Latest news with #Esa
Yahoo
01-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Shedd Aquarium's newest rescued sea otter gets a name
The Brief The Shedd Aquarium's latest rescued sea otter has been named Jade after a public vote. Jade is named for Jade Cove, near where she was rescued in California. She's now exploring her new home in the Abbott Oceanarium as she continues to acclimate. CHICAGO - The Shedd Aquarium's newest rescued sea otter now has a name: Jade. What we know The name Jade was selected through an onsite public vote, with aquarium visitors choosing from four options put together by the Shedd's animal care team. The other options included: Esa — a nod to the Endangered Species Act. Marina — for the city where she was rescued. Rey — a reference to the Monterey Bay area. The winning name — Jade — honors Jade Cove, a scenic spot south of Monterey, California. Dig deeper Jade has officially made her public debut in the Shedd's Abbott Oceanarium, where she's now exploring the sea otter habitat and meeting fellow rescued otters, including Luna and Watson. She continues to practice key skills such as diving, grooming, and foraging—behaviors she could one day teach future surrogate pups. What they're saying "Our animal care team is happy with how well she's acclimated, and we're having a lot of fun getting to know her; she is very inquisitive but also calm and confident," said Andrea Oake, manager of sea otters and sea lions at the Shedd. What's next Guests can now visit Jade at the Chicago aquarium. The Source The information in this article was provided by the Shedd Aquarium.
NDTV
04-06-2025
- Politics
- NDTV
After 50 Successful Years, The European Space Agency Has Some Big Challenges Ahead
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 nations such as Canada. Esa operates cutting edge spacecraft designed to monitor the Earth, as well as space telescopes that study the distant cosmos. It has launched robotic spacecraft to other planets and to objects such as comets. It is also involved in human spaceflight – training European astronauts to work on the International Space Station (ISS). These are hugely successful achievements. But the agency now faces challenges as competition heats up among newer space powers such as China and India. The history of Esa can be traced to events immediately after the second world war, when many European scientists moved to either the US or to the Soviet Union. Many of them realised that projects supported only by a single nation could not compete with those supported by the two big geopolitical players at the time. This motivated the physicists Pierre Auger, from France, and Edoardo Amaldi, from Italy, to propose a European organisation that would carry out space research and would be 'purely scientific'. In 1962, two agencies were created. One of these, the European Launch Development Organisation (ELDO), would concentrate on developing a rocket. The other, the European Space Research Organisation (ESRO), would focus on developing robotic spacecraft. Both were joined together in 1975 to form the European Space Agency. The push to build a European rocket would eventually yield the Ariane launcher, which is operated by the French company Arianespace. The first satellite to be launched under the banner of the newly formed European Space Agency was Cos-B. This spacecraft was designed to monitor a high energy form of radiation called gamma rays, being emitted from objects in space. In 1978, Esa cooperated with Nasa and the UK on the International Ultraviolet Explorer mission. This space telescope was designed to observe the cosmos in ultraviolet light, something that cannot be done from Earth. The agency would later collaborate with Nasa and the Canadian Space Agency on one of the most successful space telescopes of all time: Hubble. Launched in 1990, the Hubble Space Telescope helped confirm the expansion rate of the universe and showed that black holes are at the cores of almost all galaxies. Hubble's stunning images also changed the way that many people saw the universe. Esa funded one of the original instruments on the space telescope, the Faint Object Camera, and provided the first two solar arrays. The space agency is also a partner on the revolutionary James Webb Telescope, which launched in 2021. Esa contributed two of the telescope's instruments: the Near-Infrared Spectrograph (NirSpec) and the Mid-Infrared Instrument (Miri). Solar System Missions Esa has also launched pioneering missions to other planets and objects in our solar system. The first of these was the Giotto comet explorer. This robotic spacecraft flew past Halley's comet in 1986 and was successfully woken up in 1992 to study a comet called Grigg-Skejllerup. A second successful cometary mission followed when the Rosetta spacecraft entered orbit around Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko in 2014. Rosetta despatched a lander called Philae to touch down on the comet's surface. Rosetta has been my favourite of all Esa achievements, simply due to the pure audacity of attempting to land on an object whose shape and composition was until then only sparsely known. In order to 'land' on an object with low gravity, Philae was to have deployed harpoons that would attach the lander to the surface. These systems did not work, but the overall mission was a success, leading to high levels of engagement from the public. Besides comets, Esa launched one of the most successful missions to