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exploration.esa.int
ESA Exploration
@exploration.esa.int
4.3K followers 67 following 350 posts
Sharing news on Europe's human and robotic exploration, from astronaut training to the next giant leap to the Moon and Mars.
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exploration.esa.int
Engineers at Airbus transformed the structure into a spacecraft, using components crafted by 20+ companies in 10 European countries:
🔌 11 km of wiring
🚀 33 engines
⛽💧💨 8000+ litres of fuel, water and air
🌡️ a thermal system keeping astronauts at ~20°C

📸: Airbus
November 10, 2025 at 12:03 PM
exploration.esa.int
⚙️ The module's journey began at Thales Alenia Space in Turin, Italy, where the backbone structure was crafted with precision.
This framework is the foundation for propulsion 🚀, power ⚡and life-support systems 👩‍🚀 that will keep astronauts safe on their way to lunar orbit.

📸: Thales Alenia Space
November 10, 2025 at 12:02 PM
exploration.esa.int
🚀 Dreaming of a career in space?

@esa.int's European Astronaut Centre is looking for interns! 🌍✨

From space medicine to XR labs, media production and planetary science, this is your chance to work where astronauts train.

✅ Applications open until 30 November 2025

👉 www.esa.int/About_Us/Car...
ESA astronaut Thomas Pesquet on his third spacewalk for the Alpha mission. Credits: ESA/NASA
November 6, 2025 at 12:29 PM
exploration.esa.int
No supermarkets on the Moon? No problem. 🌕🥗

@esa.int's HOBI-WAN project is testing if bacteria can turn gases into protein-rich food in microgravity. This could make future crews more self-sufficient on missions to the Moon and Mars.

The Force of science is strong 👉
www.esa.int/Newsroom/Pre...
November 4, 2025 at 4:02 PM
exploration.esa.int
What's it like to live on White Mars? 🇦🇶
After a year of research and resilience at Concordia station, @esa.int doctor Nina Purvis shares her experience in a new blog 🧪❄️.
Discover her journey 🔗
blogs.esa.int/concordia/20...
November 4, 2025 at 9:08 AM
exploration.esa.int
🦿 Can you fly to space with a prosthesis?

@esa.int’s FLY! project is exploring inclusive spaceflight—together with astronaut reserve member John McFall.

Hear from John about the next phase of FLY!, astronaut reserve training and more in this #ESAExplores podcast 🎧

🔗 youtu.be/rYHicJCkLxA?...
November 3, 2025 at 6:34 PM
exploration.esa.int
🚀 @esa.int's astronaut reserve wraps up training phase two!

For eight weeks, the team reunited at the European Astronaut Centre in Cologne 🇩🇪 to train in spacecraft systems, operations, VR spacewalks, sea survival, firefighting and more 👩‍🚀👨‍🚀

🔗 t.co/7rKzhjEVtK
ESA’s first Astronaut Reserve cohort has received its official training patch, unveiled during a ceremony at the European Astronaut Centre (EAC) in Cologne, Germany. Pictured here are members of ESA's astronaut reserve, Arnaud Prost, Carmen Possnig, Andrea Patassa, John McFall, Sara García Alonso, Aleš Svoboda, Amelie Schoenenwald, Anthea Comellini and Meganne Christian, joined by Human Exploration Group Leader at ESA's European Astronaut Centre Andreas Mogensen and ESA’s Director of Human and Robotic Exploration Daniel Neuenschwander.
November 3, 2025 at 12:45 PM
exploration.esa.int
📡 There is a place in Europe that talks to the International Space Station every single day.

🛰️ Welcome to a day in the live of the Columbus Control Centre, our direct link to Europe’s space laboratory, where teams provide 24/7 support to keep science running in orbit.
November 2, 2025 at 3:27 PM
exploration.esa.int
Exactly 25 years ago, at 09:21 UTC, the era of continuous human presence on the International @Space_Station began.

Since Crew One took up residence in 2000, 21 @esa.int astronauts have lived and worked on this orbital outpost, conducting essential research to benefit life on Earth.
November 2, 2025 at 9:22 AM
exploration.esa.int
🌌 In space no one can hear you scream. At Concordia you can, but no one is close enough to answer 😱

❄️ Over 500 km from the nearest humans, this Antarctic outpost is more remote than the International Space Station.

🔊 Listen to the haunting sounds of isolation this Halloween, captured by Dr Purvis.
October 31, 2025 at 3:45 PM
exploration.esa.int
🥁 And the answer is… the ExoMars landing platform deploying its ramps!

🎥 Recorded during recent tests at Astronika facilities in Poland: blogs.esa.int/to-mars-and-...

Thanks for playing along!
October 31, 2025 at 2:50 PM
exploration.esa.int
🙀 Here are some cats reacting to the sound. It may not help you guess, but they’re sensing something…
October 31, 2025 at 10:26 AM
exploration.esa.int
🔊 Guess the sound!

🔴 Our engineering teams just picked up an audio signal they’re calling "Creepy Mars."

