55
votes
Accepted
Has any space agency saved Earth from a major calamity any time?
More fundamental, and a question if it counts as a 'space agency' act being NOAA led but weather satellites not only reduced the fatalities associated with weather data collection but increased the ...
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45
votes
Has any space agency saved Earth from a major calamity any time?
Ozone depletion was hypothesized and first measured without the means of satellites according to the wikipedia article. However, satellite data was apparently very helpful in showing the scope/size ...
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40
votes
Has any space agency saved Earth from a major calamity any time?
Has any space agency saved Earth from a major calamity at anytime?
There are historians who believe that the US–Soviet and US–Russian collaboration, for example in the Apollo–Soyuz Test Project, the ...
- 19.9k
31
votes
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Is 678 km the new altitude record for a rocket shot "straight up" (vertical launch)?
New Horizons went into Earth parking orbit first, so it doesn't count.
For a suborbital direct ascent trajectory, some early lunar probes (USSR's Luna-1 for example) would hold this record. Otherwise, ...
22
votes
Why is JWST Launching from French Guiana?
The Ariane 5 launch vehicle and all the work associated with the launch is ESA's contribution to the JWST project. In return, ESA gets at least 15% observation time:
ESA's participation in the JWST ...
- 14.5k
20
votes
How will the UK leaving the EU affect ESA?
The EU and ESA are not related. They have different member states, where neither is a subset of the other. The only potential issue is simply economic. If the British exit from the EU results in a ...
- 58.3k
18
votes
Why are Europe’s Air & Space Academy and DLR urging ESA and CNES to reconsider the use of solid fuels for the proposed Ariane 6?
This is a pretty interesting question in retrospect now.
When it was asked in 2013, booster re-usablity was just a gleam in SpaceX's eye. The first Falcon 9 attempt to land a booster wasn't until ...
- 1,254
17
votes
Has any space agency saved Earth from a major calamity any time?
As yet, no space agency has blasted anything that may have posed a hazard to Earth. One of the issues with blasting such hazards is the numerous fragments of the blasted object may pose a greater risk ...
- 13.1k
17
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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.
Not yet.
However, later this year (between 26 September 2022 and 2 October 2022), NASA's ...
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17
votes
Accepted
Why does JWST make images of planets from solar system?
Quite simple: JWST is capable of making images with much better resolution in a different spectrum.
Land based telescopes cannot make such clear images due to the atmosphere being in the way. ...
- 1,144
16
votes
Is 678 km the new altitude record for a rocket shot "straight up" (vertical launch)?
Not sure if this counts, but New Horizons was launched directly into an escape trajectory and did not enter orbit. It made it to Pluto and beyond. From Wikipedia:
New Horizons was launched from ...
- 1,174
12
votes
Accepted
What is the large circular device with a dozen concentric circles on Sentinel 3B?
It appears to match the "X band antenna" on this diagram: (Taken from https://directory.eoportal.org/web/eoportal/satellite-missions/c-missions/copernicus-sentinel-3 -- But they credit ESA for that ...
- 6,417
12
votes
Accepted
Why has ESA never flown a crewed spacecraft?
From 1985 to 1992, ESA worked on a human space program, using the Hermes spaceplane (to be launched by the Ariane 5 then in development). This program was cancelled due to rising cost and the loss of ...
- 128k
12
votes
Accepted
Why is the Heat Shield of ESA's Solar Orbiter Black in colour?
Apparently, black was chosen despite its thermal properties. This 2005 paper was written at the end of the assessment phase where technical feasibility of the mission has been demonstrated.
It shows ...
- 128k
11
votes
Accepted
If the ESA has its own deep space network, why does it use NASA's?
The DSN is used alongside ESTRACK. For Rosetta, for example:
NASA’s DSN network has provided continuing, routine support to the Rosetta mission since the start of the mission (see “Tracking the ...
