’s poles for a second and third time. But like all good things, the mission is coming to an end.ESApod video programme

The Galileo constellation will be the world's most reliable global navigation system. The technologies that have been developed to achieve such precision will also provide data for use in many other fields, such as oceanography and meteorology. The Galileo system will also open new horizons in fundamental sciences. The extremely small differences in timekeeping between the satellite clocks moving in orbit and their Earth-bound counterparts will lead scientists to a re-evaluation of the nature and influence of gravity in the Universe.ESApod video programme

To land, first, on the Moon and, later, on Mars - in the 2030 timeframe - scientists need a mix of human and robotic missions to know in advance what challenges must be met - to know how humans can survive for years under microgravity, to scout landing zones and to develop precise navigation and artificial intelligence techniques.ESApod video programme

Earlier this week, ESA signed a contract at the Berlin Airshow's Space Pavilion to build the EarthCARE satellite - the Agency's 'Cloud, Aerosol and Radiation' mission. Due for launch in 2013, EarthCARE will gather data to give scientists a better understanding of the interactions between radiation and clouds and aerosols in the atmosphere. Earth Observation is a central pillar in Europe's space activities; EO generates direct benefits for citizens and governments and employs science for a better understanding of our planet.ESApod video programme

Radar sounders aboard ESA's Mars Express and NASA's Mars Reconnaissance orbiters have already detected ice deposits deep underground. Now, after a ten-month journey, NASA's Phoenix lander will continue the search for water. Its objective is to land in a permafrost region near the north pole. Its suite of instruments will scan the atmosphere and a robotic arm will attempt to dig down to an ice-rich layer expected to lie at arm's reach below the surface. But water is not the sole element that could have harboured life on the Red Planet: methane could also establish a link between life on Earth and Mars. Scientists have already found traces of methane in the atmosphere of Mars and are currently trying to work out exactly where the gas is coming from. On Earth, it is well known that the source of methane is mostly life. So, whilst orbiting spacecraft like Mars Express continue to harvest global views, in-situ observations on the martian surface like those of NASA's Phoenix lander and ESA's ExoMars mobile laboratory, due to launch in 2011, remain necessary. The critical entry, descent and landing phase of the Phoenix probe will, at NASA's request, be provided with support from ESA.ESApod video programme

From an exceptionally low orbital altitude, GOCE (Gravity Field and steady-state Ocean Circulation Explorer) will measure global variations in the Earth's gravity field with extreme detail and accuracy. This will result in a unique model of the geoid, which is the surface of equal gravitational potential defined by the gravity field – crucial for deriving accurate measurements of ocean circulation and sea-level change, both of which are affected by climate change. GOCE-derived data is also much needed to understand more about processes occurring inside the Earth and for use in practical applications such as surveying and levelling. GOCE is the first in the series of Earth Explorer missions being developed within ESA's Living Planet Programme. Earth Explorer missions form the science and research element of the Living Planet Programme and focus on the atmosphere, biosphere, hydrosphere, cryosphere and the Earth's interior, with the overall emphasis on learning more about the interactions between these components and the impact that human activity is having on natural Earth processes. The satellite is currently undergoing final preparations at ESA-ESTEC in the Netherlands prior to launch this summer from the Plesetsk Cosmodrome in northern Russia.ESApod video programme

The principle is simple: a satellite-tracking antenna on the roof of the train ensures a permanent link with a telecommunications satellite. The link is then relayed inside the train through wireless access points installed in the ceilings of the carriages. A great technological achievement: a continuous, two-way link between a train travelling at 300 kilometres per hour and a satellite at an altitude of 36 000 kilometres. The technology demonstrator was developed with ESA support by the UK-based company 21Net, an operator specialised in providing Internet access via satellite. A consortium, lead by Nokia Siemens Networks and including 21Net, has now implemented a commercial version of the system on Thalys trains.ESApod video programme

The advantage of using leading edge-technologies from space in other sectors, and vice versa, at the forum 'Innovation from space exploration and technology transfer' taking place 23 April 2008.ESApod video programme

Technology spin-offs from European space programmes presented at the SpaceTransfer08 event in the Innovations Market for Research and Development section at the Hanover trade fair 2008, taking place 21-25 April 2008.ESApod video programme

The second Galileo satellite, GIOVE-B, is equipped with the most accurate clock ever to be flown in space. GIOVE B will be launched from Baikonur on 27 April.ESApod video programme

The European Union and the European Space Agency are taking to implement Galileo and achieve the full deployment of the first civil satellite navigation system.ESApod video programme

