Latest European Astronaut Centre Stories

What happens when your experiment gets over 30,000 views online? Tomorrow’s space explorers were awarded an out-of-this-world scientific exchange with astronauts on the International Space Station last Wednesday. Youngsters from Europe, the Middle East and Africa were invited to the European Astronaut Centre in Cologne, Germany, for a live chat with ESA astronaut André Kuipers and NASA astronaut Don Pettit. The prize was well-deserved: only 21 videos out of the 2000 submitted made it...

Do you have what it takes to be an astronaut? ESA is making actual astronaut training available on your computer and tablet, so you can see for yourself. ESA’s third Automated Transfer Vehicle, ATV Edoardo Amaldi, has safely docked with the International Space Station. ATV is the largest supply ship to fly to the Space Station. A truly international team effort, ATV-3 brought fresh food, fuel and supplies to the Station. Although this spacecraft has sophisticated automatic docking...

ESA’s astronauts-in-training have a busy schedule. From their base at the European Astronaut Centre in Cologne, Germany, they are travelling all over the world to learn the skills required to fly in space, blogging as they go. The new astronauts are learning how to live and work on the International Space Station in the countries of all the Station’s partners: Europe, Canada, America, Japan and Russia. You can now follow their trials and triumphs by following the blog written by the...

Sixty space experiment proposals have been selected as finalists in the YouTube Space Lab student science competition, co-sponsored by ESA. Judges must now select the two top entries to be flown on the International Space Station. ESA, NASA, JAXA and the Canadian Space Agency have joined Google, YouTube, Lenovo and Space Adventures in an international science competition that challenges students aged 14–16 and 17–18 to design an experiment that can be conducted in microgravity on the...

It is summer in Antarctica and the new crew for the Concordia research station will soon arrive. And since the place is second only to space for harsh conditions, they have been trained courtesy of ESA. The Franco–Italian operated Concordia research base in Antarctica is a place of extremes, especially during the long, dark winter. Now, during the summer, it is around –30°C and the Sun shines around the clock, but Antarctica will gradually show its other face starting from...

ESA astronauts will join Google and YouTube managers on 30 November to present highlights of the 'Space Lab' competition. Space Lab is challenging students around the world to design a science experiment for the International Space Station. Launched just seven weeks ago, Space Lab has already attracted 5500 experiment proposals by registered team and individual competitors – and the dedicated YouTube site has recorded 14 million views. Space Lab, supported by ESA, was initiated by...

[ Watch the Video ] Take five astronauts and instead of sending them into space take them underground. ESA’s CAVES venture prepares astronauts to work in an international team under real exploration conditions. The latest ‘crew’ has returned after six days in the dark. Sardinia is not only a popular Mediterranean holiday destination but also an excellent place for astronaut training. The island’s interior has isolated mountains and forest areas, rugged and savage. ESA’s...

  ESA's next space-bound astronaut, André Kuipers, has spent most of the summer intensively training for his upcoming mission to the International Space Station.   André and crewmates Oleg Kononenko and Don Pettit have spent days in the Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Centre (GCTC) in Star City, not far from Moscow in Russia, at the European Astronaut Centre in Cologne, Germany, and at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston, USA. These photos tell the story of his summer time –...

ESA astronaut Paolo Nespoli's mother, Maria, passed away on Monday while he is still serving on the International Space Station. The crew honored Paolo's mother this afternoon with a short ceremony.Paolo was notified immediately in a private call, following the preference he expressed before the mission for such an event.Jean-Jacques Dordain, ESA Director General, and Thomas Reiter, ESA Director for Human Spaceflight and Operations, contacted Paolo to express ESA's condolences and assure the...

After eight weeks of exercises and classroom activities, 4000 children from more than 25 cities worldwide are about to conclude their "˜Mission X: Train Like an Astronaut' challenge that promotes healthy nutrition and regular exercise.Acrobatic space somersaults and climbing martian mountains are some of the fun activities "“ inspired by astronaut training "“ performed by children and teachers from Austria, Belgium, Colombia, Czech Republic, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the...