Cassini Snaps Image of ESA Huygens Probe

As Europe enjoyed a partial solar eclipse on the morning of Friday 20 March 2015, ESA’s Sun-watching Proba-2 minisatellite had a ringside seat from orbit. Proba-2 used its SWAP imager to capture the Moon passing in front of the Sun in a near-totality. SWAP views the solar disc at extreme ultraviolet wavelengths to capture the turbulent surface of the Sun and its swirling corona. Credit: ESA/Proba-2

Artemis I extends NASA and ESA’s (European Space Agency) strong international partnership beyond low-Earth orbit to lunar exploration with Orion on Artemis missions, as the ESA logo joins the historic NASA “meatball” insignia on the Artemis I spacecraft adapter jettison fairing panels that protect the service module during launch. Orion is currently stationed at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in the Multi-Payload Processing Facility, where it will undergo fueling and servicing by NASA’s Exploration Ground Systems and Jacobs Technology teams in preparation for the upcoming flight test with the Space Launch System rocket under the agency’s Artemis program.

Artemis I extends NASA and ESA’s (European Space Agency) strong international partnership beyond low-Earth orbit to lunar exploration with Orion on Artemis issions, as the the ESA logo joins the historic NASA “meatball” insignia on the Artemis I spacecraft adapter jettison fairing panels that protect the service module during launch. Orion is currently stationed at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in the Multi-Payload Processing Facility, where it will undergo fueling and servicing by NASA’s Exploration Ground Systems and Jacobs Technology teams in preparation for the upcoming flight test with the Space Launch System rocket under the agency’s Artemis program.

The solar arrays that will provide electricity to the Orion spacecraft were put through launch-day paces at ESA’s Test Centre in the Netherlands to verify that they can handle the rigours of the trip around the Moon... .The wings are seen here on April 11, 2018, on the shaking table that vibrates with the full force of a rumbling rocket. They were also placed in front of enormous speakers that recreate the harsh conditions they can expect on launch day. The solar arrays passed with flying colours... .The wings will be tested on how they deploy before shipping to Bremen, Germany, for integration with the European service module. ESA’s contribution to the Orion mission will provide power, propulsion, water, and air... .The first mission will take Orion around the Moon without astronauts. The solar panels will be folded inside the rocket fairing, once released from NASA’s Space Launch System rocket they will unfold and rotate towards the Sun to start delivering power... .With solar wings tested and fuel tanks installed, Orion is one step closer to its maiden voyage.

The solar arrays that will provide electricity to the Orion spacecraft were put through launch-day paces at ESA’s Test Centre in the Netherlands to verify that they can handle the rigours of the trip around the Moon... .The wings are seen here on April 11, 2018, on the shaking table that vibrates with the full force of a rumbling rocket. They were also placed in front of enormous speakers that recreate the harsh conditions they can expect on launch day. The solar arrays passed with flying colours... .The wings will be tested on how they deploy before shipping to Bremen, Germany, for integration with the European service module. ESA’s contribution to the Orion mission will provide power, propulsion, water, and air... .The first mission will take Orion around the Moon without astronauts. The solar panels will be folded inside the rocket fairing, once released from NASA’s Space Launch System rocket they will unfold and rotate towards the Sun to start delivering power... .With solar wings tested and fuel tanks installed, Orion is one step closer to its maiden voyage.

The solar arrays that will provide electricity to the Orion spacecraft were put through launch-day paces at ESA’s Test Centre in the Netherlands to verify that they can handle the rigours of the trip around the Moon... .The wings are seen here on April 11, 2018, on the shaking table that vibrates with the full force of a rumbling rocket. They were also placed in front of enormous speakers that recreate the harsh conditions they can expect on launch day. The solar arrays passed with flying colours... .The wings will be tested on how they deploy before shipping to Bremen, Germany, for integration with the European service module. ESA’s contribution to the Orion mission will provide power, propulsion, water, and air... .The first mission will take Orion around the Moon without astronauts. The solar panels will be folded inside the rocket fairing, once released from NASA’s Space Launch System rocket they will unfold and rotate towards the Sun to start delivering power... .With solar wings tested and fuel tanks installed, Orion is one step closer to its maiden voyage.

