ESA Top Multimedia

Separation for Mars

The slow-motion footage shows the separation of the ExoMars landing platform from the backshell during a test. A backshell is the cone-shaped rear section of a spacecraft’s protective aeroshell, which shields it from extreme heat and pressure during atmospheric entry.

Engineers are recreating the moment the lander breaks away from the backshell to head towards the martian surface. Anactuator with springs physically releases the lander at the right time and altitude.

It all happens when the landing platform is less than a kilometre in altitude from the ground, approaching it at 125 km per hour. At that moment, the parachutes are slowing down the module, which has already jettisoned its front shield and deployed its four legs.

Only after checking the spacecraft’s altitude and speed, and the readiness of the braking engines, does the onboard computer trigger the separation.

The test campaign at the Thales Alenia Space facilities in Turin, Italy, and used a full-scale model that replicates the structure and dimensions of the ExoMars landing platform and backshell.

The successful campaign takes ESA’s ExoMars Rosalind Franklin rover mission one step closer to a safe touchdown on Mars launch in 2028.

Hubble's superbubble scene

This sprawling cosmic vista and subject of today’s ESA/Hubble Picture of the Month comes from the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC). The LMC is the largest of the small galaxies that orbit our Milky Way galaxy. At just 160 000 light-years away, the LMC offers a close look at highly active stellar birthsites like the nebula shown here. This nebula is named LHA 120-N44, or N44 for short, and it’s located in the constellation Dorado.

The appearance of this photogenic nebula is dominated by two features: a vast central void and a shell of dense, dusty gas. The central void is a ‘superbubble’ spanning roughly 210 by 140 light-years. The glittering stars at the centre of the void are responsible for its creation; through their powerful stellar winds and explosive supernovae, these stars have expelled much of the gas from which they were born.

When the stars of N44’s central star cluster swept away this gas, the expelled gas formed a shell around the superbubble. New stars are forming in this compressed gas shell, making N44 an interesting target for researchers studying the process of star formation. In particular, astronomers have turned to this nebula as an ideal place to time this process from start to finish. Their goal is to understand how long it takes from the collapse of cold gas clouds into dense knots to the moment nuclear fusion ignites in the heart of a newborn star.

Researchers used Hubble to survey N44 and take a census of its stars, cataloguing nearly half a million stars within the cluster as well as interlopers drifting in front of it. Of the stars surveyed, nearly 30 000 are what astronomers call pre-main-sequence stars, which have yet to begin fusing hydrogen into helium in their cores. This treasure trove of baby stars was discoverable thanks to the high sensitivity and fine spatial resolution of Hubble’s instruments that can pick out faint objects in crowded clusters.

The gas shell surrounding the superbubble is energised by ultraviolet radiation from massive stars, causing it to glow and highlighting several distinct features. Each feature within the broader N44 star-forming complex was catalogued by astronomer Karl Henize in the 1950s. One feature is a smaller bubble, catalogued as N44F, that is located near the upper-right corner of this image. N44F is an interstellar bubble blown by the intense stellar winds of a single hot and massive star. As this previously released Hubble closeup shows, the star’s furious winds and radiation have sculpted the surrounding bubble and created pillars of dusty gas.

The data used to create this image come from an observing programme (#14689; PI: Gouliermis) that aimed to probe stars in the N44 complex that have not yet begun fusing hydrogen into heavier elements in their cores. These data help to determine how long the process of star formation takes, as well as what masses newborn stars typically have. Hubble's sensitive observations of the lowest-mass stars in this region open a new window onto star formation in regions that, like the LMC or the galaxies of the early Universe, are poor in elements heavier than helium.

[Image Description: A dense field of stars fills the image, surrounded by wispy clouds of gas and dust. Pale blue and grey nebulosity forms an intricate web across the scene, with darker clouds of dust concentrated towards the lower right. Numerous bright stars appear in shades of blue, white and orange.]

Decagon on Saturn’s south pole (colour image)

Two views of Saturn from the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope reveal a giant, evolving 10-sided atmospheric wave encircling the planet’s south pole. The feature, called a decagon, is the first large, regular-sided pattern observed at Saturn’s southern hemisphere.

By comparing observations taken over several years, researchers found that the pattern has become increasingly distinct since 2023, suggesting they may be witnessing a new atmospheric phenomenon develop on the gas giant. The observations were made as part of Hubble’s Outer Planet Atmosphere’s Legacy (OPAL) program, which has monitored Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune for more than a decade.