the red planet: Mars Express. The spacecraft entered orbit around Mars in 2003 and has played a key role in enhancing understanding of our planetary neighbour. It is expected to continue working until at least 2034. Mars Express also carried the ill-fated British Beagle 2 spacecraft to Mars. This was supposed to land in 2003, but contact was never established with the probe, which is presumed to have been damaged while touching down. In 2005, Esa's Huygens spacecraft landed on Titan, Saturn's largest moon. This was the furthest from Earth that a spacecraft has ever landed. These are all outward facing missions, but Esa has also had major success with projects to study what's going on here on Earth. These include the Envisat satellite, which operated from 2002-2012, and the Sentinel series of spacecraft, which have operated from 2014 to the present. These have helped map agriculture and forests, understand the Earth's climate, track ice, and monitor atmospheric ozone. In addition, the Galileo navigation satellites are providing a high precision alternative to GPS. Esa is also a major player in human spaceflight, having been a partner in the International Space Station project since 1993. It has built sections of the ISS, including the Columbus laboratory, launched in 2008, and the Cupola viewing window, which gives astronauts panoramic views of Earth. The agency's astronauts regularly spend time on the ISS as crew and could even fly to the Moon under Nasa's Artemis programme. Since the 1990s, Esa has frequently collaborated with Nasa – often very successfully. However, this relationship has also faced challenges. In the wake of the financial crisis, for example, Nasa cancelled its participation in several collaborative missions with Esa. Under a proposed Nasa budget this year, the US space agency may again cancel its involvement with the joint Nasa-Esa Mars Sample Return mission. Esa's Future Times have changed in the space industry since Esa's founding 50 years ago. Major countries such as China, India and Japan all have their own space programmes. Esa faces considerable financial pressures to compete with them. Nevertheless, Esa is working on strengthening its space exploration and launch capabilities through the use of a commercial space port in Norway. It has also put together a long-term strategy for 2040. This document highlights important areas where Esa can play a major role, including protecting Earth and its climate, continued missions to explore space and also efforts to boost European growth and competitiveness. All this should strengthen and secure the agency for the future. Through a mixture of developing its own missions and collaborating with other agencies and commercial partners on others, Esa should be a major player in space exploration for decades to come. (Author: , Lecturer in Astronomy, Nottingham Trent University) (Disclosure statement: Daniel Brown does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.)
Times
10-05-2025
- Politics
- Times
‘People are dying, we are not safe': Britons in Kashmir beg to leave
British families stranded in Kashmir have begged to be evacuated from a 'holiday turned nightmare' as Pakistan and India exchange heavy gunfire. Khola Riaz, who lives in Luton, travelled last month to Kotli, a mountainous town in Pakistan-administered Kashmir, with her four-year-old son, Esa, to visit her unwell father. But within a week, her parents' hometown had become the centre of a military standoff between the two nuclear-armed states. Several British families in Kotli, which straddles the Line of Control, the de facto border dividing Kashmir between India and Pakistan, have said they were forced into a lockdown as at least five civilians were killed in an intense night of artillery exchanges. • India-Pakistan live: nations strike airbases and move closer to war 'The bombing
The Guardian
28-04-2025
- Business
- The Guardian
Europe must boost space investment to secure autonomy from US, says ESA boss
Donald Trump's return to the White House has prompted a shift away from ties with America by European political leaders and a rapid increase in defence spending as the continent's security reaches a 'turning point'. The ripples from Europe's newfound desire for self-reliance could go even further: as far as space. Europe's drive for more autonomy means it must also increase its invesment in space technology, according to Josef Aschbacher, director general of the European Space Agency (Esa), the intergovernmental body tasked with overseeing the space exploration ambitions of European countries including much of the EU and the UK. 'There are many domains that are seen in space as the ones where Europe will want to increase its autonomy, and it is crystal clear in a more volatile geopolitical situation the need for more autonomy is there,' Aschbacher said in an interview with the Guardian in London. 