The solar arrays that will provide electricity to the Orion spacecraft were put through launch-day paces at ESA’s Test Centre in the Netherlands to verify that they can handle the rigours of the trip around the Moon... .The wings are seen here on April 11, 2018, on the shaking table that vibrates with the full force of a rumbling rocket. They were also placed in front of enormous speakers that recreate the harsh conditions they can expect on launch day. The solar arrays passed with flying colours... .The wings will be tested on how they deploy before shipping to Bremen, Germany, for integration with the European service module. ESA’s contribution to the Orion mission will provide power, propulsion, water, and air... .The first mission will take Orion around the Moon without astronauts. The solar panels will be folded inside the rocket fairing, once released from NASA’s Space Launch System rocket they will unfold and rotate towards the Sun to start delivering power... .With solar wings tested and fuel tanks installed, Orion is one step closer to its maiden voyage.

The solar arrays that will provide electricity to the Orion spacecraft were put through launch-day paces at ESA’s Test Centre in the Netherlands to verify that they can handle the rigours of the trip around the Moon... .The wings are seen here on April 11, 2018, on the shaking table that vibrates with the full force of a rumbling rocket. They were also placed in front of enormous speakers that recreate the harsh conditions they can expect on launch day. The solar arrays passed with flying colours... .The wings will be tested on how they deploy before shipping to Bremen, Germany, for integration with the European service module. ESA’s contribution to the Orion mission will provide power, propulsion, water, and air... .The first mission will take Orion around the Moon without astronauts. The solar panels will be folded inside the rocket fairing, once released from NASA’s Space Launch System rocket they will unfold and rotate towards the Sun to start delivering power... .With solar wings tested and fuel tanks installed, Orion is one step closer to its maiden voyage.

The solar arrays that will provide electricity to the Orion spacecraft were put through launch-day paces at ESA’s Test Centre in the Netherlands to verify that they can handle the rigours of the trip around the Moon... .The wings are seen here on April 11, 2018, on the shaking table that vibrates with the full force of a rumbling rocket. They were also placed in front of enormous speakers that recreate the harsh conditions they can expect on launch day. The solar arrays passed with flying colours... .The wings will be tested on how they deploy before shipping to Bremen, Germany, for integration with the European service module. ESA’s contribution to the Orion mission will provide power, propulsion, water, and air... .The first mission will take Orion around the Moon without astronauts. The solar panels will be folded inside the rocket fairing, once released from NASA’s Space Launch System rocket they will unfold and rotate towards the Sun to start delivering power... .With solar wings tested and fuel tanks installed, Orion is one step closer to its maiden voyage.

NASA Adminiistrator Charles F. Bolden, left, and Jean-Jacques Dordain, Director General of the European Space Agency (ESA), shake hands, Friday, Sept. 11, 2009, after signing a Space Transportation Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) at NASA Headquarters in Washington. Photo Credit: (NASA/Paul E. Alers)

Dr. Josef Aschbacher, Director General, European Space Agency (ESA) listens to NASA Administrator Bill Nelson in a bilateral meeting during the 36th Space Symposium, Monday, Aug. 23, 2021, in Colorado Springs, Colorado. Photo Credit: (NASA/Bill Ingalls)

European Space Agency (ESA) Director General Josef Aschbacher, left, and NASA Administrator Bill Nelson meet in a bilateral meeting during the 36th Space Symposium, Monday, Aug. 23, 2021, in Colorado Springs, Colorado. Photo Credit: (NASA/Bill Ingalls)

NASA Deputy Administrator Pam Melroy, left, and Dr. Josef Aschbacher, Director General, European Space Agency (ESA), talk during a meeting during the 37th Space Symposium, Tuesday, April 5, 2022, in Colorado Springs, Colorado. Photo Credit: (NASA/Bill Ingalls)

NASA Administrator Bill Nelson talks with Dr. Josef Aschbacher, Director General, European Space Agency (ESA) in a bilateral meeting during the 36th Space Symposium, Monday, Aug. 23, 2021, in Colorado Springs, Colorado. Photo Credit: (NASA/Bill Ingalls)

NASA Administrator Bill Nelson meets with Dr. Josef Aschbacher, Director General, European Space Agency (ESA) in a bilateral meeting during the 36th Space Symposium, Monday, Aug. 23, 2021, in Colorado Springs, Colorado. Photo Credit: (NASA/Bill Ingalls)

NASA Deputy Administrator Pam Melroy, left, and Dr. Josef Aschbacher, Director General, European Space Agency (ESA), pose for a photograph prior to starting at meeting during the 37th Space Symposium, Tuesday, April 5, 2022, in Colorado Springs, Colorado. Photo Credit: (NASA/Bill Ingalls)

