European Space Agency, ESA

Yesterday, the Artemis II crew visited our technical heart in the Netherlands (ESTEC) to meet the teams behind Orion’s European Service Module, which powered their historic journey around the Moon and back. 🌕🚀

Read more 👉 www.esa.int/Science_Exploration/Human_and_Robotic_…

📸 ESA-P. Servent

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1 hour ago | [YT] | 550

European Space Agency, ESA

📸 This was our #WeekInImages 06-10 July 2026.

1️⃣ Centaurus A (MIRI and NIRCam image) ✨
2️⃣ Quasars discovered by Euclid 🌌
3️⃣ Sophie testing E4D's resistance training in space 🧑‍🚀
4️⃣ First light from the Hellenic Fire System 🔥
5️⃣ MTG-I2 is unboxed at Europe’s Spaceport 🛰️
6️⃣ BepiColombo Mercury arrival phase mission control team ✅
7️⃣ Earth from Space: Great Bear Lake, Canada 🌎
8️⃣ AMAT Team at ESA’s ESOC 🙌

Read more 👉 www.esa.int/About_Us/Week_in_images/Week_in_images…

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2 days ago | [YT] | 4,629

European Space Agency, ESA

On its 4th science anniversary, Webb has turned its gaze towards Centaurus A. ✨

Thanks to its high resolution we can now study the galaxy star by star, reconstructing when different events in its history happened.

Read more 👉 www.esa.int/Science_Exploration/Space_Science/Webb…

📸 NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI. Image Processing: A. Pagan (STScI), J. Depasquale (STScI), M. Garcia Marin (ESA Office at STScI), CC BY 4.0 INT

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1 week ago (edited) | [YT] | 8,007

European Space Agency, ESA

📸 This was our #WeekInImages 29 June - 03 July 2026.

1️⃣ A cosmic construction project ✨
2️⃣ FS Tau (Webb NIRCam image) 🌌
3️⃣ XMM-Newton & Chandra revised distance to outer spiral arms ✅
4️⃣ Sentinel-1 shows ground displacement after Venezuela earthquakes 🛰️
5️⃣ Western Iceland – one of the last images from Sentinel-1A 🥹
6️⃣ ECOS console at EAC 🎧
7️⃣ 3D-printed metal: unlocking crew autonomy 🧑‍🚀
8️⃣ Cave cabling 🧑‍🚀
9️⃣ FLEX and Sentinel-3C bound for launch site 🚀
🔟 ESA authorises Airbus to begin Aeolus-2 development 🤝

Read more 👉 www.esa.int/About_Us/Week_in_images/Week_in_images…

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1 week ago | [YT] | 5,265

European Space Agency, ESA

New distance measurements for our galaxy 📏

Our XMM-Newton & NASA's Chandra have measured the distance to three bright explosions echoing through the outer spiral arms of our galaxy.

In doing so, they found the arms to be up to 10% further away than we thought.

Read more 👉 www.esa.int/Science_Exploration/Space_Science/XMM-…

📸 ESA/Gaia/DPAC, Stefan Payne-Wardenaar, ESA/XMM-Newton and NASA/Chandra, CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO

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1 week ago | [YT] | 5,730

European Space Agency, ESA

Would you spend four days underground with zero sunlight? 🤔

Five explorers from three space agencies have successfully completed our CAVES training course in Italy.

For two weeks beneath the Apennine Mountains, caves became their training ground. Living in isolation, confinement and with limited supplies, the team faced challenges that closely mirror those of space missions.

Participants included our astronaut Rosemary Coogan, John McFall from our astronaut reserve and Fly! project, NASA astronaut Tracy Dyson, NASA astronaut candidate Ben Bailey and JAXA astronaut Ayu Yoneda.

This edition also made history: for the first time, two women served as mission commanders. John McFall also took part as part of our Fly! project, helping explore how astronauts with physical disabilities can participate in future space missions.