The “X” and dashed circle in the image on the right represent where data was not captured by Hubble.

[Image description: Side-by-side comparison of two views of the gas giant Saturn, labeled “August 29, 2025” at the top left corner. At left is a straight-on view of Saturn, a globe with pale yellow horizontal bands at the equator and orange and pink at the mid-latitudes. Some bands towards the north and south pole have a light blue hue. There are prominent horizontal rings circling at the equator. At right, labeled “Saturn’s south pole,” the south-polar view of Saturn shows concentric bands in its atmosphere, mostly tan and orange, surrounding a dark central region that has a 10-sided outline. A small, dashed circle at the very centre of the pole with an “X” inside denotes missing data.]

FLEX and Sentinel-3C being sealed from view

Tango's reentry recorded

200 days into the εpsilon Pushup Challenge

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

Day 201 orbit 3115 — Let’s celebrate 200 days in space with an inspiring video!

My amazing support team at the European Astronaut Centre (EAC) launched the εpsilon Push-Up Challenge after liftoff: adding one push-up for every day of the εpsilon mission. Since then, it has spread to other ESA sites across Europe, and it means a lot to me to see so many people taking part!

And before my trainers and flight surgeons start worrying: this was filmed before the EVA marathon began...

Thank you all and congratulations on completing more than 150,000 push-ups! Woohoo! Your collective energy is a real boost, and I'm lucky to have such an incredible team behind me

--
Jour 201, orbite 3115 – Une vidéo qui me tient à cœur pour fêter 200 jours dans l’espace !

Ma formidable équipe de soutien au Centre européen des astronautes (EAC) a lancé un défi sportif après le décollage : faire une pompe de plus chaque jour de la mission εpsilon. D’autres sites de l’ESA à travers l’Europe ont depuis rejoint le défi, et cela me touche beaucoup !

Et avant que mes entraîneurs et médecins de vol ne commencent à s’inquiéter : cette vidéo a été filmée avant le début du marathon de sorties extravéhiculaires...

Merci à toutes et à tous! On me dit que vous avez effectué plus de 150 000 pompes ! Wouhou ! Votre énergie me porte et j’ai beaucoup de chance d’être entourée d’une telle équipe .

ESA astronaut Sophie Adenot during EVA-99

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 during EVA-99 preparations

Samba's reentry recorded

Following its targeted reentry on 31 August, Samba (Cluster II FM-7), the third of ESA's four Cluster satellites, was successfully observed by the ROSIE airborne mission 2026. The ROSIE reentry observation team acquired the image with a Nikon Z8 camera operated by University of Stuttgart (HEFDiG).

Samba reentered Earth’s atmosphere at 21:39:38 UTC / 23:39:38 CEST as the third of the four Cluster satellites. Samba had been specially lined up for a targeted reentry safely over the South Pacific Ocean, with the precision so high that a plane could fly out from Tonga and successfully record its demise for reentry science.

Following the first Cluster plane campaign observing Salsa’s reentry in 2024, there were lessons learned that helped improve the data collection this time around. The ROSIE team managed to get over 50 seconds of footage with this camera, one of several so-called tracking cameras. Also, instead of just observing a few of the brightest fragments, this time dozens of fragments can clearly be seen streaking across the sky.

The tracking camera was used to confirm that Samba was exactly where it was supposed to be. It shows the surroundings, providing context such as the state of fragmentation and relative positioning of the fragments. Tracking camera images are complemented by other instruments that look for the presence of specific materials in the same field of view.

This then helps scientists identify which part of the spacecraft they are looking on their quest to understand how satellites demise exactly.

Meet FLEX

Using cutting-edge technology, ESA’s FLEX mission is designed to reveal new insights into how plants function by measuring the faint fluorescence they emit when they capture light during photosynthesis. Although invisible to the human eye, this signal changes with environmental conditions and plant health – allowing scientists to assess vegetation health, and stress. The FLEX satellite is equipped with the Fluorescence Imaging Spectrometer (FLORIS), an instrument designed specifically to detect and map this delicate glow from space.

Samba's reentry recorded

Media briefing: BepiColombo's next milestone towards Mercury

Rewatch the European Space Agency's 31 August 2026 online press briefing on the latest developments of the ESA/JAXA BepiColombo mission, Europe's and Japan's first mission to Mercury.

