ESA Top Multimedia

Our astronaut Sophie Adenot shared this video on her social media channels with the caption:

Day 043, orbit 0680 – Sunday morning science with Sophie, episode 2: the T-handle wrench, or speeder handle.

Jour 043, orbite 0680 – La science du dimanche matin avec Sophie, épisode 2 : la clé en T 

The video shows a rendezvous test performed at ESA’s Guidance, Navigation and Control Laboratory using GRALS, the lab’s duo of robotic arms mounted on 33-m long rails. One arm holds the navigation unit of an approaching spacecraft, the other holds a scale model of a spacecraft target or ‘client’. Both are suspended in the centre of a long dark room with only one lamp illuminating the scene, mimicking the Sun. 

The European Space Agency (ESA) and industry are working together to develop and test interfaces that will allow satellites to approach in space, recognise each other and dock. The first hardware tests for this step took place at ESA’s testing facilities at ESTEC, the agency’s technical centre in the Netherlands, evaluating different interfaces and technologies developed by The Exploration Company with Sener, GMV, Almatech and CDS. 

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Watch the full replay of the launch of ESA’s state-of-the-art FLEX Earth Explorer satellite and the Copernicus Sentinel-3C satellite. Both were launched together aboard a Vega-C rocket from Europe’s Spaceport in French Guiana, marking a new milestone in Europe’s Earth Observation Programmes. Flight VV30 lifted off on 15 September at 03:21 (14 September at 22:21 local time).  

FLEX is designed to reveal a phenomenon invisible to the human eye: the faint fluorescence emitted by plants as they photosynthesise. Equipped with a Fluorescence Imaging Spectrometer, FLEX will detect and measure this incredibly weak signal from orbit. Because the fluorescence varies with plant health and environmental conditions, the measurements will provide scientists with new information about photosynthetic activity and vegetation stress on a global scale. 

Sentinel-3C is the third in the Sentinel-3 series.  Carrying a suite of cutting-edge instruments, Copernicus Sentinel-3C will continue the mission’s task of measuring systematically Earth’s oceans, land, ice and atmosphere to monitor and understand large-scale global dynamics. The mission also provides essential information in near-real time for ocean and weather forecasting.  

Europe’s Vega-C rocket can launch 2300 kg into space, such as small scientific and Earth observation spacecraft. At 35 m tall, Vega-C weighs 210 tonnes on the launch pad and reaches orbit with three solid-propellant-powered stages before the fourth liquid-propellant stage takes over for precise placement of satellites into their desired orbit around Earth. This flight was a first dual launch for Vega-C, using a secondary payload adapter called Vespa. Sentinel-3C was placed on top of Vespa inside the main fairing and once deployed the Vespa adapter opened to reveal FLEX for its injection into orbit.   

In a docking test at ESA's Orbital Robotic Laboratory, a servicer and client spacecraft models are each attached to one platform hovering over an extremely flat and smooth floor. 

Starting at four centimetres apart, the servicer’s docking mechanism first locks onto the client’s passive capture interface and then brings the two platforms closer and closer together until two ports – one for refilling and the other for power and data transfer – connect to their counterparts. 

 The European Space Agency (ESA) and industry are working together to develop and test interfaces that will allow satellites to approach in space, recognise each other and dock. The first hardware tests for this step took place at ESA’s testing facilities at ESTEC, the agency’s technical centre in the Netherlands, evaluating different interfaces and technologies developed by The Exploration Company with Sener, GMV, Almatech and CDS. 

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Plants may look still and silent, but every leaf is constantly responding to its environment.

As plants photosynthesise, they emit an incredibly faint glow called fluorescence. Invisible to our eyes, this signal can reveal how plants are using sunlight and how they respond to heat, drought, pests and other environmental stresses.

ESA’s Fluorescence Explorer, or FLEX, will detect this faint signal from space. Using its highly sensitive FLORIS instrument, FLEX will map plant fluorescence across Earth, giving scientists a new way to observe plant health and photosynthetic activity on a global scale.

These observations will help us better understand how vegetation responds to a changing climate, including the effects of drought, and improve our understanding of the global carbon and water cycles.

Every leaf tells a story. With FLEX, we’re learning how to read it.

Learn more about FLEX.

This video was published on social media by ESA astronaut Sophie Adenot with the following caption:

Day 202 orbit 3131 — And that's three! Who remembers Jack standing at the bow of the Titanic , gazing out at the endless blue ocean ahead? That image popped into my mind as I reached the forward end of the Station to replace a retroreflector crucial for Dragon spacecraft dockings.

Definitely one of the most beautiful views in the world, and at the same time a bit intimidating from inside my spacesuit, with 400 km of emptiness beneath my feet. Ahead of me, nothing but the hypnotic blue of Earth , contrasting with the infinitely deep black of space. I arrived there during orbital night, my way lit only by my helmet lights, and then the Sun peeked over the horizon, illuminating our magnificent planet as it rotated beneath me. Just... wow!

