Related papers: ESA Science Programme Missions: Contributions and …

One of the classic ways to measure the success of a scientific facility is the publication return, which is defined as the number of refereed papers produced per unit of allocated resources (for example, telescope time or proposals). The…

This paper discusses the scientific objectives for the ESA Lunar Lander Mission, which emphasise human exploration preparatory science and introduces the model scientific payload considered as part of the on-going mission studies, in…

Astrophysics spans an enormous range of questions on scales from individual planets to the entire cosmos. To address the richness of 21st century astrophysics requires a corresponding richness of telescopes spanning all bands and all…

This White Paper outlines the importance of addressing the fundamental science theme <<How are charged particles energized in space plasmas>> through a future ESA mission. The White Paper presents five compelling science questions related…

The Gaia space project, planned for launch in 2011, is one of the ESA cornerstone missions, and will provide astrometric, photometric and spectroscopic data of very high quality for about one billion stars brighter than V=20. This will…

In this paper, we explore how members of the scientific community leave academic science and how attrition (defined as ceasing to publish) differs across genders, academic disciplines, and over time. Our approach is cohort-based and…

With announcing their "Parastronaut Feasibility Project", the European Space Agency ESA promises to make every reasonable effort to send astronauts with disability to space. This could spark hope in the 15% of all people who live with some…

We present a science-driven discovery portal for all the ESA Astronomy Missions called ESA Sky that allow users to explore the multi-wavelength sky and to seamlessly retrieve science-ready data in all ESA Astronomy mission archives from a…

SPICES (Spectro-Polarimetric Imaging and Characterization of Exoplanetary Systems) is a five-year M-class mission proposed to ESA Cosmic Vision. Its purpose is to image and characterize long-period extrasolar planets and circumstellar disks…

The three Laser Interferometer Space Antenna (LISA) spacecraft are going to be placed in a triangular formation in an Earth-trailing or Earth-leading orbit. They will be launched together on a single rocket and transferred to that science…

Each year, the European Space Agency (ESA) organizes challenges for university students, from BSc to PhD levels. The ESA Concurrent Engineering Challange 2024 was hosted by four Concurrent Design Facilites (CDF) across Europe: ESEC Galazia,…

A recurring topic in interstellar exploration and the search for extraterrestrial intelligence (SETI) is the role of artificial intelligence. More precisely, these are programs or devices that are capable of performing cognitive tasks that…

The LISA International Science Team Working Group on Data Analysis (LIST-WG1B) is sponsoring several rounds of mock data challenges, with the purposeof fostering the development of LISA data analysis capabilities, and of demonstrating…

Driven by the support and interest of the international space plasma community to examine simultaneous physical plasma scales and their interactions, the Cross-Scale Mission concept was submitted and accepted as an ESA Cosmic Vision M-class…

The {\Gaia} astrometric mission was approved by the European Space Agency in 2000 and the construction of the spacecraft and payload is on-going for a launch in late 2012. {\Gaia} will continuously scan the entire sky for 5 years, yielding…

Hipparcos, the first ever experiment of global astrometry, was launched by ESA in 1989 and its results published in 1997 (Perryman et al., Astron. Astrophys. 323, L49, 1997; Perryman & ESA (eds), The Hipparcos and Tycho catalogues, ESA…

Solar Orbiter, the first mission of ESA's Cosmic Vision 2015-2025 programme and a mission of international collaboration between ESA and NASA, will explore the Sun and heliosphere from close up and out of the ecliptic plane. It was launched…

Since July 2014, the ESA Gaia mission has been surveying the entire sky down to magnitude 20.7 in the visible. In addition to the millions of stars, thousands of Solar System Objects (SSOs) are observed daily. By comparing their positions…

Many astronomers now participate in large international collaborations, and it is important to examine whether these structures foster a scientific climate that is inclusive and diverse. The Committee on the Participation of Women in the…

ESA and NASA are studying projects having a tremendous return on variable star research. Other national space agencies are also studying or developing projects of smaller costs but with impressive returns. The projects range from global…