Proba-2, currently under development and due for launch in September 2007, is the second in ESA’s series of small, low-cost satellites that are being used to validate new spacecraft technologies while also carrying scientific instruments.

The Proba satellites are part of ESA’s In-Orbit Technology Demonstration Programme, funded through the General Support Technology Programme (GSTP).

The first satellite in the series, Proba-1, was launched in October 2001. Its primary payload

Up to now, astronomers have discovered 188 extrasolar planets, among which 10 are known as “transiting planets&rdquo. These planets pass between their star and us at each orbit (Figure 1). Given the current technical limitations, the only transiting planets that can be detected are giant planets orbiting close to their parent star known as “hot Jupiters” or Pegasids. The ten transiting planets known thus far have masses between 110 and 430 Earth masses (for comparison, Jupiter, with 318 Earth ma

Light can blind or distort colours, or confuse one with chiaroscuros. But it can have greater usefulness if its properties, characteristics, how it is created, etcetera are better understood.

At the Department of Applied Physics at the University of the Basque Country School of Engineering they are using laser light in studies to look for new applications.

There is more than one kind of laser beam but, basically, the process of its creation is the same:

Initially,

Opentrad the automatic translation project will be made public at a press conference which will take place on 30 May at 11.30 in the Polytechnic University of Catalonia (Barcelona).

Opentrad is an automatic translation project based on open-coded syntactic transference and which is valid for Spanish, Galician, Catalan/Valencian and Basque. Opentrad enables the translation of texts or documents as well as the navigation on webpages while translating at the same time. The language p

These two images, taken by the advanced Moon Imaging Experiment (AMIE) on board ESA’s SMART-1 spacecraft, show the difference between lunar highlands and a mare area from close by.

The first image, showing highlands, was obtained by AMIE on 22 January 2006, from a distance of about 1112 kilometres from the surface, with a ground resolution of 100 metres per pixel. The imaged area is centred at a latitude of 26º South and at a longitude of 157º West.

The second image,

Scientists at Duke and Rutgers universities have developed a mathematical framework they say will enable astronomers to test a new five-dimensional theory of gravity that competes with Einstein’s General Theory of Relativity.

Charles R. Keeton of Rutgers and Arlie O. Petters of Duke base their work on a recent theory called the type II Randall-Sundrum braneworld gravity model. The theory holds that the visible universe is a membrane (hence “braneworld”) embedded within a l

The nano world is getting brighter. Nanowires made of semiconductor materials are being used to make prototype lasers and light-emitting diodes with emission apertures roughly 100 nm in diameter–about 50 times narrower than conventional counterparts. Nanolight sources may have many applications, including “lab on a chip” devices for identifying chemicals and biological agents, scanning-probe microscope tips for imaging objects smaller than is currently possible, or ultra-precise tools for laser s

The ESA Concurrent Design Facility has completed fifty design studies and reviews since its opening as an experimental facility in 1999. Work is now under way to make the software developed for this facility available to European space industry and space organisations.

Many candidate space missions now take advantage of the concurrent engineering capabilities offered by the Concurrent Design Facility (CDF) at ESA-ESTEC to reduce the duration of their preliminary design study from the seve

When planning a summer wedding, it does not really help to hear that “the probability of showers is increasing”. A precision weather forecast will predict when the sun comes out or when the rain stops – or foretells if there is fog on the road or shipping lane.

Helsinki Testbed is a project designed to develop precision weather services. It consists of two parallel projects: a wide-ranging research project launched by the Finnish Meteorological Institute in 2005 that focuses on prov

Today, for many, computer networks are an indispensable infrastructure that interconnects people, places and organisations. But increasingly they are beginning to creak as their complexity grows. Biological systems through years of evolution can offer clues on how to cope, as a research project has demonstrated.

“Even a minor perturbation on a network can cause major problems,” says Dr Ozalp Babaoglu at the University of Bologna. “Simply adding a computer or installing an operating system

Ames Laboratory researchers detect secret files lurking within digital images

Keeping computer files private requires only the use of a simple encryption program. For criminals or terrorists wanting to conceal their activities, however, attaching an encrypted file to an e-mail message is sure to raise suspicion with law enforcement or government agents monitoring e-mail traffic.

But what if files could be hidden within the complex digital code of a photographic image? A

New funding, to extend the mission of ESA’s venerable solar watchdog SOHO, will ensure it plays a leading part in the fleet of solar spacecraft scheduled to be launched over the next few years.

Since its launch on 2 December 1995, The Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO) has provided an unprecedented view of the Sun – and not just the side facing the Earth. Two teams have now developed techniques for using SOHO to recreate the conditions on the far side of the Sun. The new f

The invention consists of an electrochemical measuring cell with redox mediators for measuring very low concentrations. Nevertheless, by means of designing…

The invention consists of an electrochemical measuring cell with redox mediators for measuring very low concentrations. Nevertheless, by means of desinging…

The invention constitutes the conceptualization of a vacuum trepan, which enables a spot specific, gentle and reversible removal of the epithelium….

The licensing offer regards the conception and creation of a construction kit for modular microsystem components building on the Match-X concept developed by…