They say that the journey matters more than the destination Reaching this part of the Station requires carefully making your way through dozens of structures and items that you absolutely must not touch, neither with the bulky rigid spacesuit nor with the tethers and straps that accompany every movement. Add to that handrails crowded with cables, and tools that seem to have a natural tendency to snag on anything they can... Imagine moving slowly, methodically and precisely through a cactus forest, doing everything you can to avoid the spines! I had been warned: "It's complicated, but it's doable." Of all the tasks I was entrusted with, this is probably the one I'm happiest to have completed successfully.

What an adventure these three spacewalks have been! But it will be good to catch my breath and recover physically before our return to Earth, which is also quite a challenge for the human body.

The teams were incredible. A huge thank you to everyone who worked so hard to make these EVAs a success.

Jour 202, orbite 3131 – Et de 3 !Qui se souvient de Jack à la proue du Titanic , visualisant devant lui l’infini océan bleu... C’est exactement ce qui m’est passé par la tête lorsque j’ai rejoint le point le plus en avant de la station pour remplacer un rétroréflecteur indispensable à l’amarrage de la capsule Dragon.

Forcément l’une des plus belles vues au monde, et en même temps, tellement impressionnante depuis mon scaphandre, avec 400 km de vide sous les pieds. Et comme seul paysage devant moi, le bleu hypnotisant de la Terre en contraste avec le noir infiniment dense de l’espace. Je suis arrivée de nuit, sans autre éclairage que celui de mon casque, et quand le soleil a pointé son nez sur l’horizon, notre magnifique planète qui défilait sous mes yeux. Juste... waouh !

On dit souvent que l’important, c’est le chemin, pas la destination Pour rejoindre cette zone de la Station, il faut progresser avec précaution au milieu de dizaines d’éléments qu’il ne faut surtout pas toucher, ni avec l’imposant scaphandre rigide, ni avec les longes et les sangles qui accompagnent nos mouvements. Ajoutez à cela les mains courantes encombrées de câbles, et les outils qui semblent avoir une attirance naturelle pour tous les endroits où ils peuvent se coincer... Visualisez une forêt de cactus dans laquelle vous avancez lentement, avec précision et méthode, pour éviter tout contact avec les épines ! J’étais prévenue : « C’est compliqué, mais faisable » et je suis particulièrement heureuse d’avoir mené à bien cette mission qui m’avait été confiée.

Quelle belle aventure que ces trois sorties extravéhiculaires ! Mais je l’avoue, cela va faire du bien de souffler un peu et de récupérer physiquement avant notre retour sur Terre, qui représente lui aussi un sacré défi pour l’organisme.

Les équipes ont été formidables. Un grand merci à tous qui avez travaillé dur pour faire de ces EVAs un succès.

ESA astronaut Sophie Adenot and NASA astronaut Jessica Meir successfully completed US EVA-99 at 21:29 CEST on Tuesday 1 September. It was Sophie’s third spacewalk, and the 33rd conducted by a European astronaut.

During the 6-hour, 49-minute spacewalk, Sophie and Jessica completed several maintenance tasks, including replacing a spacecraft navigational aid, preparing a cosmic particle detector for future upgrades, installing jumper cables to enhance data relay capabilities, and collecting samples for the MicroOrganisms experiment.

ESA astronaut Sophie Adenot and NASA astronaut Jessica Meir successfully completed US EVA-99 at 21:29 CEST on Tuesday 1 September. It was Sophie’s third spacewalk, and the 33rd conducted by a European astronaut.

During the 6-hour, 49-minute spacewalk, Sophie and Jessica completed several maintenance tasks, including replacing a spacecraft navigational aid, preparing a cosmic particle detector for future upgrades, installing jumper cables to enhance data relay capabilities, and collecting samples for the MicroOrganisms experiment.

ESA astronaut Sophie Adenot and NASA astronaut Jessica Meir successfully completed US EVA-99 at 21:29 CEST on Tuesday 1 September. It was Sophie’s third spacewalk, and the 33rd conducted by a European astronaut.   

During the 6-hour, 49-minute spacewalk, Sophie and Jessica completed several maintenance tasks, including replacing a spacecraft navigational aid, preparing a cosmic particle detector for future upgrades, installing jumper cables to enhance data relay capabilities, and collecting samples for the MicroOrganisms experiment.  

ESA astronaut Sophie Adenot will take part in her third spacewalk during U.S. Spacewalk 99 on Tuesday 1 September. NASA live coverage will begin at 13:00 CEST, with the spacewalk expected to start at approximately 14:30 CEST and last around six and a half hours.

Together with NASA astronaut Jessica Meir, she will replace a retroreflector on the International Space Station’s Harmony module, supporting spacecraft navigation during rendezvous and docking operations. The astronauts will also carry out several maintenance tasks, including installing data-relay system jumper cables, preparing the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer’s radiator for future maintenance and replacing a high-definition camera on the station’s truss.

This picture was published as part of a set on social media by ESA astronaut Sophie Adenot, with the following caption:

Day 194, orbit 3010 — A few pictures from my second EVA, straight from the cameras!

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Jour 194, orbite 3010 – Quelques photos de ma deuxième sortie dans l’espace, tout droit sorties des appareils photo !