@esascience

Keeping you posted on space science activities from the European Space Agency. Web: https://xitter.cf/t.co/urPDXGSEsQ Privacy Notice: https://xitter.cf/t.co/qxicLKTeFC

 All over the Universe!
esa.int/science
Joined January 2010
  • Tweets15.9K
  • Following409
  • Followers418K
5.6KMedia
On 9 December, two little explorers, Bepi and Mio, will part ways as they approach their final destination after a journey that started 8️⃣ years ago today 🥹 Send them a #WelcomeToMercury message to cheer them up at this bitter sweet moment. Enter our @BepiColombo competition here 👉 esa.int/WelcomeToMercury
3
38
4
149
5,532
And as today we're celebrating eight years since @BepiColombo left for Mercury, we've asked the team to describe the mission in three words. Can you guess which word came up the most? youtube.com/watch?v=iy5dI11q…

Celebrating BepiColombo, three words at a time

BepiColombo launched on 20 October 2018. This year, the anniversary...

youtube.com
2
3
1
24
5,895
Next stop: Phobos & Deimos 🌑 MMX has successfully launched from Tanegashima, Japan. Its mission is to observe Mars’s mysterious moons, collect a sample from Phobos's surface and return it to Earth. 👉 esa.int/ESA_Multimedia/Image… @JAXA_en @NASA @CNES DLR @ESA
10
58
11
269
19,021
A prolific decade in Mars orbit. @esa’s Trace Gas Orbiter slipped into orbit around Mars at 17:24 CEST on 19 October 2016. Here are some impressive facts and figures about our largest Mars explorer 👇
Infographic with facts and figures about ESA's largest Mars explorer, the ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter.

ALT Infographic with facts and figures about ESA's largest Mars explorer, the ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter.

1
24
5
106
11,859
. @ESA_Euclid discovers its first comet ☄️ That's quite impressive for a #DarkUniverse detective 🕵️ meant to take deep, steady images of distant galaxies, not fast-moving tiny objects. Discover more about the comet 👉 esa.int/Science_Exploration/…
11
78
17
307
24,436
Bepi and Mio are almost at Mercury, and they would love to hear from you 💌 Send them a #WelcomeToMercury message for a chance to win a trip to ESA's mission control in Darmstadt, Germany, this December. Wish them well 👉 esa.int/WelcomeToMercury 🫶 @BepiColombo
1
38
3
131
6,238
Fly over Africa with Juice 🧃 Destined for Jupiter, @ESA's Juice mission recently flew past Earth. Along the way, it pointed its science camera towards Africa 🌍 Curious what it saw? Explore this huge image strip here 👉esa.int/ESA_Multimedia/Image…

Fly over Africa with Juice

Fly over Africa with Juice

esa.int
6
26
6
109
13,276
On 9 December, @BepiColombo officially arrives at Mercury and you can join us 🙌 Enter our #WelcomeToMercury competition and you could win a trip to ESA in Darmstadt, Germany, where we will receive the signal from Bepi and Mio separating. All details are here 👉 esa.int/WelcomeToMercury
2
30
5
80
5,406
Bepi and Mio are eagerily checking their inbox waiting to hear from you! 📭 Send them a #WelcomeToMercury message and you could win a trip to ESA in Darmstadt, Germany, this December to experience BepiColombo arrive at Mercury. 💌 Submit your message here 👉esa.int/WelcomeToMercury
2
12
3
51
3,985
What can nine hours in Earth’s shadow teach #Juice about how to explore #Jupiter? A lot! 🌑 Teams got to: 🔋 Test the spacecraft’s batteries 🔬 Do science in the dark 📷 Exercise autonomous navigation All while Earth helped steer Juice towards Jupiter. Read more 👉 esa.int/Enabling_Support/Ope…
4
18
2
72
6,740
🌍South Africa has the famous Table Mountain.. 🔴Mars has Amazonis Mensa, which is three times as high! And can you spot the ancient lava flows? Zoom into this slice of Red Planet shaped by wind and lava 👉 esa.int/ESA_Multimedia/Image…
A rectangular image of the orange surface of Mars. The centre-right is dominated by a large mound called Amazonis Mensa. Diagonal lines created by wind erosion are visible on either side of it. The left half of the image is a smooth surface with some impact craters, a wide valley, and a small snaking water-carved channel. These have been partially filled in by smooth material: ancient lava flows.

ALT A rectangular image of the orange surface of Mars. The centre-right is dominated by a large mound called Amazonis Mensa. Diagonal lines created by wind erosion are visible on either side of it. The left half of the image is a smooth surface with some impact craters, a wide valley, and a small snaking water-carved channel. These have been partially filled in by smooth material: ancient lava flows.

3
13
2
89
5,487
📣Launch announcement The Martian Moons eXploration (MMX) mission is set to launch on a H3 rocket from the Tanegashima Space Center at 21:41 CEST on 19 October 2026 👉esa.int/Science_Exploration/… 1/4
🤖 Made with AI
Infographic explaining the MMX mission (part 1) in the style of a comic strip. At the top we see several logos: ESA, JAXA, NASA, DLR and CNES. Below there are three panels showing a timeline of the mission: October 2026 launch, August 2027 arrival at Mars, September 2027 arrival at Phobos. Two other panels show the mission observing Phobos from orbit and scouting for a landing site for the rover and a sample retrieval sites, and the release of the Idefix rover.