To prepare for life beyond Earth, sometimes you need to go deep beneath it. 🌍⬇️🚀

Read more 👉 www.esa.int/Science_Exploration/Human_and_Robotic_…

📸 ESA-V. Crobu

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1 week ago | [YT] | 4,082

European Space Agency, ESA

Webb pinpoints millions of stars within the Cigar Galaxy 🌌

65 hours of observation time and Webb's infrared sensitivity enabled the telescope to pierce through the thick dust of the galaxy and reveal approximately 16.5 million individual stars ✨

Join us a journey to galaxy Messier 82 (M82) 👉 youtube.com/shorts/jmfe-Ir7ap8

Read more 👉 esawebb.org/news/weic2612

📸 NASA, ESA, CSA, A. Smercina (STScI), T. Williams (University of Manchester). Image processing: A. Pagan (STScI)

1 week ago | [YT] | 7,180

European Space Agency, ESA

📸 This was our #WeekInImages 22-26 June 2026.

1️⃣ More than 60 million stars ✨
2️⃣ MTG captures Earth at June solstice 🌍
3️⃣ Spectacular austral aurora 💚
4️⃣ Europe feels the heat beneath our feet ♨️
5️⃣ GreenBone, supporting bone health 🧑‍🚀
6️⃣ End of BepiColombo's solar electric propulsion 🥹
7️⃣ Cave training lab 🧑‍🚀
8️⃣ Cropland in the desert 🏜️
9️⃣ The art of hadrons 📸

Read more 👉 www.esa.int/About_Us/Week_in_images/Week_in_images…

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2 weeks ago | [YT] | 5,634

European Space Agency, ESA

Smile reached its science orbit ✅

After 12 engine burns since launch, the spacecraft is now in its final elliptical path, travelling from over 120 000 km above Earth’s North Pole to just over 5000 km above the South Pole to study Earth’s magnetic environment and auroras. The engine performed better than expected, with extra fuel extending its mission potential.

A two‑month commissioning phase is now underway, with instruments being switched on and tested ahead of science operations starting in September 2026.

In the words of Smile’s ESA Project Manager, David Agnolon, “Everyone keeps on Smile-ing!” 😊

Smile journey from launch to orbit 👉 https://youtu.be/cLnV9Ae8aGY

Read more 👉 www.esa.int/ESA_Multimedia/Images/2026/06/Smile_re…

2 weeks ago | [YT] | 8,430

European Space Agency, ESA

More than 60 million stars in one image ✨

This is the largest high-resolution photo ever made of our Milky Way galaxy’s centre in visible light. It was taken on 23 March 2025 by our Euclid space telescope. Packed with more than 60 million stars, this image opens the door for scientists to confirm the existence of any exoplanet found in this region and measure its mass using tiny changes in starlight over time.

The galactic bulge – the central region of our galaxy – is a vast, tightly packed structure filled mainly with old, cooler stars, giving it its characteristic yellow colour. (Image 4️⃣)

Seen from some 26 000 light-years away, Euclid observes the galaxy’s centre through a complex foreground of material along its line of sight.

This ultra-wide view towards the bulge reveals not only stars, but also seemingly empty dark regions. (Image 5️⃣) The dark patches are not devoid of stars: they mark dense, dust-rich molecular clouds that absorb and scatter light from the bulge behind them. As Euclid looks through two of the Milky Way’s spiral arms, it also encounters regions of active star formation, traced by newly formed, massive blue stars. (Image 6️⃣) Their intense ultraviolet radiation ionises surrounding hydrogen gas, producing the faint red glow. (Image 7️⃣)

Journey with us to explore this image 👉 https://youtu.be/2DtFRq1cgcc

Read more 👉 www.esa.int/Science_Exploration/Space_Science/Eucl…

Explore the image on ESA Sky 👉 sky.esa.int/esasky/?target=268.42%20-29.08&hips=Ga…

📸 ESA/Euclid/Euclid Consortium/NASA, CFHT, image processing by J.-C. Cuillandre and E. Bertin (CEA Paris-Saclay)

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2 weeks ago | [YT] | 8,830