This view shows Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko as seen by the OSIRIS wide-angle camera on ESA's Rosetta spacecraft on September 29, 2016, when Rosetta was at an altitude of 14 miles (23 kilometers). The European Space Agency's (ESA) Rosetta mission will come to a dramatic end on Friday, Sept. 30, with a controlled touchdown of the spacecraft on a region of comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko known for active pits that spew comet dust into space. Confirmation of the end of mission is expected at about 4:20 a.m. PDT (7:20 a.m. EDT). ESA is ending the mission due to the spacecraft's ever-increasing distance from the sun, which has resulted in significantly reduced solar power with which to operate the vehicle and its instruments. http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA21068

Johann-Dietrich Wörner, director general of ESA (European Space Agency), speaks at a bi-lateral meeting about NASA’s plans to land humans on the Moon by 2024 and prospective collaboration in human and robotic lunar and Mars exploration activities, at the Space Symposium, Monday, April 8, 2019 in Colorado Springs, Colorado. They also discussed their continued successful cooperation on the International Space Station and the service module for the Orion spacecraft that will take us to the Moon and beyond. Photo Credit: (NASA/Aubrey Gemignani)

NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine, right, speaks with Johann-Dietrich Wörner, director general of ESA (European Space Agency), about NASA’s plans to land humans on the Moon by 2024 and prospective collaboration in human and robotic lunar and Mars exploration activities, at the Space Symposium, Monday, April 8, 2019 in Colorado Springs, Colorado, They also discussed their continued successful cooperation on the International Space Station and the service module for the Orion spacecraft that will take us to the Moon and beyond. Photo Credit: (NASA/Aubrey Gemignani)

NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine, right, poses with Johann-Dietrich Wörner, director general of ESA (European Space Agency), just before meeting to discuss NASA’s plans to land humans on the Moon by 2024 and prospective collaboration in human and robotic lunar and Mars exploration activities, at the Space Symposium, Monday, April 8, 2019 in Colorado Springs, Colorado, They also discussed their continued successful cooperation on the International Space Station and the service module for the Orion spacecraft that will take us to the Moon and beyond. Photo Credit: (NASA/Aubrey Gemignani)

This image shows the remains of an ancient delta in Mars' Jezero Crater, which NASA's Perseverance Mars rover will explore for signs of fossilized microbial life. The image was taken by the High Resolution Stereo Camera aboard the ESA (European Space Agency) Mars Express orbiter. The European Space Operations Centre in Darmstadt, Germany, operates the ESA mission. The High Resolution Stereo Camera was developed by a group with leadership at the Freie Universitat Berlin. https://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA24096

NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine, seventh from left, speaks with Johann-Dietrich Wörner, director general of ESA (European Space Agency), fourth from right, about NASA’s plans to land humans on the Moon by 2024 and prospective collaboration in human and robotic lunar and Mars exploration activities, at the Space Symposium, Monday, April 8, 2019 in Colorado Springs, Colorado, They also discussed their continued successful cooperation on the International Space Station and the service module for the Orion spacecraft that will take us to the Moon and beyond. Photo Credit: (NASA/Aubrey Gemignani)

NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine, fourth from left, speaks with Johann-Dietrich Wörner, director general of ESA (European Space Agency), third from right, about NASA’s plans to land humans on the Moon by 2024 and prospective collaboration in human and robotic lunar and Mars exploration activities, at the Space Symposium, Monday, April 8, 2019 in Colorado Springs, Colorado, They also discussed their continued successful cooperation on the International Space Station and the service module for the Orion spacecraft that will take us to the Moon and beyond. Photo Credit: (NASA/Aubrey Gemignani)

S93-40688 (1993) --- Astronaut Claude Nicollier, representing European Space Agency (ESA).

This image taken by the ultraviolet-light monitoring camera on the European Space Agency ESA XMM-Newton telescope shows the beautiful spiral arms of the galaxy NGC1365.

The Orion spacecraft for NASA’s Artemis II mission received its latest makeover. Teams adhered the agency’s iconic “worm” logo and ESA (European Space Agency) insignia on the spacecraft’s crew module adapter on Sunday, Jan. 28, inside the Neil Armstrong Operations and Checkout Building at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

The Orion spacecraft for NASA’s Artemis II mission received its latest makeover. Teams adhered the agency’s iconic “worm” logo and ESA (European Space Agency) insignia on the spacecraft’s crew module adapter on Sunday, Jan. 28, inside the Neil Armstrong Operations and Checkout Building at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

This image of California Hayward fault is an interferogram created using a pair of images taken by ESA ERS-1 and ERS-2 in June 1992 and September 1997 over the central San Francisco Bay in California.