This briefing focused on the complexities of the separation of the Mercury Transfer Module (MTM), scheduled for 3 September 2026, a critical milestone marking the start of BepiColombo’s Mercury arrival phase. It also provided an overview of the operational challenges and milestones ahead, including Mercury orbit insertion in November 2026 and the separation of the two science orbiters (ESA's MPO and JAXA's Mio) in December 2026.

The briefing also provided an update on the mission’s status and explored the scientific opportunities that await as BepiColombo prepares to begin operations around Mercury. Journalists had the opportunity to ask questions following the presentations from three speakers:

Prof. Geraint Jones, Lead Project Scientist, ESA
Santa Martinez, Mission Manager, ESA
Ignacio Tanco, Head of Inner Solar System Mission Operations, ESA

BepiColombo will be the most complex mission ever sent to Mercury. Its orbiters will be only the second and third to orbit the planet. Close to the Sun and more difficult for an orbiter to reach than Pluto, this small desert world is the least explored planet of the inner Solar System. Learning more about Mercury will shed light on the history of the entire Solar System.

The mission is a collaboration between ESA and JAXA, the latter providing the Mercury Magnetospheric Orbiter (Mio).

Click here for a set of explanatory infographics

What happened this month at the European Space Agency? (August 2026)

August was a busy month for ESA, between spectacular views, historic milestones and exciting new discoveries.

From a total solar eclipse broadcast live from Spain and Sophie Adenot’s historic spacewalks, to the launch of MTG-I2 aboard Ariane 6, a breathtaking flight over Mars and a surprising discovery near our galaxy’s central black hole, here’s your monthly roundup from the European Space Agency.

Roman lifts off on a mission to survey the infrared sky

NASA’s Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope lifted off on a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, USA, at 07:26 EDT / 12:26 BST/ 13:26 CEST on 30 August 2026. With the successful launch, Roman began its mission to survey the sky in visible to near-infrared light to help reveal the nature of dark energy and dark matter. The telescope will also investigate the true diversity of exoplanets in our galaxy.

Roman is a NASA-led mission to which the European Space Agency (ESA) contributed star trackers, batteries, and detectors for the coronagraph instrument. ESA will also provide communications support through its deep-space ground station network, and enable data download using its new 35-metre antenna in New Norcia, Australia.

“I warmly congratulate our colleagues at NASA on the successful launch of Roman,” says Carole Mundell, ESA’s Director of Science. “ESA is proud to have provided essential hardware and to continue supporting Roman’s ambitious scientific goals. Together, we are opening new windows on the cosmos.”

Like ESA’s Euclid space telescope, Roman will enable astronomers to study the Universe in unprecedented detail. It is equipped with a primary mirror of 2.4 m and two instruments: the Wide Field Instrument (WFI) and a Coronagraph Instrument technology demonstration.

With its panoramic view of the sky, crisp infrared vision and quick re-orientation skills, Roman will perform fast and efficient surveys of a large area of the sky. By doing so, it will map clustering of galaxies over time and space and also study the light coming from thousands of distant type Ia supernovas which will help astronomers trace the expansion of the Universe.

“Roman should provide our clearest picture yet of whether dark energy is truly constant or whether it evolves over cosmic time – either outcome would have profound implications for our understanding of the Universe. I'm also excited by Roman's exoplanet census, which will discover thousands of new worlds, including cold planets and free-floating planets that have remained largely beyond our reach until now,” says Bethan James, ESA’s Roman Project Scientist. “Perhaps what excites me most is the unexpected. With its unprecedented combination of depth, area, and image quality, Roman has every opportunity to surprise us.”

After launch, Roman is on a steady course to the second Sun-Earth Lagrange point (L2), nearly 1.5 million km away from Earth. This location allows the telescope to have an unobstructed view of a wide area of the sky, almost 12%. Like ESA’s Euclid and the NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope, Roman will move in a wider orbit around the L2 point – much larger than the Moon’s orbit around Earth.

In the next three months following launch, the Roman team will conduct a carefully orchestrated series of deployments, calibrations, and tests. Once the commissioning period is complete, the mission will begin its science operations, starting with the first science image release. Roman will spend at least five years scanning the infrared sky and is designed to work in space for another five years.

[Image description: A SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket with NASA’s Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope on board is seen transiting the Sun during launch from Launch Complex 39A, on Sunday 30 August 2026, at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, US.]

Sophie Adenot's third spacewalk (U.S. Spacewalk 99)

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.