🤔 What do you think is making this squeaky noise? Drop your answer in the comments, we’ll reveal it at 16h CET!

#Halloween #SpookySeason
October 31, 2025 at 10:24 AM
exploration.esa.int
Do you wanna hear a scary story? 😱

Four astronauts. One underground mission. Total darkness. Every task demanded teamwork. Every step required trust. In space or in a cave, no one explores alone.

An international crew completed @esa.int's CAVES training, living in isolation underground for 4 days.
October 31, 2025 at 9:10 AM
exploration.esa.int
🚀🇳🇱 @Spaceexpo, just next to @esa's technical centre in the Netherlands, is celebrating this historic milestone with a new exhibition about Wubbo Ockels, developed in collaboration with his wife Joos Ockels 👨‍🚀
October 30, 2025 at 9:21 AM
exploration.esa.int
👨‍🚀 40 years ago today, Wubbo Ockels became the first Dutch astronaut 🇳🇱
🚀 During his mission, Spacelab-D1, he orbited Earth 110 times over 168 hours 🌍 and performed over 75 experiments with his crew 🧪, controlled from the German Space Operations Centre for the first time in space history.
October 30, 2025 at 9:21 AM
exploration.esa.int
🇵🇱🧪 From mental health to volcanic algae, Polish science soared aboard #Ignis

🚀 18 days on the International Space Station
🧬 13 experiments from Poland
🧑‍🚀 53+ hours of science
✅ 127% mission success

Explore the full overview👉 esamultimedia.esa.int/docs/HRE/Ign...

@esa.int @astro-slawosz.bsky.social
October 27, 2025 at 12:00 PM
exploration.esa.int
🌕 Robots on the Moon — almost!

Eight teams from 🇨🇦 🇩🇰 🇩🇪 🇱🇺 🇵🇱 🇬🇧 tested robotic systems to dig and sort simulated Moon soil at the @esa.int - @dlr-en.bsky.social LUNA facility in Cologne, Germany.

✨ The goal? Tech for sustainable lunar living.

🔗 www.esa.int/Science_Expl...
October 24, 2025 at 2:20 PM
exploration.esa.int
👽 Not an alien, but condensation defying gravity.

👀 Watch liquids behave differently on the International Space Station vs Earth.

🆒 @esa.int is pioneering heat transfer tests in space with an experiment that could improve how we cool down

www.esa.int/Science_Expl...
October 23, 2025 at 9:27 AM
exploration.esa.int
Two generations of ESA-sponsored Concordia doctors👩‍⚕️👩‍⚕️
Dr Sarah Gaier, who will spend the next year performing biomedical research at the Antarctic station 🇦🇶, and Dr Carmen Possnig, who wintered over in 2017 and is now a member of ESA's astronaut reserve 👩‍🚀
October 21, 2025 at 2:08 PM
exploration.esa.int
👩‍🔬 During the winterover, the ESA-sponsored medical doctor is both scientist and subject, studying how extreme cold 🥶, darkness 🌑 & isolation - conditions also found in space 🌌 - affect the human body. Data from before, during & after the mission are compared to gather new scientific insights 🔬
October 21, 2025 at 2:07 PM
exploration.esa.int
Getting ready for Antarctica ❄️
Last week at @esa.int's European Astronaut Centre, our human exploration science team met the crew who will spend the 2026 winterover at Concordia station 🇦🇶 for their "pre-baseline data collection", a series of measurements before they leave for Antarctica 🧪
October 21, 2025 at 2:05 PM
exploration.esa.int
Waving from orbit — Thomas Reiter’s historic hello from space! 👋🌍

30 years ago today, @esa.int's astronaut Thomas Reiter became the first European to perform a spacewalk during his 179-day EuroMir-95 mission.

🔗 esa.int/ESA_Multimed...
Thomas Reiter performed the first spacewalk by an ESA astronaut during the ESA–Russian EuroMir-95 mission to the Mir space station. Credits: ESA
October 20, 2025 at 2:12 PM
exploration.esa.int
Orion on a roll 🌀
Last week, the Artemis II Orion - complete with crew module 👩‍🚀, @esa.int's European Service Module ⚡, solar arrays ☀️ + launch abort system 🛡️ - was rolled 10km to the Vehicle Assembly Building at NASA's Kennedy Space Center.
Next step - stacking on the SLS rocket 🚀

📸: ESA-M. Born
Close-up of NASA’s Orion spacecraft for Artemis II, showing NASA and ESA logos. Several hoses and cables are connected to the spacecraft, and part of the transport vehicle is visible. Wide view of the Orion spacecraft for Artemis II being transported near a large industrial building with bright interior lighting. The grassy foreground contrasts with the industrial setting, and various vehicles and equipment are visible under a partly cloudy sky.
October 20, 2025 at 11:42 AM
exploration.esa.int
🚁 Helicopter training for lunar landings 🌕
@esa.int astronauts Alexander Gerst, Matthias Maurer, Samantha Cristoforetti and Thomas Pesquet graduated today from a three-week training course with the German Bundeswehr 🎓
October 17, 2025 at 2:42 PM