ALT Infographic explaining the MMX mission (part 1) in the style of a comic strip. At the top we see several logos: ESA, JAXA, NASA, DLR and CNES. Below there are three panels showing a timeline of the mission: October 2026 launch, August 2027 arrival at Mars, September 2027 arrival at Phobos. Two other panels show the mission observing Phobos from orbit and scouting for a landing site for the rover and a sample retrieval sites, and the release of the Idefix rover.

Infographic explaining the MMX mission (part 2) in the style of a comic strip. Several panels show the mission collecting samples from Phobos, the return module separating from the exploration module, dropping a capsule over Australia and a scientist holding the samples. A last panel lists the scientific questions scientists hope to answer using the samples: 'Where did Mars's moons come from?', 'What can they tell us about habitability in the Solar System?', and 'How has Mars and its environment changed over time?'.

ALT Infographic explaining the MMX mission (part 2) in the style of a comic strip. Several panels show the mission collecting samples from Phobos, the return module separating from the exploration module, dropping a capsule over Australia and a scientist holding the samples. A last panel lists the scientific questions scientists hope to answer using the samples: 'Where did Mars's moons come from?', 'What can they tell us about habitability in the Solar System?', and 'How has Mars and its environment changed over time?'.

2
79
6
256
12,640
more replies
MMX is led by @JAXA_en, in collaboration with @NASA, @CNES, DLR and @ESA ESA is providing MMX’s deep space communication equipment. After launch, ESA’s Estrack network of ground stations will support with sending commands and receiving data. 3/4
1
2
22
1,571
Follow the launch live in Japanese/English via @JAXA_en 👉 fanfun.jaxa.jp/countdown/mmx… 4/4

MMX×H3ロケット10号機の打上げライブ中継を見よう！ | ファン!ファン!JAXA!

MMX×H3ロケット10号機の打上げライブ中継を見よう！

fanfun.jaxa.jp
3
15
1,390
MMX is led by @JAXA_en, in collaboration with @NASA, @CNES, DLR and @ESA ESA is providing MMX’s deep space communication equipment. After launch, ESA’s Estrack network of ground stations will support with sending commands and receiving data. 3/4
1
6
21
1,148
Follow the launch live in Japanese/English via @JAXA_en 👉fanfun.jaxa.jp/countdown/mmx… 4/4

MMX×H3ロケット10号機の打上げライブ中継を見よう！ | ファン!ファン!JAXA!

MMX×H3ロケット10号機の打上げライブ中継を見よう！

fanfun.jaxa.jp
5
15
964
Are we there yet? 😜 After eight years in space, Bepi and Mio can finally say: almost! Send them a #WelcomeToMercury message and you could win a trip to ESA in Darmstadt, Germany, this December. Say hello 👇 esa.int/WelcomeToMercury
Illustration showing BepiColombo cartoon characters Bepi and Mio waving. To the left of the characters, a text reads ‘Welcome BepiColombo to Mercury!’. On the lower part of the image, we see part of planet Mercury on the left, and the hashtag WelcomeToMercury on the right.

ALT Illustration showing BepiColombo cartoon characters Bepi and Mio waving. To the left of the characters, a text reads ‘Welcome BepiColombo to Mercury!’. On the lower part of the image, we see part of planet Mercury on the left, and the hashtag WelcomeToMercury on the right.

4
17
1
81
6,818
Want to help discover an exoplanet? 🪐 Planet Hunters Cheops is a new #CitizenScience project that invites you to search for planet transit signals hidden in light curves from our Cheops mission. Join the hunt 👉 zooniverse.org/projects/bmer…
This artist impression shows a planetary system with four planets circling around a star. In the foreground, a large reddish-brown rocky planet with craters is visible. Behind it, there are three smaller planets: one with blue and white colours, another with blue and brown bands, and the third with a rocky surface. In the top right corner of the image, a small but bright red star illuminates the scene, with space dust and distant stars visible in the background.

ALT This artist impression shows a planetary system with four planets circling around a star. In the foreground, a large reddish-brown rocky planet with craters is visible. Behind it, there are three smaller planets: one with blue and white colours, another with blue and brown bands, and the third with a rocky surface. In the top right corner of the image, a small but bright red star illuminates the scene, with space dust and distant stars visible in the background.

5
57
3
170
9,418
Solar Orbiter tracks the origin of the Sun's mysterious magnetic switchbacks ☀️ Back in 2022, Solar Orbiter spotted a kink in the solar wind’s magnetic field known as a ‘switchback’ and confirmed it to be S-shaped: something scientists had predicted but not seen directly. 1/2
An image showing the Sun glowing yellow in the top right, with a blue S-shaped burst extending to the left

ALT An image showing the Sun glowing yellow in the top right, with a blue S-shaped burst extending to the left

3
22
3
109
13,627
Now, the spacecraft has added another piece to this puzzle by tracing a switchback back to its source at the Sun. The observations provided clues that suggest the two main competing theories for how a switchback forms might both be true 👉 esa.int/Science_Exploration/… 2/2
Infographic explaining how magnetic switchbacks form near the Sun's surface

ALT Infographic explaining how magnetic switchbacks form near the Sun's surface

1
7
27
1,288
Load more