ESA

Blog about ESA activities.

The Smile satellite blasting off atop a Vega-C rocket (Photo ESA-S. Corvaja - ESA Standard License)

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A few hours ago, the Smile satellite was launched from the Kourou Spaceport in French Guiana atop a Vega-C rocket. After about 56 minutes, the Smile satellite separated from the rocket’s last stage and began maneuvers that are scheduled to last approximately 25 days. Eleven burns of the spacecraft’s engines will lengthen its orbit, initially circular at an altitude of approximately 700 kilometers, to approximately 121,000 kilometers above the North Pole and approximately 5,000 kilometers above the South Pole.

On the left, a combination of photos of the planetary nebula NGC 6543 obtained by the Euclid and Hubble space telescopes with a detail from a photo obtained by Hubble on the right.

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The planetary nebula NGC 6543, also known with the nickname Cat’s Eye, is the protagonist of the Hubble Space Telescope’s photo of the month. However, for this occasion, a juxtaposition was created between an image captured by Hubble and one captured by ESA’s Euclid Space Telescope. These two instruments can both capture wavelengths in the near-infrared and visible light, but Euclid specializes in deep-field surveys. For this reason, it portrayed NGC 6543 as part of a large region of space. The combination of the two telescopes offers greater detail on a planetary nebula that has been studied for over two centuries.

Views of the Crew Dragon Freedom spacecraft docking with the International Space Station in its Crew-12 mission (Image NASA+)

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A few hours ago, SpaceX’s Crew Dragon Freedom spacecraft docked with the Harmony module of the International Space Station, completing the first part of its Crew-12 or SpaceX Crew-12 mission that began with its launch about 34 hours earlier. After checking that the pressure gets properly balanced, the hatch will be opened to allow Andrey Fedyaev, Jack Hathaway, Jessica Meir, and Sophie Adenot to enter the Station and start their mission.

The Crew-12 mission crew: Andrey Fedyaev, Jack Hathaway, Jessica Meir, and Sophie Adenot.

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A little while ago, SpaceX’s Crew Dragon Freedom spacecraft blasted off atop a Falcon 9 rocket from the Kennedy Space Center in its Crew-12 or SpaceX Crew-12 mission. After almost exactly ten minutes, it successfully separated from the rocket’s last stage and went en route to carry out its mission. This is the 12th crewed mission of the Crew Dragon spacecraft within the normal rotation of the International Space Station crew.

The Sentinel-6B satellite blasting off atop a Falcon 9 rocket (Image courtesy SpaceX)

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A few hours ago, the Sentinel-6B satellite was launched atop a Falcon 9 rocket from the Vandenberg base. After about 57 minutes, it successfully separated from the rocket’s last stage and set off on its course to reach the polar orbit at 1,336 kilometers altitude where its scientific mission will begin, taking over from the Sentinel-6A Michael Freilich satellite, which was launched on November 21, 2020.