Questions tagged [esa]
Questions related to structure, operations, missions, and facilities of the European Space Agency, an intergovernmental organization of 20 European states and Canada.
86
questions
5
votes
2
answers
1k
views
After SLS, what is the next rocket building project for NASA?
I know that ESA is working on a new reusable first stage booster.
Does NASA have similar plans?
- 211
3
votes
1
answer
427
views
ESA: Does the ESA initiate the development of necessary new technologies if it is necessary? Does the ESA create new space missions?
I tried to do some research but I couldn’t find any definitive answer to this: Does the ESA initiate the development of necessary new technologies if it is necessary? And does the ESA create new space ...
- 403
1
vote
0
answers
38
views
Equivalents to DISCOS from other agencies
I'm working on a research paper where the primary data source is going to be the DISCOSweb API.
This API/Dataset provides a wealth of information on manmade object in orbit (debris, payloads, spent ...
- 410
5
votes
1
answer
172
views
Why use a fetch copter instead of a fetch rover?
Since the success of helicopter Ingenuity, the ESA rover for fetching samples was cancelled in favor of a helicopter. Why was that? What are the advantages.
user49774
6
votes
1
answer
2k
views
Why does JWST make images of planets from solar system?
NASA has already made images of planets from the solar system
before. So why is NASA/ESA making images of planets from the solar system
by using the JWST instead of exploring unseen parts of universe?...
- 451
2
votes
1
answer
761
views
Why was JWST cancelled in 2011?
I saw this table in this section:
In the third column from the bottom, it says "Proposed cancel":
Why so?
- 451
29
votes
6
answers
9k
views
Has any space agency saved Earth from a major calamity any time?
Like diverting meteor path away from Earth, or blasting giant asteroid which was expected to impact Earth, etc.
Has any space agency saved Earth from a major calamity at any time?
- 401
7
votes
1
answer
592
views
What is the current status of ESA/Roscosmos cooperation with regard to the ExoMars Orbiter?
The ExoMars is a cooperative project between ESA and Roscosmos. The second part of ExoMars, the Rosalind Franklin rover, is on hold as a result of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. However an earlier ...
- 2,409
3
votes
0
answers
68
views
Will JWST be handed over from Arianespace/ESA/CNES to NASA at some point the way Cape Canaveral handed over missions to Houston?
Will JWST be handed over from Arianespace/ESA/CNES to NASA at some point the way Cape Canaveral handed over missions to Houston?
JWST has its own propulsion and communication system. Presumably the ...
- 149k
17
votes
2
answers
3k
views
Why is JWST Launching from French Guiana?
Is the launch from the ESA spaceport because of agreement or an orbital insertion advantage from that facility?
- 171
4
votes
1
answer
94
views
Where to get raw data for ESA graphs
The European Space Agency maintains the MASTER space debris model and has multiple papers published on the topic.
There is a graph that I have seen in a few papers and on a few websites that I would ...
- 410
8
votes
2
answers
293
views
Fancy locomotion for rovers
For its upcoming ExoMars mission, ESA's rover "Rosalind Franklin" can use its wheels like legs in an insect-like gait, to walk out of deep sand that it can't drive out of.
A brief video ...
- 11.2k
6
votes
1
answer
168
views
How did Venus Express' periapsis decay so quickly?
ESA's Venus Express ran out of propellant in late 2014 and has probably decayed out of orbit since then.
A timeline of events from my research for my answer to Are there currently any spacecraft in ...
- 9,445
4
votes
1
answer
148
views
Who is currently an authority on (at least coordinating) space orbits?
Coming from the Internet world, we have ICANN and IANA, a "traffic manager" which makes sure that the internet doesn't break by accident, by allocating resources (like IP ranges and top-...
- 187
3
votes
1
answer
115
views
Is there any significant difference between NASA and EU technology readiness levels?
The wikipedia article for technology readiness levels lists the NASA and European Union definitions. I've put these into a table:
Level
NASA
EU
1
Basic principles observed and reported
Basic ...
- 47.3k
1
vote
1
answer
226
views
What are, and what has been learned from making plasma crystals in space? Is a tl;dr-like answer possible?
The two articles below describe a set of plasma crystal experiments scheduled for 2019 aboard the ISS in cooperation with German and Russian scientists on the ground. These were not the first but ...
- 149k
2
votes
0
answers
93
views
Do sounding rockets need a license to be launched?
I am just curious to know if any kind of license is needed to launch a sounding rocket? If yes, then what kind of licenses are there for sounding rocket launches.
12
votes
2
answers
419
views
Can ESA control the two Voyager spacecraft?
This is such a dumb question. There are many space organizations. Let's take ESA for this case. Given the two Voyager spacecraft are transmitting a weak radio signal to the Earth, can ESA command and ...
