European Association for Astronomy Education

Source NASA News Release 11-022

NASA's Stardust-NExT spacecraft is nearing a celestial date with comet Tempel 1 at approximately 11:37 p.m. EST, on Feb. 14.

The mission will allow scientists for the first time to look for changes on a comet's surface that occurred following an orbit around the Sun.

The Stardust-NExT, or New Exploration of Tempel, spacecraft will take high-resolution images during the encounter, and attempt to measure the composition, distribution, and flux of dust emitted into the coma, or material surrounding the comet's nucleus. Data from the mission will provide important new information on how Jupiter-family comets evolved and formed. (learn more)

Source: ESA News

First two Galileo IOV satellites. Image credit: ESA.

Galileo's first satellite is undergoing testing at ESA's technical centre in the Netherlands, checking its readiness to be launched into orbit. This marks a significant step for Europe's Galileo SATNAV constellation.(read more)

Souce: ESA News

ESA's Director General and President of the Romanian Space Agency sign the accession agreement.
Image credit: Romanian Space Agency

ESA PR 04-2011 Romania took a step further in its relations with ESA by signing the Accession Agreement to the ESA Convention on 20 January 2011, to become the 19th ESA Member State.(read more)