Rosetta, the space probe of the European Space Agency (ESA), has more than fulfilled its mission in the Lutetia asteroid, located between Mars and Jupiter. This was not its final destination, but a stopover on his way to the comet 67P/Churyumov/Gerasimenko, which it is scheduled to come into contact with in May, 2014. The Rosetta represents one of the most ambitious science missions of the ESA.

ALICIA RIVERA | JULY 23, 2010

Recently, there have been a peppering of stories in the press about manned mission to Mars if, that is, we pay attention to the announcements of space agencies. But they are make-believe, simulated experiments on Earth, and the plans and statements of space officials are just that, statements of intent. There is still an absence of what is actually needed in order to launch interplanetary journeys within a reasonable timeframe: a lot of money, a political commitment and an ambitious and well-articulated plan.

Alicia Rivera | June 15, 2010

Two Europeans, three Russians and a Chinese will compose the crew of the Mars500 mission, which, while not leaving Earth, will assess the physical and psychological needs of an actual trip to the 'red planet.'

Staff | 12 may 2010

From its orbit around our planet, the Herschel Space Observatory peers into distant galaxies where new stars are forming, giving scientists new data about the process of stellar growth.

A. R. | May 7, 2010

Renting a taxi, or buying a ticket for boarding an airplane, is something that surprises no one. In short, it is very likely to happen with the manned spaceflights of NASA. The space agency is undergoing difficult times. Therefore, to use private companies for its manned missions is by no means ruled out. If so, it's as if NASA astronauts would travel in taxis.

Alicia Rivera | 9 March 2010

'Satellite Images' is an area of the website of the European Space Agency that lets you view satellite images of any point on Earth.

Section of the website of the European Space Agency that collects all the multimedia material of the portal. It contains pictures, videos, animations, screensavers and wallpapers.

The mission of the European Space Agency (ESA) Rosetta has obtained the first images of asteroid 2867 Steins. Pictures taken by both cameras of the OSIRIS instrument show that the asteroid has an unusual diamond-shape, with an effective diameter of 5.3 kilometres and a large crater near the south pole of the asteroid of 2.1 km in diameter. The study is published in the journal Science.

Staff | 8 January 2010

There are made expressions, created by someone clever and then repeated a thousand times, appearing over and over again in the texts that disseminate a scientific fact.

16 November 2009

Mónica Salomone, Madrid

The 2nd of November, at three o'clock in the morning the satellite SMOS (Soil Moisture and Ocean Salinity) was launched into orbit from the space station of Plesetsk, in the north of Russia.

17 November 2009

Ignacio Corbella, Earth and Space

Is the water cycle on Earth accelerating? Is climate change increasing the rhythm of evaporation and, therefore, water circulates at a faster speed?” This was the question posed by oceanographer Jordi Font just a few hours prior to the launch of the European Space Agency´s (ESA) new satellite, the Soil Moisture and Ocean Salinity (SMOS). This new instrument orbits the planet since November, collecting information to answer these questions.

Mónica Salomone | 5 November 2009

ESA's SMOS (Soil Moisture and Ocean Salinity) and Proba-2 (PRoject for OnBoard Autonomy) satellites are scheduled for launching on Monday 2 November.

A.R. | 29 october 2009

The group of Radiometry group from the of UPC will control the functioning of the MIRAS radiometer within the SMOS mission (Soil Moisture and Ocean Salinity) that the European Space Agency (ESA) will launch in the early morning of November 2, aboard the Russian rocket Rockot.

29 october 2009

NASA scientists have developed a complete map of the galaxy that houses the solar system with pictures produced by the probe 'Interstellar Boundary Explorer' (IBEX). The drawing will allow researchers to determine its exact position in the galaxy, and change the view and the scientific study of the interaction between the galaxy and the sun.

A.R. | 16 october 2009

"Entangled photon source for quantum communications" (EQUO) is the title of a new project that ICFO will lead in partnership with the company Qutools GmbH, the LMU/Max Planck Institute (Munich), the University of Bristol and the University of Vienna. The project is coordinated by Prof. Valerio Pruneri. Other ICFO groups involved in the project are the groups led by Prof. Morgan Mitchell and Prof. Juan P. Torres. The initiative is part of the ESA Technological Research Transfer (TRT) program.