Inside the Neil Armstrong Operations and Checkout Building high bay at Kennedy Space Center, ASRC technician Frank Pelkey works to adhere the European Space Agency (ESA) logo to the aft wall of Orion’s crew module adapter on Sept. 20, 2020, ahead of NASA’s Artemis I mission. The first in a series of increasingly complex missions, Artemis I will test the Orion spacecraft and Space Launch System as an integrated system ahead of crewed flights to the Moon. Under the Artemis program, NASA will land the first woman and the next man on the Moon by 2024.

Delegates from the European Space Agency and German Space Agency visited NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Oct. 29, 2021. Inside the spaceport’s Neil Armstrong Operations and Checkout building, the international partners viewed the European-built service module, its crew module adapter as well as the heat shield and crew module for Artemis II. Additionally, they were able to view the pressure vessel – the shell for the crew module – for Artemis III. Together with NASA’s Orion program and contractor Lockheed Martin, teams have begun checkouts and assembly for these future Artemis missions.

Official portrait of ESA astronaut Alexander Gerst in an EMU suit. Photo Date: June 3, 2013. Location: Building 8, Room 183 - Photo Studio. Photographer: Robert Markowitz

ISS030-E-074038 (11 Feb. 2012) --- European Space Agency astronaut Andre Kuipers, Expedition 30 flight engineer, is pictured in the International Space Station?s Columbus laboratory during an ESA PAO event.

This artist's concept shows ESA's LISA Pathfinder spacecraft, which launched on Dec. 3, 2015, from Kourou, French Guiana, will help pave the way for a mission to detect gravitational waves. LISA Pathfinder, led by the European Space Agency (ESA), is designed to test technologies that could one day detect gravitational waves. Gravitational waves, predicted by Einstein's theory of general relativity, are ripples in spacetime produced by any accelerating body. But the waves are so weak that Earth- or space-based observatories would likely only be able to directly detect such signals coming from massive astronomical systems, such as binary black holes or exploding stars. Detecting gravitational waves would be an important piece in the puzzle of how our universe began. http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA20196

ISS047e038968 (04/05/2016) --- ESA (European Space Agency) astronaut Tim Peake operates the Muscle Atrophy Research and Exercise System (MARES) equipment inside the Columbus module. MARES is an ESA system that will be used for research on musculoskeletal, biomechanical, and neuromuscular human physiology to better understand the effects of microgravity on the muscular system.

The ESA (European Space Agency) Euclid telescope, with contributions from NASA, is shown here on Friday 23 June, being secured to the adaptor of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket before launch. Black solar panels line the right side of the spacecraft. The telescope will view the cosmos through the top of the white cylinder that sits above the spacecraft's instruments. https://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA25783

ESA Planck has imaged the most distant light we can observe, called the cosmic microwave background, with unprecedented precision.

ESA Euclid spacecraft, shown in this artist impression, is scheduled to launch in 2020 with participation from NASA.

A visualization of the polarization of the Cosmic Microwave Background, or CMB, as detected by ESA Planck satellite over the entire sky.

iss030e033236 (12/24/2012) --- Top-open view of European Space Agency (ESA) Role of Apoptosis in Lymphocyte Depression 2 (ROALD-2) experiment in the KUBIK-3 thermostatic container, in the Columbus Module aboard the International Space Station (ISS). Role of the Endocannabinoid System in human Lymphocytes Exposed to Microgravity (ROALD2) investigates the function of endocannabinoids, substances produced within the body to activate cell membrane receptors, in the regulation of the immune processes and cell cycle under microgravity conditions.

ISS017-E-015230 (5 Sept. 2008) --- Russian Federal Space Agency cosmonaut Sergei Volkov, Expedition 17 commander, makes preparations in the International Space Station's Zvezda Service Module for the undocking of the European Space Agency's (ESA) "Jules Verne" Automated Transfer Vehicle (ATV). The ATV departed from the aft port of Zvezda at 4:29 p.m. (CDT) on Sept. 5, 2008 and was placed in a parking orbit for three weeks, scheduled to be deorbited on Sept. 29 when lighting conditions are correct for an ESA imagery experiment of reentry.

iss051e051544 (5/29/2017) --- European Space Agency (ESA) astronaut Thomas Pesquet holds a Mobile Unit in the Columbus European Laboratory during European Space Agency (ESA)-Active-Dosimeters experiment operations (OPS). The European Crew Personal Active Dosimeter (EuCPAD) project tests an active radiation dosimeter system. This represents the first time that crews wear active dosimeters in order to measure changes in radiation exposure over time providing variation of radiation dose data with respect to ISS orbit and altitude, solar cycle, and solar flares.