GIOVE-B will be a satellite very close to the satellites planned for the operational Galileo system to be deployed by 2013. In particular it will carry a high precision atomic clock which, once on orbit, will be the most accurate clock ever flying in space. With this launch the European Space Agency and the European Commission are consolidating the foundations of Galileo, the first global civil positioning system.ESApod video programme

Jules Verne ATV's laser rendezvous sensor will emit a signal and receive a reflection back from the International Space Station. Engineers at the ATV Control Centre and the astronauts on board ISS will monitor the spacecraft as it approaches for docking, making sure it follows a predefined corridor and that the spacecraft is flying at the right angle. This complex system has back-up layers which will kick in if there are any problems. But should its two redundant chains break down, the ATV has a third, totally independent monitoring and safing unit which can be triggered to order the spacecraft to safely back-off from its target and return to its usual cruise mode.ESApod video programme

On 14 March, ATV successfully demonstrated the crucial Collision Avoidance Manoeuvre, or CAM, in which an automated system successfully took over control of the vessel and moved to a safe location. Now, two more 'Demonstration Days' are scheduled prior to the actual docking. The first, 29 March, will demonstrate that the ATV can automatically calculate its position and manoeuvre with respect to the Station using relative GPS navigation; it will also perform an 'Escape' manoeuvre from the S2 position, some 3500 m behind the ISS. The data from this rehearsal will be analysed by ATV mission managers and NASA and Russian partners before proceeding to a second Demonstration Day, on 31 March. This second dry-run will test close proximity manoeuvring and control, including contingency manoeuvres for both the ATV control centre and the crew aboard the ISS. The ATV will approach first to within 20 metres of the station, retreat, then approach even nearer, to a point only 12 metres from the docking port on the ISS Russian Zvezda module, before again backing off to a safe 100-metre distance. Demo Day 2 will provide ultimate proof that Europe's resupply vessel is absolutely ready for final rendezvous and docking.ESApod video programme

A number of missions have spent time exploring these unknown worlds in the solar system. In January 2005, the European lander, Huygens stunned the world as it landed on Saturn's largest moon, Titan, revealing unexpected data. Missions such as ESA's SMART-1, which compiled the first comprehensive inventory of key chemical elements in the lunar surface and tested new technology, have become increasingly important today. To follow-up on the technological breakthroughs of SMART-1, ESA will be participating in Chandrayaan-1, the Indian space agency's lunar mission, due for launch in 2008.ESApod video programme

Provided by Thales Alenia Space in Italy, Jules Verne ATV’s Integrated Cargo Carrier is about half the volume of ESA’s Columbus laboratory. Around 180 kg of European cargo was first packed in Italy before being transported to Kourou, in French Guiana. Before the cargo was loaded into the spacecraft, the entire pressurised section was disinfected as a sanitary precaution. Some 1200 kg of supplies, mainly from NASA, were stored on board, including 500 kg of food, and 80 kg of clothing and spare parts. Amongst the cargo are also gifts for the ISS crew, including a luxury 19th Century edition of Jules Verne's work 'From the Earth to the Moon', and the winning music playlist from ESA's ATV competition, selected to inspire them and brighten their day. The ATV's tanks were loaded with drinkable water, oxygen, nitrogen and fuel for the Space Station's propulsion system. After further sanitary inspections the hatch was closed, the ATV was purged and filled with pure synthesized air. Once docked with the International Space Station, astronauts will be able to access the cargo section without spacesuits, to unload supplies, to store others, to place waste material to be discarded and even use it as a rest quarters.ESApod video programme

The 48 cubic meter pressurised cargo module gives the ATV a capacity three times greater than existing space freighters. Its racks can be packed with more than 1300 kg of food, clothes, and equipment. Reservoirs can carry several hundred litres of drinking water and gases. Other tanks are loaded with important quantities of propellants. Astronauts will unload the cargo at their leisure, and use it as a storage area. Unwanted items and refuse placed inside will burn up when the vessel re-enters the Earth's atmosphere at the end of its mission. Other ATVs will follow. The five scheduled between now and 2015, will be crucial elements of the ISS, particularly after the last Shuttle flight in 2010. And future versions of the spacecraft are already on the drawing boards. The ATV Programme represents an investment of some 1.3 billion Euros since 1995, to the benefit of European industry. Under the direction of ESA and prime contractor EADS Astrium, engineers throughout the continent have contributed to this new generation spacecraft. Major sub-contractors include Thales Alenia Space (Italy), Astrium (Germany and France), Oerlikon Space (Switzerland), Dutch Space (The Netherlands), with Russian partners providing the advanced docking mechanism.ESApod video programme