- 128k
10
votes
Accepted
Possible places for a launch complex in UK and continental Europe
The Baltic Sea is far too crowded to make it the range area. At any point of time you can see at least several ships within view distance.
For the same reason, while it might seem like the isle of ...
- 55.3k
10
votes
Accepted
After SLS, what is the next rocket building project for NASA?
As a general rule, NASA tries to stay out of the launch business and focus on the science business. SLS is a weird holdover partially imposed upon NASA by Congress.
Companies like Rocket Lab, SpaceX, ...
- 19.9k
9
votes
How will the UK leaving the EU affect ESA?
The effect should be small, but possibly non-zero. There currently exists growing cooperation between EU and ESA.
Within the EU-ESA membership agreement, one of the noted obstacles is the membership ...
- 11.8k
9
votes
What is the large circular device with a dozen concentric circles on Sentinel 3B?
After reading @ Saiboogu's answer explaining what this is, I found some additional helpful information.
This is an isoflux antenna, designed to provide an approximately constant flux of broadcast ...
- 149k
9
votes
Accepted
Is it justified that ESA is pushing to launch Rosalind Franklin even after Schiaparelli landing failed?
Schiaparelli was a test mission. During its descent, it recorded and sent lots of data which was analyzed and gave ESA the information it needed to proceed with the Rosalind Franklin mission.
- 128k
9
votes
Why is JWST Launching from French Guiana?
It turns out that there is only one currently operating rocket that has the width (5.4 meters), length, and the payload capacity (6200 kg to a C3 of ~ -0.75).
Atlas V 551 is very close, it has the ...
- 122k
9
votes
What is the current status of ESA/Roscosmos cooperation with regard to the ExoMars Orbiter?
A March 17, 2022 statement by ESA, has declared the suspension of ExoMars.
ExoMars
ESA’s ruling Council, meeting in Paris on 16-17 March, assessed the situation arising from the war in Ukraine ...
- 13.1k
9
votes
Accepted
Why was JWST cancelled in 2011?
In the United Sates when big projects are slipping and way over budget, there are points in the process where the government has to decide if the project should continue. In 2011 JWST reached one of ...
- 834
8
votes
Accepted
Why does ExoMars need stereo ground-penetrating radar "eyes"?
A single basic radar antenna can't tell you much. The most basic radar setup involves a fixed sending and receiving antenna and some software and drivers. Modern radar then uses a frequency ramp up or ...
- 20.8k
8
votes
Accepted
Was solar newbie Solar Orbiter able to get "closer" to the Sun than Parker Solar Probe so quickly?
Other spacecraft have been closer, but none have carried Sun-facing imagers.
Source: The link you provided
("Other spacecraft" is linked to an article about Parker Solar Probe)
Q: Or did ...
- 3,326
8
votes
Accepted
Is the ESA's DELTA Stochastic?
I think the question in your title and the question posed in your body might have different answers.
DELTA itself contains a stochastic process for collision prediction (see page 2) and so is ...
- 13.6k
7
votes
Accepted
Help understanding BepiColombo's weak capture at Mercury's L1 and need for delta-differential one-way range measurements
"Weak capture" means that the spacecraft will enter the Mercury's gravitational sphere of influence along a weak stability boundary. These weak stability boundaries are one of the key mathematical ...
- 75.5k
7
votes
Accepted
What are the bumps on the Vega rocket
Closer view:
(Cropped from here)
They are retro-rockets used in the stage separation system.
Source
A CFD image of the thrusters firing:
Source
- 187k
7
votes
Accepted
What exactly is an F-mission?
It is a “Fast Mission” opportunity. These are missions that address an opportunity in the near future that would possibly be missed with the normal mission development timeline.
Historically, ESA ...
- 14.5k
7
votes
Fancy locomotion for rovers
The question is exploratory in nature and seems to allow for some degree of flexibility, so I will pick and choose words and address:
fancy locomotion for rovers
and
How close do already launched ...
- 149k
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