jsc2024e050831 (7/26/2024) --- The Earthshine from ISS investigation involves the thorough analysis of photos taken of the Moon from the International Space Station (ISS) at specific points in the lunar cycle to study changes in the Earth’s reflectance of light, or albedo. This photo was taken by NASA astronaut Matthew Dominick in the station’s Cupola. The intensity scale has been stretched to show off the dark side. This also brings out two reflections of the lunar bright side, caused by the multiple reflections and refractions in the Cupola's thick glass. Pictures of the Moon from space can help determine whether the earthshine method for determining Earth’s albedo can benefit from the absence of an atmosphere. Image courtesy of ESA/NASA.

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. - Alan Thirkettle, International Space Station program manager for the European Space Agency (ESA), speaks at a ceremony in the Space Station Processing Facility following the delivery of ESA's Columbus module to Kennedy Space Center. Columbus is the European Space Agency's research laboratory for the International Space Station. The module will be prepared in the SSPF for delivery to the space station on a future space shuttle mission. Columbus will expand the research facilities of the station and provide researchers with the ability to conduct numerous experiments in the life, physical and materials sciences. Photo credit: NASA_Amanda Diller

DATE: 9-1-11 LOCATION: Bldg. 5south, SSTF SUBJECT: Expedition 30 crew member and ESA astronaut Andre Kuipers training in SSTF near Columbia module on laptops with trainer Michaela Benda. PHOTOGRAPHER: Lauren Harnett

DATE: 9-1-11 LOCATION: Bldg. 5south, SSTF SUBJECT: Expedition 30 crew member and ESA astronaut Andre Kuipers training in SSTF near Columbia module on laptops with trainer Michaela Benda. PHOTOGRAPHER: Lauren Harnett

DATE: 9-1-11 LOCATION: Bldg. 5south, SSTF SUBJECT: Expedition 30 crew member and ESA astronaut Andre Kuipers training in SSTF near Columbia module on laptops with trainer Michaela Benda. PHOTOGRAPHER: Lauren Harnett

ISS005-E-19073 (1 November 2002) --- Belgian Soyuz 5 Flight Engineer Frank DeWinne, of the European Space Agency (ESA), works with experiments housed in the Microgravity Science Glovebox (MSG) in the Destiny laboratory on the International Space Station (ISS).

DATE: 9-1-11 LOCATION: Bldg. 5south, SSTF SUBJECT: Expedition 30 crew member and ESA astronaut Andre Kuipers training in SSTF near Columbia module on laptops with trainer Michaela Benda. PHOTOGRAPHER: Lauren Harnett

DATE: 9-1-11 LOCATION: Bldg. 5south, SSTF SUBJECT: Expedition 30 crew member and ESA astronaut Andre Kuipers training in SSTF near Columbia module on laptops with trainer Michaela Benda. PHOTOGRAPHER: Lauren Harnett

ISS030-E-033238 (24 Dec. 2011) --- European Space Agency astronaut Andre Kuipers, Expedition 30 flight engineer, works with the ESA Role of Apoptosis in Lymphocyte Depression 2 (ROALD-2) experiment in the KUBIK-3 thermostatic container located in the Columbus laboratory of the International Space Station.

DATE: 9-1-11 LOCATION: Bldg. 5south, SSTF SUBJECT: Expedition 30 crew member and ESA astronaut Andre Kuipers training in SSTF near Columbia module on laptops with trainer Michaela Benda. PHOTOGRAPHER: Lauren Harnett

Photographic documentation of inspection and regular maintenance on Minus Eighty-degree Laboratory Freezer for the ISS 3 (MELFI-3) located in the LAB1S1 rack. View is of European Space Agency (ESA) astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti, Expedition 43 flight engineer, at work with the MELFI-3.

Photo Date: 11/14/2023 Location: Turin, Italy Subject: ESA International Habitat (I-HAB) Photo Credit: ESA/Stephane Corvaja

ESA Herschel Space Observatory found oxygen molecules in a dense patch of gas and dust adjacent to star-forming regions in the Orion nebula.

Four images taken by the ESA Rosetta spacecraft create a montage showing jets of dust and gas escaping from the nucleus of comet 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko.