- 1,485
5
votes
0
answers
229
views
Did the EU successfully ban hydrazine? What about French Guiana?
Hobbes' answer to Is the EU really banning “toxic propellants” in 2020? How is that going to work? includes
Yes, the EU is aiming to end the use of hydrazine by ~2020. This has been in motion since ...
- 149k
0
votes
0
answers
70
views
Is a PhD in space-related technology from a Physics background possible?
I am 24 years old, from Argentina. Next year I will finish my 6-year degree in physics from the University of Buenos Aires (We've been told that it is equivalent to a master's degree, but maybe is ...
6
votes
1
answer
254
views
Why did ESA retire the Automated Transfer Vehicle, instead of developing it into a crewed spacecraft?
The Automated Transfer Vehicle (ATV) was a cargo spacecraft for the ISS developed by ESA, analoguous to the Russian Progress and America's Cargo Dragon. It had three times the Progress' capacity and ...
- 623
3
votes
1
answer
107
views
How are operational procedures developed?
In anticipation of the upcoming Ingenuity flight, I have found myself wondering how procedures are developed by spacecraft operators.
How is a go/no go procedure created? How does the team create a ...
- 131
2
votes
1
answer
105
views
Help understanding vectors in diagram from "Magnetohydrodynamic flow control during reentry" and the actual goal of this research
A link to the ESA Advanced Concepts Team page Magnetohydrodynamic flow control during reentry was recently shared under Re-entry Heat Shield Alternative. It says:
During the reentry phase, spacecraft ...
- 149k
4
votes
0
answers
91
views
Why does ESA's TGO satellite not permanently serve as relay for Perseverance?
This question is about the orbital parameters of ESA's ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter (TGO), so I am optimisitic that it belongs on astronomy SE. More specifically, it is about the orbital geometry of TGO ...
- 215
2
votes
0
answers
87
views
How do all the struts and crosses in the Orion Crew Capsule Service Module work together? What do each of these parts do?
The BBC's Europe to make more hardware for American Moon missions says that three more service modules for the Orion Crew Capsule have been ordered by NASA, bringing the total desired to six.
I ...
- 149k
2
votes
1
answer
255
views
Will surface samples from Mars orbit the planet in a spherical capsule until captured?
The abstract of the interesting 2001 NASA JPL paper Covering a Sphere with Retroreflectors says:
Abstract- One of the future missions for Mars involves returning a soil sample from the Martian ...
- 149k
4
votes
2
answers
610
views
Was solar newbie Solar Orbiter able to get "closer" to the Sun than Parker Solar Probe so quickly?
The NASA News headline ESA/NASA's Solar Orbiter Returns First Data, Snaps Closest Pictures of the Sun caught my eye because Solar Orbiter (2020-010A) was launched just five months ago whereas Parker ...
- 149k
7
votes
1
answer
401
views
What kind of rocket will ESA(?) launch from Mars? Who will build it?
The NASA-credited images below are from the BBC News article Europe pushes ahead with 'dune buggy' Mars rover which explains that it will drive around quickly on it's big 70 cm wheels (see article for ...
- 149k
5
votes
0
answers
116
views
Is there an European Space Agency's innovative advanced concept program? (a NIAC equivalent?)
I would like to know if there's an equivalent to NASA's NIAC at ESA. If that's the case, I would like to know if I can read some of these concept studies and what stages of approval they need.
- 2,361
6
votes
0
answers
1k
views
Why is the RTEMS Real-Time Operating System often used in European space industry?
I was wondering recently about RTEMS. Why is this Real-Time Operating System (RTOS) widely use in the European space industry among other suitable alternatives like freeRTOS or VxWorks?
Is this RTOS ...
- 169
4
votes
0
answers
122
views
Is this digitally created ESA image of a Mars landscape incorrect to what the human eye would see?
This ESA image below of Noctis Labyrithus was created with data obtained from the High-Resolution Stereo Camera (HRSC), onboard ESA’s Mars Express, seems to depict a time near either sunrise or sunset....
- 6,837
3
votes
1
answer
174
views
Will Optical communications be possible between Columbus' Ka-band (COLKa) Terminal at the ISS and EDRS?
The BBC's British radio antenna to arrive at space station says:
The new fridge-sized terminal will route video, voice and data to the ground through satellites that are actually higher in the sky ...
- 149k
2
votes
2
answers
136
views
Why did ESA's Solar Orbiter mission's target inclination drop from 34 to 25°?
Wikipedia says that:
During the planned 7-year mission the orbital inclination will be raised to about 25°
But the information below shows that originally the target final inclination was much ...
- 149k
3
votes
1
answer
367
views
Why is ESA developing the Vinci engine rather than buying RL10Bs?