From 1998, the International Space Station has required regular visits - to date 58 dockings - of the Shuttles, Soyuz crew, and Progress supply ships. Unmanned - but man-rated – ESA's Automated Transfer Vehicle (ATV) has the unique capability to perform automatic rendezvous in a fully autonomous manner. The rendezvous of ESA's Jules Verne ATV with the ISS uses GPS navigation, star tracker devices, two critical sensors, a telegoniometer and a videometer. After raising its orbit to some 400 kilometres, the ATV will come in sight of the ISS, and from about 30 kilometres distance behind, and 5 kilometres below, it will close in on its target. For any emergency occurring during spacecraft navigation, flight controllers can at anytime call on the ATV independent system and back away from the Space Station. Astronauts on the ISS can also reject the spacecraft in case of anomalies. Their task onboard is ensuring ATV either touches at the right place at the right speed, or doesn’t touch at all. With its unprecedented cargo and re-boost capabilities, ATV will service the Space Station for many years and could become a unique asset after the Shuttle retirement in 2010. Its advanced technologies will no doubt have other uses: for robots to recover old satellites and space debris, to return planetary samples back to Earth, for the remote construction of large space structures, and notably for interplanetary journeys.ESApod video programme

Equipped with its own propulsion and navigation system, the unmanned ATV "space truck" - dubbed 'Jules Verne' - has a sophisticated automatic navigation system. Even though the ATV is an automatic space vehicle, ground control experts from ESA and CNES, the French space agency, will be heavily involved in operations. They are prepared for any contingency, determining the route the spacecraft must take to dock with the ISS and working closely with the other two ISS control centres involved in ATV operations: the Mission Control Centre - Moscow (MCC-M) and the MCC-H, in Houston. At each of these control centres, European, American and Russian engineers coordinate their actions and carry out final manoeuvres with extreme precision.ESApod video programme

Three-quarters of the globe is covered in water and its influence is felt everywhere. It’s not only oceans, rivers and lakes that affect the climate but water in all its forms, such as soil moisture and its evaporation. SMOS, ESA’s water mission, will provide a uniform dataset for understanding better the water cycle, thus helping to forecast climate change and predict extreme weather conditions. Circulating at a low orbit of around 750 km above the Earth, SMOS will be the first satellite to provide us with a global picture of ocean salinity levels. Understanding the salinity and temperature of the seas will help to predict more easily the zones where hurricanes intensify as they pass over the ocean. Salinity in the oceans has a big impact on ocean circulation, which plays a key role in driving the global climate. The SMOS satellite will be launched into space in 2008 atop the Russian launcher ‘Rockot’.ESApod video programme

Before each manoeuvre, the mission control team at ESA's Space Operations Centre simulates all aspects of the upcoming operation and practices identifying and solving problems that could arise. The multinational team must work as one to react immediately and effectively. Once at its target comet in 2014, Rosetta’s lander, Philae, will touch down and study the comet’s surface composition and drill into the icy nucleus to collect and analyse samples, including complex organic material that may have contributed to the formation of life on Earth.ESApod video programme

The European Space Astronomy Centre (ESAC) receives data from deep-space ground stations worldwide. The huge volume of data that comes back to Earth from space has to be calibrated and translated into a format that can be exploited by scientists.ESApod video programme

Radio telescopes must be very large in size to achieve the same resolution as optical telescopes. The only way to do this is by coupling two or more of them, the further apart the better, and to analyse their combined signals. An interferometer is a system which can avoid increased expenses due to the large size of the receiver. It consists of two or more elements of large antennae. By connecting them in a special fashion, it is possible to artificially create a larger telescope. The European hub for what is called Very Long Baseline Interferometry (VLBI) is situated in Dwingeloo in the Netherlands, at the Joint Institute for VLBI in Europe, JIVE.ESApod video programme

The Santa Maria station (SMA) tracking footprint covers a large portion of the Atlantic ocean. The first launch to be tracked from Santa Maria will take place in early 2008, when Jules Verne, the first Automated Transfer Vehicle (ATV) to be sent to the International Space Station, lifts off from Europe's Spaceport in French Guiana on board an Ariane 5 launcher.ESApod video programme

The conference began at 08:30 with breakfast, followed at 09:00 by a press briefing to review the Agency’s activities in 2007 and look ahead to those of 2008, a year set to be full of events and marked by several major launches (ATV, Giove-B, GOCE, Herschel and Planck, SMOS, Vega), as well as a major programmatic milestone for ESA: the Council meeting at Ministerial level in late November.ESApod audio programme