'The situation is changing drastically.' Humans are turning their eyes to the skies more than ever. The world is in the middle of a second space race, with governments – and also private companies – taking advantage of huge advances in satellites, sensors and, crucially, rockets. Analysts talk of a $1tn industry, a scale that would match today's airline sector, with Earth observation, communications, and even tourism expected to boom. The Trump-provoked increase in military spending could add further momentum, as armed forces vie for better spying gear. However, Aschbacher's role as Esa boss is also to argue for continued investment in science to benefit humanity, including projects such as measuring wind speed using lasers, climate monitoring satellites, and the Euclid telescope, designed to explore the mysteries of dark matter. For European space science, close cooperation with the US has been vital for decades. The Esa works with American counterparts on projects ranging from putting astronauts on the International Space Station to the James Webb telescope, which is peering at radiation from galaxies billions of years ago, and the Artemis programme to return people to the moon. Aschbacher, an Austrian, controls a budget worth €7.7bn (£6.4bn) this year, a large amount, but dwarfed by the $25.4bn (£19.6bn) budget of the US's National Aeronautics and Space Administration (Nasa). Trump's return has raised questions over whether that cooperation will continue, as the US imposes steep cuts on Nasa. Elon Musk adds another complication. His SpaceX has already been perhaps the biggest contributor to the revolutionary decline in launch costs thanks to its reusable Falcon 9 rockets. Yet the billionaire's highly controversial cost-cutting mandate under Trump means he is likely to wield significant influence over US space policy, despite the obvious risk of conflicts of interest as Nasa's key contractor. Trump's pick for Nasa administrator, the billionaire Jared Isaacman, paid SpaceX to take him to space. Musk has criticised Artemis, preferring instead his ambition to send people to Mars. European countries are also racing to wean themselves off SpaceX's Starlink, a network of internet satellites in low-Earth orbit (Leo). Starlink has built by far the largest Leo constellation, giving reliable internet access in remote locations and becoming an indispensable part of Ukraine's military communications since Russia's 2022 invasion. Asked about Musk's influence, Aschbacher declined to comment on 'the internal politics of the United States and who should influence these decisions'. The Esa is continuing with its part of the planned works, building the Orion capsule to transport astronauts, Aschbacher said, adding that he is 'confident that the US will keep cooperating with Europe in the Artemis programme', including in creating a 'lunar gateway' orbiting the moon. 'If changes happen and if our US partners and friends are changing their plans, of course we will be ready for plan B,' Aschbacher said. 'And certainly we will reinforce our autonomy and our capacity as a consequence of it. But today is not the time to talk about plan B, because plan A is in place.' However, the Esa is also considering tie-ups with other countries who could be part of 'plan B'. Aschbacher highlighted Australia, the United Arab Emirates and India as promising partners for Europe. SpaceX last month confirmed its dominant position when its Dragon capsule brought back four people, two of whom were stranded on the International Space Station after technical issues on rival Boeing's Starliner craft. Sign up to Business Today Get set for the working day – we'll point you to all the business news and analysis you need every morning after newsletter promotion Europe was left reliant on SpaceX to launch part of its Galileo satnav system after the retirement of the Ariane 5 rocket, and the grounding of Vega C, both operated by Arianespace, co-owned by aerospace manufacturers Airbus and Safran. That amounted to a 'launching crisis' that was only ended by the first flight of Arianespace's Ariane 6 rocket last year. The Esa is now seeking to spur more launch competitors for the next generation, with a focus on reusable rockets to emulate SpaceX's cost reductions. One Esa-led project, the Prometheus engine, should be able to launch in 'less than a handful' of years, Aschbacher said. Other European private-sector players, such as German startup Rocket Factory Augsburg, are also in the race. If all goes to plan, they could also take off from the UK, ending the reliance on the Esa's spaceport in French Guiana in South America. Aschbacher said the development of UK spaceports, most notably one in Shetland, would be another welcome development. The Esa, funded by 23 member states, but is not an EU organisation, meaning Brexit has not stymied the UK's involvement, although there was a hiatus in its part in the Copernicus climate satellite programme. The Esa's role is to explore space peacefully, but the obvious military applications may make it easier for the agency to win increased funding from its member governments this November as they rush to rearm and fill the gap left by the US. Yet, Aschbacher is a scientist. He studied natural sciences at the University of Innsbruck and joined the Esa in 1990, rising through the ranks to lead its Earth Observation Division. Although he acknowledged that space technologies will 'play a fundamental role in order to enable many of these security requirements' for European governments, he also called for continued investment in science. He likened space investments to those into the fundamental research that allowed scientists to develop vaccines against Covid with astonishing speed during the pandemic. 'Investments in space in Europe have to increase in order to make sure that Europe can sustain its standard of quality of life and standard of living for its people,' he said. 'Science is such a strength of Europe. It's actually the reason why economic progress and economic development can happen or happen faster.'