The Vinci engine seems very very similar to the RL10B. Both are hydrolox expander-cycle engines with 465 s Isp and extendible nozzles with a ~250:1 expansion ratio. The biggest difference is that the ...
- 10.3k
1
vote
0
answers
93
views
What terminology is used to describe spacecraft in stationkeeping?
Forgive any inaccurate wording of this question.
If a Soyuz craft which had been docked at the Zvezda module backed away from the ISS and remained at stationkeeping, would NASA, Roscosmos, or the ESA ...
- 6,837
0
votes
1
answer
72
views
Will CHEOPS use DSN or ESA ground stations, or both?
The new ESA video Cheops: Europe's exoplanet mission shows an animation of the space telescope communicating with a ground station somewhere in central Spain. The Deep Space Network indeed has a ...
- 149k
7
votes
1
answer
810
views
Why is the Heat Shield of ESA's Solar Orbiter Black in colour?
Solar Orbiter (SolO) is a planned Sun-observing satellite, under development by the European Space Agency (ESA). Due to its proximity to the Sun, it receives about 13 times more solar energy than we ...
- 3,156
1
vote
1
answer
519
views
What exactly is an F-mission?
This @CometInterceptor tweet shows the mission's insignia.
The complete wording on the patch is as follows:
COMET INTERCEPTOR
F-mission
Question: What exactly is an F-mission?
See also:
Comet ...
- 149k
8
votes
1
answer
132
views
ESA's contribution to ISS: what has succeeded the ATV?
ESA's ATV cargo spacecraft was built and flown as part of ESA's contribution to the ISS operating cost. This program has ended.
What has replaced it? Has ESA's financial contribution increased, or ...
- 123k
4
votes
1
answer
302
views
Is vertical assembly worth the cost (Ariane 6)
Very recently, ESA released a new video showing the proposed Ariane 6 rocket being assembled. This mostly takes place in a large 'moveable gantry' building where the payload is placed on top of the ...
- 16.2k
6
votes
2
answers
385
views
What are the bumps on the Vega rocket
In the image below, we see some bumps at the conical section of what I believe is the transition from the first to the second stage.
What function do they serve?
Image credit: Wikimedia Commons
- 966
5
votes
1
answer
323
views
Where did the Herschel Space Telescope go in 2013?
The Herschel space telescope wins as largest optical telescope mirror in space when "optical" includes far infrared (~55 µm). The Wikipedia article Herschel Space Observatory lists the orbit ...
- 149k
8
votes
1
answer
744
views
If the ESA has its own deep space network, why does it use NASA's?
The European Space Agency has its own network for communicating for spacecraft in deep space, ESTRACK. It has stations distributed around the globe:
Nonetheless, several ESA missions use NASA's Deep ...
- 47.3k
7
votes
0
answers
161
views
How does European jurisdiction in the ISS works?
This answer notes that participant nations have jurisdiction over their modules. So in a US module, you are in US jurisdiction, etc.
Which means that in an European module, you are in European ...
- 769
1
vote
1
answer
74
views
Why can Cryosat's dual antenna "better discern steep slopes" of Antarctic ice than Sentinel-3?
The BBC's Climate change: Satellite fix safeguards Antarctic data explains that earlier problems of missing data near the coasts have been addressed, and though scientists are hopeful, there is ...
- 149k
2
votes
1
answer
146
views
Is it justified that ESA is pushing to launch Rosalind Franklin even after Schiaparelli landing failed? [closed]
As far as I am aware, ESA has not achieved a successful martian landing yet. Why is it still a good idea to try with full-scale rover, weighting more than Opportunity and Spirit (though less than ...
5
votes
1
answer
150
views
Why does ExoMars have more landing ellipse flexibility in 2020 than in 2018?
The BBC's ExoMars: Where to send Europe's robot rover? discusses the decision-making faced by the ExoMars Site Selection Working Group.
The working group will spend Thursday and Friday discussing ...
- 149k
4
votes
1
answer
144
views
Help understanding BepiColombo's weak capture at Mercury's L1 and need for delta-differential one-way range measurements
This four-minute BBC podcast Mission to Mercury: BepiColombo spacecraft ready for launch highlights several challenges of the BepiColombo mission, including its orbital-mechanical aspects and is worth ...
- 149k
3
votes
1
answer
123
views
How can we see RemoveDebris capturing a satellite with a net?
The BBC's RemoveDebris: UK satellite nets 'space junk' says:
The aptly named RemoveDebris satellite took a video of its net experiment.
The short sequence shows a small, shoebox-sized object tumbling ...
- 149k
1
vote
1
answer
116
views
How does the contest for naming ExoMars work?
ESA is holding a contest to collect suggestions for a proper name for what is currently referred to as the ExoMars rover mission to Mars (mission page).
Apparently, Rovy McRoverface and Marsy ...
- 149k