Oxygen and carbon discovered

The well-known extrasolar planet HD 209458b, provisionally nicknamed ‘Osiris’, has surprised astronomers again. Oxygen and carbon…

Getting together in deep space

The Rosetta space probe’s long trek to Comet 67/P Churyumov-Gerasimenko The countdown to Rosetta’s rendezvous in…

X-ray shout echoing through space

ESA’s X-ray observatory, XMM-Newton, has imaged a spectacular set of rings which appear to expand, with…

Artificial island arises off Dubai

The rapidly changing face of Dubai in the United Arab Emirates is portrayed by contrasting Synthetic…

Envisat completes 10k orbits

Around 7pm CET on 28 January 2004, ESA’s Envisat spacecraft completed its ten thousandth orbit of…

Successful Progress launch

Successful Progress launch paves the way for further scientific utilisation of the Inter-national Space Station by…

Rosetta ­to help solve planetary mysteries

Rosetta is scheduled to be launched on board an Ariane-5 rocket on 26 February from Kourou,…

Mars Express sees its first possible water

Mars Express, ESA’s first mission to Mars, will reach its final orbit on 28 January. It…

Europe’s eye on Mars

ESA’s Mars Express, successfully inserted into orbit around Mars on 25 December 2003, is about to…

Getting closer to the Lord of the Rings

This time next year, ESA’s Huygens spaceprobe will be descending through the atmosphere of Saturn’s largest…