Today, the specialists at the European Space Agency's Research and Technology Centre in the Netherlands are able to confirm that the GIOVE-A mission is a success. This is an essential result for the next step in the programme: the launch of GIOVE-B, the second experimental satellite, scheduled for lift off by mid-2008. This satellite will broadcast the latest signals, which have been agreed with the United States, and two different types of onboard technologies that will provide the best timing synchronisation experienced so far. When complete, Galileo will be a constellation of 30 satellites supported by a network of ground stations, creating a global network. With this joint project, the European Commission and ESA plan a civil system providing guidance and assistance regardless of location. The fact that Galileo will be a civil system means it will guarantee continuity of access and signal quality - unlike the American GPS system, which is under military control. Nevertheless, Galileo and GPS will be compatible and interoperable - increasing the reliability of both systems.ESApod video programme

Harmony, also known as Node 2, was delivered to the International Space Station (ISS) by the STS-120 Shuttle mission last October. After STS-120 returned to Earth, the ISS Expedition 16 crew continued work to move Harmony to its final destination and get it ready to receive the next stage of the ISS: Europe's Columbus laboratory. Columbus has been installed in the cargo bay of Space Shuttle Atlantis, ready for launch at 22:31 CET (21:31 UT) on December 6th. Two European astronauts will deliver the European Columbus laboratory to the ISS on this historical space mission. During his 12 day mission to the ISS, ESA astronaut Hans Schlegel will undertake 2 spacewalks to install the laboratory. His colleague, Léopold Eyharts, will oversee the installation and the start-up of Columbus and its scientific facilities during a two month stay on board the Station. Once in place, the laboratory will begin to bear the fruits of Europe's investment in the International Space Station Programme.ESApod video programme

This project is co-funded by the European Space Agency as part of a programme dedicated to telemedicine. The aim is to test a satellite communication system, the only technology that would remain fully operational in the event of a natural disaster. The exercise demonstrates the efficiency of satellite telecommunications for intervention in the field while offering the possibility to inform the rest of the world about the evolution of the situation. This is a good example of what ESA wants to develop: a truly user-driven system enabling satellites to safely connect the health world.ESApod video programme

Venus Express is the first mission dedicated to the study of the composition and dynamics of the planet’s atmosphere. The European orbiter has identified broad meteorological regimes, all influenced by the gigantic hurricane-like vortices at the poles. From these double-eyed vortices, swirling in the atmosphere, around the planet in just a couple of days, to smoother streams at mid-latitudes and wave-dominated phenomena at lower latitudes - these regimes are, surprisingly, clearly delineated. The spacecraft’s elongated orbit has allowed its instruments, notably the VMC camera and the VIRTIS imaging spectrometer, to obtain long-shot views of the planet’s weather patterns, mosaics showing different types of cloud formation and wind speeds, varying according to altitude and latitude. Venus Express has obtained much information on the composition and physical processes active in the atmosphere, and has been able to measure the loss of molecules, stripped away by the solar wind. Rates of oxygen depletion are still being calculated but some tentative conclusions are being advanced. Venus Express has also probably brought the final answer to the controversy about the presence of lightening. The venusian picture is still far from complete. The European mission which has now been prolonged to the end of 2008, is pursuing its harvest of data, allowing scientists to better understand the precise reasons why, compared to our planet, Venus has become so inhospitable.ESApod video programme

Columbus, with its planned operational lifetime of ten years, is Europe's first laboratory for long-term research in space conditions. Scientific experiments will be performed on board in the weightlessness of orbit. Once in orbit, Columbus will be taken out of the cargo bay by the Shuttle’s robotic arm. The European laboratory will then be moved to the Italian-built Node 2 connector, where it will be permanently fixed to the Station. Each rack inside Columbus is a laboratory in its own right. Experiments in life sciences, physiology and physics can all be carried out within the one structure. These facilities are pre-installed inside Columbus so experiments can start immediately after it arrives at the ISS. Experiments can also be mounted outside Columbus, to examine the effects of exposure to the space environment. Two such experiments will be launched along with the laboratory.ESApod video programme

Schlegel has been preparing for his upcoming mission to deliver Columbus since starting his training as mission specialist with the NASA astronaut class of 1998 at the Johnson Space Center, Houston. All astronauts have to go through this extensive training to prepare for any given situation that might occur during a mission. Following his assignment to the STS-122 Shuttle mission that will deliver the European Columbus laboratory to the International Space Station, recent months have seen a period of even more intensive briefings and further training for Schlegel, for his colleague French ESA astronaut Leopold Eyharts, and his STS-122 crewmates. Returning to space 14 years after his first visit, Schlegel is already wondering if his body will remember microgravity.ESApod video programme