Blog

Seventeen years ago today, on January 14, 2005, NASA’s Cassini spacecraft carrying the European Huygens probe descended to Titan’s surface. Cassini-Huygens went on a seven-year journey to the astounding worlds of Saturn and its family of icy moons. But how did the Cassini-Huygens mission come to life? In this blog post, we introduce you to some historical aspects of the mission.

After more than twenty years in the making, the James Webb Space Telescope is finally prepared for launch. Named after a NASA director during the Apollo era in the 1960s, the telescope will add to our knowledge of the early Universe, tell us more about how galaxies form and evolve, and look for signs of life outside our Solar System.

After eight successful years with the ESSC, Dr Dominique Langevin will be stepping down as the ESSC Life and Physical Sciences Panel chair. In this blog, we share stories from her scientific career working with major European organisations and the International Space Station (ISS).

Robert F. Wimmer-Schweingruber, ESSC Solar System and Exploration Panel member, received the International Cooperation Zhongguancun Award 2020 for his research on lunar radiation contribution to the Chinese mission to the Moon, Chang‘E 4.

Chris Rapley, ESSC chair and Professor of Climate Science at University College London discusses the future path of Polar Satellite Altimetry and the ESA CryoSat mission.

We interviewed Hermann Opgenoorth, Solar System and Exploration Panel Chair at the European Space Science Committee to discuss space weather impacts on Earth and European efforts to protect our ‘Pale Blue Dot’.