After a perfect injection by the Ariane 5 launcher on 14 May, the critical Launch and Early Orbit Phase (LEOP) for Herschel and Planck has started to wind down, while commissioning... — full story
Imagine you are a flight dynamics specialist at ESOC, ESA's European Space Operations Centre, Darmstadt, Germany, on the afternoon of 14 May 2009... — full story
Investigation of the fireball that lit up the skies of Alberta and Saskatchewan on 20 November has determined that an asteroid fragment weighing approximately 10 tonnes entered the... — full story
'Autonomous' helicopters teach themselves to flyStanford computer scientists have developed an artificial intelligence system that enables robotic helicopters to teach themselves to fly difficult stunts by watching other helicopters... — full story
Rosetta spacecraft starts tracking asteroid SteinsHeading toward its first target-asteroid, (2867) Steins, ESA's Rosetta spacecraft has started using its cameras to visually track the asteroid and eventually determine its orbit with... — full story
Intense preparations for Rosetta's asteroid visitEngineers at ESA's European Space Operations Centre in Germany are working to a tight deadline as ESA's comet-chasing spacecraft Rosetta swings steadily closer to a spectacular asteroid... — full story
NASA's Phoenix flying true enough to skip one scheduled adjustmentNASA's Phoenix Mars Lander continues on course for its 25 May arrival at Mars. After targeting its certified landing site with a trajectory, or flight path, correction manoeuvre on... — full story
Phoenix Mars Lander fine tunes course for landingNASA engineers have adjusted the flight path of the Phoenix Mars Lander, setting the spacecraft on course for its 25 May landing on the Red Planet. 'This is our first trajectory manoeuvre... — full story
Rosetta closes in on Earth for a second timeESA's comet chaser, Rosetta, is on its way to its second close encounter with Earth on 13 November. The spacecraft's operators are leaving no stones unturned to make sure Earth's gravity... — full story
Phoenix: Tasks en route to Mars include course tweak, gear checksNASA's Phoenix Mars Lander, launched on 4 August and headed to Mars, fired its four trajectory correction thrusters Wednesday for only the second time. The 45.9-second burn nudged the... — full story