This graph shows the temperature differences in the oldest light in the universe, called the cosmic microwave background, detected by ESA Planck at different distances apart on the sky.

A jagged horizon of the nucleus of comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko appears in this image taken by the navigation camera on the ESA Rosetta spacecraft during the second half of October 2014.

Expedition 10 Commander and NASA Science Officer Leroy Chiao is seen inside the Soyuz capsule during the return of Expedition 10 and European Space Agency astronaut Roberto Vittori of Italy, Monday, April 25, 2005. Photo Credit: (NASA/ESA/Roberto Vittori)

JSC2015E053685 (04/30/2015) ---Expedition 44 backup crewmember ESA (European Space Agency) astronaut Timothy Peake.

View from a van carrying team members from NASA and ESA to the Karaganda Airport in Kazakhstan in advance of the landing of Expedition 57 crew members Serena Auñón-Chancellor of NASA, Alexander Gerst of ESA (European Space Agency), and Sergey Prokopyev of Roscosmos. Wednesday, Dec. 19, 2018. Auñón-Chancellor, Gerst, and Prokopyev are returning after 197 days in space where they served as members of the Expedition 56 and 57 crews onboard the International Space Station. Photo Credit: (NASA/Bill Ingalls)

STS046-01-019 (1 Aug 1992) --- Claude Nicollier, representing the European Space Agency (ESA) onboard the Space Shuttle Atlantis for the mission, is seen on the flight deck during pre-deployment operations with the ESA's EURECA satellite. EURECA can be seen on the end of the Remote Manipulator System (RMS). Nicollier was joined by five NASA astronauts and an Italian payload specialist for eight days aboard the Atlantis.

A composite image from a camera on ESA Rosetta mission Philae comet lander shows a solar array, with comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko in the background.

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- After the mission STS-122 crew's arrival at NASA's Kennedy Space Center, Mission Specialist Hans Schlegel is introduced during a media opportunity on the Shuttle Landing Facility. Schlegel represents the European Space Agency. The crew's arrival signals the imminent launch of space shuttle Atlantis on mission STS-122. The launch countdown begins at 7 p.m. Dec. 3. Launch is scheduled for 4:31 p.m. EST on Dec. 6. Atlantis will carry the Columbus Lab, Europe's largest contribution to the construction of the International Space Station. It will support scientific and technological research in a microgravity environment. Columbus, a program of ESA, is a multifunctional, pressurized laboratory that will be permanently attached to Node 2 of the space station to carry out experiments in materials science, fluid physics and biosciences, as well as to perform a number of technological applications. Photo credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- After the mission STS-122 crew's arrival at NASA's Kennedy Space Center, Mission Specialist Leland Melvin is introduced during a media opportunity on the Shuttle Landing Facility. The crew's arrival signals the imminent launch of space shuttle Atlantis on mission STS-122. The launch countdown begins at 7 p.m. Dec. 3. Launch is scheduled for 4:31 p.m. EST on Dec. 6. Atlantis will carry the Columbus Lab, Europe's largest contribution to the construction of the International Space Station. It will support scientific and technological research in a microgravity environment. Columbus, a program of ESA, is a multifunctional, pressurized laboratory that will be permanently attached to Node 2 of the space station to carry out experiments in materials science, fluid physics and biosciences, as well as to perform a number of technological applications. Photo credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- After arrival at NASA's Kennedy Space Center, STS-122 Pilot Alan Poindexter talks to the media on the Shuttle Landing Facility. The crew's arrival signals the imminent launch of space shuttle Atlantis on mission STS-122. The launch countdown begins at 7 p.m. Dec. 3. Launch is scheduled for 4:31 p.m. EST on Dec. 6. Atlantis will carry the Columbus Lab, Europe's largest contribution to the construction of the International Space Station. It will support scientific and technological research in a microgravity environment. Columbus, a program of ESA, is a multifunctional, pressurized laboratory that will be permanently attached to Node 2 of the space station to carry out experiments in materials science, fluid physics and biosciences, as well as to perform a number of technological applications. Photo credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- After arrival at NASA's Kennedy Space Center, STS-122 Commander Steve Frick talks to the media on the Shuttle Landing Facility. The crew's arrival signals the imminent launch of space shuttle Atlantis on mission STS-122. The launch countdown begins at 7 p.m. Dec. 3. Launch is scheduled for 4:31 p.m. EST on Dec. 6. Atlantis will carry the Columbus Lab, Europe's largest contribution to the construction of the International Space Station. It will support scientific and technological research in a microgravity environment. Columbus, a program of ESA, is a multifunctional, pressurized laboratory that will be permanently attached to Node 2 of the space station to carry out experiments in materials science, fluid physics and biosciences, as well as to perform a number of technological applications. Photo credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- After the mission STS-122 crew's arrival at NASA's Kennedy Space Center, Mission Specialist Stanley Love is introduced during a media opportunity on the Shuttle Landing Facility. The crew's arrival signals the imminent launch of space shuttle Atlantis on mission STS-122. The launch countdown begins at 7 p.m. Dec. 3. Launch is scheduled for 4:31 p.m. EST on Dec. 6. Atlantis will carry the Columbus Lab, Europe's largest contribution to the construction of the International Space Station. It will support scientific and technological research in a microgravity environment. Columbus, a program of ESA, is a multifunctional, pressurized laboratory that will be permanently attached to Node 2 of the space station to carry out experiments in materials science, fluid physics and biosciences, as well as to perform a number of technological applications. Photo credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- After the mission STS-122 crew's arrival at NASA's Kennedy Space Center, Mission Specialist Rex Walheim is introduced during a media opportunity on the Shuttle Landing Facility. The crew's arrival signals the imminent launch of space shuttle Atlantis on mission STS-122. The launch countdown begins at 7 p.m. Dec. 3. Launch is scheduled for 4:31 p.m. EST on Dec. 6. Atlantis will carry the Columbus Lab, Europe's largest contribution to the construction of the International Space Station. It will support scientific and technological research in a microgravity environment. Columbus, a program of ESA, is a multifunctional, pressurized laboratory that will be permanently attached to Node 2 of the space station to carry out experiments in materials science, fluid physics and biosciences, as well as to perform a number of technological applications. Photo credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett

Photo Date: 11/14/2023 Location: Turin, Italy Subject: ESA International Habitat (I-HAB) Photo Credit: ESA/Stephane Corvaja

This annotated image depicts two of the five potential landing sites for ESA Rosetta mission Philae lander.

This annotated image depicts the two potential landing sites for ESA Rosetta Philae lander that are on the comet larger lobe.

This annotated image depicts four of the five potential landing sites for ESA Rosetta mission Philae lander.

This image from ESA Rosetta spacecraft is of 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko shows the diversity of surface structures on the comet nucleus.

This annotated image depicts the backup landing site Site C chosen for ESA Rosetta spacecraft Philae lander.

The town of Zhezkazgan, Kazakhstan is seen from the bus carrying team members from NASA, ESA, Roscosmos, and Russian Search and Recovery Forces as they arrive in advance of the landing of Expedition 57 crew members Serena Auñón-Chancellor of NASA, Alexander Gerst of ESA (European Space Agency), and Sergey Prokopyev of Roscosmos. Wednesday, Dec. 19, 2018. Auñón-Chancellor, Gerst, and Prokopyev are returning after 197 days in space where they served as members of the Expedition 56 and 57 crews onboard the International Space Station. Photo Credit: (NASA/Bill Ingalls)

The bus carrying NASA, Roscosmos, ESA (European Space Agency), along with Russian Search and Rescue teams approaches the town of Zhezkazgan, Kazakhstan, Wednesday, Dec. 13, 2017. Teams are gathering to prepare for the Soyuz MS-05 landing with Expedition 53 Commander Randy Bresnik of NASA and Flight Engineers Paolo Nespoli of ESA (European Space Agency) and Sergey Ryazanskiy of the Russian space agency Roscosmos. Bresnik, Nespoli and Ryazanskiy are returning after 139 days in space where they served as members of the Expedition 52 and 53 crews onboard the International Space Station. Photo Credit: (NASA/Bill Ingalls)

ISS017-E-015234 (5 Sept. 2008) --- Russian Federal Space Agency cosmonauts Sergei Volkov (left) and Oleg Kononenko, Expedition 17 commander and flight engineer, respectively, make preparations in the International Space Station's Zvezda Service Module for the undocking of the European Space Agency's (ESA) "Jules Verne" Automated Transfer Vehicle (ATV). The ATV departed from the aft port of Zvezda at 4:29 p.m. (CDT) on Sept. 5, 2008 and was placed in a parking orbit for three weeks, scheduled to be deorbited on Sept. 29 when lighting conditions are correct for an ESA imagery experiment of reentry.