The Guardian
05-04-2025
- Science
- The Guardian
Space probe to map carbon content of world's remotest tropical forests
Scientists are about to take part in a revolutionary mission aimed at creating detailed 3D maps of the world's remotest, densest and darkest tropical forests – from outer space. The feat will be achieved using a special radar scanner that has been fitted to a probe, named Biomass, that will be fired into the Earth's orbit later this month. For the next five years, the 1.25-tonne spacecraft will sweep over the tropical rainforests of Africa, Asia and South America and peer through their dense 40m-high canopies to study the vegetation that lies beneath. The data collected by Biomass will then be used to create unique 3D maps of forests normally hidden from human sight. Less than 2% of sunlight reaches the forest floor in these regions, yet Biomass will study them in unsurpassed detail from a height of more than 600km. More importantly, the mission will allow scientists to calculate how much carbon is stored in the forests and measure how levels are changing as humans continue to cut down trees in the tropics and increase carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere. In addition, Biomass – which has been built by a consortium led by Airbus UK and funded by the European Space Agency (Esa) – will map the sub-surface geology and topography of forest floors while it will also provide data about the rate at which biodiversity is being lost as forests are cleared for mining and agriculture. 'We need to know the health of our tropical forests,' Simonetta Cheli, director of Earth Observation Programmes for Esa, told the Observer last week: 'We need to know the quality and diversity of its vegetation and the amount of carbon stored there. To get that information we are going to create 3D images of them – from the top of the forest canopy to the roots of its trees.' Tropical forests play a crucial role in protecting the planet from some of the worst effects of global warming because they absorb so much carbon dioxide from the atmosphere: estimates suggest they take up about eight billion tonnes and are often described as the Earth's green lungs. But deforestation and environmental degradation are now reversing this effect. Carbon, once stored in vast amounts, is being put back into the atmosphere, adding to growing levels of greenhouse gases. Hotspots include northern regions of South America, sub-Saharan Africa, south-east Asia and the Pacific where increased production of beef, soya, coffee, cacao, palm oil and timber are triggering widespread deforestation. Quantifying the problem is essential for forecasting what is going to happen to Earth's climate in coming years, said Bjorn Rommen, mission scientist for the Biomass project: 'We don't properly understand what changes are now taking place, partly because we do not have accurate estimations of carbon levels in these forests. Biomass is going to help us to get a better grip on those numbers.' Biomass is scheduled to be launched from Esa's spaceport near Kourou in French Guiana on 29 April on a VegaC rocket and will carry a radar known as a P-band synthetic aperture radar. Its use of long wavelength signals will allow it to peer down through canopies in order to assess how much carbon is stored on the floor and branches of the trees in the world's tropical forests and to assess how levels are changing. This type of radar has never been flown in space before and has required Biomass to be fitted with a giant 12m antenna which will be deployed as the spacecraft begins its sweep over the Earth. Sign up to Down to Earth The planet's most important stories. Get all the week's environment news - the good, the bad and the essential after newsletter promotion 'What the mission will do, effectively, is weigh the forests it studies,' said the leader of the Biomass science team, Prof Shaun Quegan, of Sheffield University. 'We know half that weight must be made up of carbon. So we are going to be able to weigh the carbon content of the world's tropical forests from space and, crucially, work out how much these are changing over time. We will then know the balance of carbon that is flowing to and from the atmosphere. That is enormously important.' This point was backed by Cheli. 'We need to be able to predict what the Earth will look like as temperatures rise. So we are going to integrate its data with AI and with other digital elements of machine learning and that will tell us what is likely to happen in future. It will tell us what we are up against.'
