After 50 successful years, the European Space Agency has some big challenges ahead

Rosetta at Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko. ESA/ATG medialab; Comet image: ESA/Rosetta/Navcam This year marks the 50th anniversary of the founding of the European Space Agency (Esa). It has launched spectacularly successful missions, but is different to other space agencies which generally represent one country. Esa is funded by 23 member states and also has cooperation agreements with […]

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Astronomers are getting better at detecting asteroids before they hit Earth – and it could save us from catastrophe

On September 4 2024, astronomers discovered an asteroid, one metre in diameter, heading towards Earth. The space rock would burn up harmlessly in the atmosphere near the Philippines later that day, officials announced. Nevertheless, it produced a spectacular fireball that was shared in videos posted on social media. The object, known as RW1, was only […]

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