ISS017-E-015229 (5 Sept. 2008) --- Russian Federal Space Agency cosmonauts Sergei Volkov (left) and Oleg Kononenko, Expedition 17 commander and flight engineer, respectively, make preparations in the International Space Station's Zvezda Service Module for the undocking of the European Space Agency's (ESA) "Jules Verne" Automated Transfer Vehicle (ATV). The ATV departed from the aft port of Zvezda at 4:29 p.m. (CDT) on Sept. 5, 2008 and was placed in a parking orbit for three weeks, scheduled to be deorbited on Sept. 29 when lighting conditions are correct for an ESA imagery experiment of reentry.

ESA Herschel Space Observatory captured asteroid Apophis in its field of view during the approach to Earth on Jan. 5 and 6, 2013.

This ESA Herschel image shows IRC+10216, also known as CW Leonis, a star rich in carbon where astronomers were surprised to find water. This color-coded image shows the star, surrounded by a clumpy envelope of dust.

This mosaic of images from the navigation camera on the ESA Rosetta spacecraft shows the nucleus of comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko as it appeared at in the early morning, Universal Coordinated Time, of Dec. 17, 2014 evening of Dec. 16, PST.

This three-color combination constructed from ESA Planck two highest frequency channels and an image obtained with the NASA Infrared Astronomical Satellite shows local dust structures within 500 light-years of the sun.

This full-sky map from ESA Planck mission shows matter between Earth and the edge of the observable universe. Regions with less mass show up as lighter areas while regions with more mass are darker.

ESA Planck mission has imaged the oldest light in our universe. The top map shows Planck all-sky map of the cosmic microwave background, whereas the bottom map shows the largest-scale features of the map.

Tones represents sound waves that traveled through the early universe, and were later heard by ESA Planck space telescope. The primordial sound waves have been translated into frequencies we can hear.

This graphic illustrates where astronomers at last found oxygen molecules in space -- near the star-forming core of the Orion nebula. The squiggly lines, or spectra, reveal the signatures of oxygen molecules, detected by ESA Hershel Space Observatory.

This image from the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope shows a galaxy cluster, SDSS J1038+4849, that appears to have two eyes and a nose as part of a happy face. The face is the result of gravitational lensing.

This map shows the oldest light in our universe, as detected with the greatest precision yet by ESA Planck mission. The ancient light, called the cosmic microwave background, was imprinted on the sky when the universe was 370,000 years old.

This composite image comes from the ESA Planck shows a festive portrait of our Milky Way galaxy shows a mishmash of gas, charged particles and several types of dust.

This graphic illustrates the evolution of satellites designed to measure ancient light leftover from the big bang that created our universe 13.8 billion years ago; NASA COBE Explorer left and WMAP middle, and ESA Planck right.

NASA Extreme Ultraviolet Imaging Telescope aboard ESA’s SOHO spacecraft took this image of a huge, handle-shaped prominence in 1999. Prominences are huge clouds of relatively cool dense plasma suspended in the Sun hot, thin corona.

The magnetic field of our Milky Way galaxy as seen by ESA Planck satellite. This image was compiled from the first all-sky observations of polarized light emitted by interstellar dust in the Milky Way.

A magnitude 6.5 earthquake devastated the small city of Bam in southeast Iran on December 26, 2003. The two images from ESA Envisat show similar measures of the radar interferometric correlation in grayscale on the left and in false colors on the right.

This picture showcases a gravitational lensing system called SDSS J0928+2031. Astronomers are using NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope observations of this type of lensing to research how stars form and evolve in distant galaxies. Gravitational lensing can help astronomers study objects that would otherwise be too faint or appear too small for us to view. When a large object — such as a massive cluster of galaxies, as seen here — distorts space with its immense gravitational field, it causes light from more distant galaxies to travel along altered and warped paths. It also amplifies the light, making it possible for us to observe and study its source. We see two dominant elliptical galaxies near the center of the image. The gravity from the galaxy cluster where these galaxies reside is acting as the aforementioned gravitational lens, allowing us to view the more distant galaxies sitting behind them. We see the effects of this lensing as narrow, curved streaks of light surrounding both of the large galaxies. This image was observed by Hubble as part of the Sloan Giant Arcs Survey program. Image credit: ESA/Hubble & NASA, M. Gladders et al; Acknowledgment: Judy Schmidt

Photo Date: 11/14/2023 Location: Turin, Italy Subject: ESA International Habitat (I-HAB) Photo Credit: ESA/Stephane Corvaja

Photo Date: 11/14/2023 Location: Turin, Italy Subject: ESA International Habitat (I-HAB) Photo Credit: ESA/Stephane Corvaja