#ThisWeek in 1972, 31 January, #ESRO's Highly Eccentric Orbit Satellite #HEOS-2 was launched on a Delta rocket from Vandenberg Air Force Base, the first satellite to explore Earth’s northern polar region from a highly-eccentric orbit (pic: ESA historicalarchives.esa.int) 🧪🔭 #Space #History

We're sure @exploration.esa.int fans will be interested in this little factoid 👇 #ThisWeek in 1981, 2 February, @durandurancom.bsky.social released their debut single, #PlanetEarth! [Ed: possibly the best pop record evah 😉] en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Planet_... @spacerocksofficial.bsky.social

#ThisWeek in 1998: 29 January, the signing of the second Intergovernmental Agreement on the International Space Station Cooperation by 15 countries, 11 ESA Member States plus US, Canada, Japan and Russia. www.esa.int/ESA_Multimed...

#OTD: 29 January 1998, launch of @cnes.fr astronaut Léopold Eyharts on the 21-day French/Russian #Pégase mission. www.esa.int/Science_Expl... @citedelespace.bsky.social @museeairespace.bsky.social @fr.esa.int @cieletespace.bsky.social

Happy 10th birthday to EDRS-A🥳 Launched #OTD in 2016, our first laser relay node proved Europe can move data at incredible speed from space. Now, @esa.int's HydRON is taking us to the next era: a fully optical satcom network connecting satellites across orbits, for secure and fast communications⚡🔏

#OTD 27 January 1967, the first international treaty on outer space opened for signature by US, UK and USSR. It entered into force in October 1967, providing the basic framework on international space law. #Space #History #Spacehistory unoosa.org/oosa/en/ourw... @ukspaceagency.bsky.social @esa.int

#OTD: 26 January 1978, the ESA/NASA International Ultraviolet Explorer (IUE) was launched from Cape Canaveral. In operation for over 14 years, IUE was one of the longest-lived and most productive satellites ever built 🧪🔭 👉 www.esa.int/Science_Expl...

Did you know…😉

😎 On 25 January 2026, Joos Ockels begins a series of lectures at Noordwijk's SPACE EXPO giving an exclusive glimpse into the life of Dutch ESA astronaut Wubbo Ockels and his space journey. See also www.space-expo.nl/posts/joos-o...

#OTD 23 January 2016, ESA's #Rosetta narrow-angle camera took this image when the spacecraft was 75.1 km from Comet 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko 🧪🔭 www.esa.int/spaceinimage... @science.esa.int @dlr-de.bsky.social

#OTD 23 January 2018, the first hot firing of #Ariane6's #Vulcain 2.1 main engine, DLR's test facility in Lampoldshausen, Germany. This was the first step on the way to launching Europe's new Ariane 6! www.esa.int/Enabling_Sup... @dlr-de.bsky.social @de.esa.int @transport.esa.int @cnes.fr

#OTD: 22 January 1992, launch of STS-42 #Discovery with ESA astronaut Ulf Merbold making his second flight. Joining him on the crew was Canada's first female astronaut Roberta Bondar. @dlr-de.bsky.social @de.esa.int @exploration.esa.int #Space #History #SpaceHistory

#OTD 21 January 2004, @esa.int's Mars Express took this image of Olympus Mons on #Mars, the first high-resolution colour image of the complete caldera of the highest volcano in our Solar System🧪🔭 www.esa.int/spaceinimage... @dlr-de.bsky.social @freieuniversitaet.bsky.social #SpaceHistory

#OTD 20 January 2014, ESA's #Rosetta spacecraft woke up from a 2.5-year deep-space hibernation, near the end of its 10-year journey, to prepare for rendezvous with #Comet67P 🧪🔭 www.esa.int/Science_Expl... @science.esa.int @operations.esa.int @dlr-de.bsky.social @cnes.fr

We’re sad to report the passing of former ESA Director of Science Prof. Roger-Maurice Bonnet on 19 January 2026, aged 88. 🔗 esa.int/About_Us/Cor... @cmundell.esa.int @science.esa.int @josefaschbacher.esa.int

The first opening from the #ESAarchives in 2026 deals with material that dates back some 30 years, to 1992 and the #InternationalSpaceYear (ISY), to the beginnings of a coordinated European approach to Earth observation for environmental protection 🧪🌏 historicalarchives.esa.int/volumes-inte...

Well that's damn cool. Sentinel-2B caught SLS on it's way to 39B today at 16:05:09 UTC.

#OTD 19 January 2000, the first image taken by ESA's XMM-Newton X-ray space observatory. This 'first light' false colour image taken by XMM's EPIC camera shows part of a small companion galaxy to the Milky Way, the Large Magellanic Cloud. xmm-tools.cosmos.esa.int/external/xmm... @science.esa.int

#OTD 18 January 2004, ESA's Mars Express mapped the south polar cap of the Red Planet. The spacecraft's OMEGA infrared spectrometer confirmed the presence of water ice and carbon dioxide ice on Mars 🧪🔭 www.esa.int/Science_Expl... @science.esa.int @dlr-de.bsky.social @freieuniversitaet.bsky.social

#OTD 18 January 2008, ESA and Astrium (now Airbus Space) sign contract to start development of the #BepiColombo spacecraft for a mission to #Mercury. Today, the spacecraft is on its long journey to Mercury, with arrival expected in November 2026🧪🔭 www.esa.int/About_Us/Bus... @science.esa.int

#OTD 18 January 2005, the moon Mimas against the blue backdrop of Saturn as seen by the NASA/ESA/ASI Cassini spacecraft 🧪🔭 www.esa.int/ESA_Multimed... #Space #SpaceHistory @science.esa.int

#OTD 16 January 2015, the #Beagle2 lander was found on #Mars. Seen in images taken by #NASA’s MRO, the lander was partially deployed, meaning that it did indeed land successfully on Mars on Christmas Day 2003! 🧪🔭 @science.esa.int @ukspaceagency.bsky.social @openuniversity.bsky.social

#OTD 10 years ago, 15 January 2016, ESA’s Tim Peake becomes first British astronaut to make a spacewalk from the International Space Station. #ICYMI 🤣👉 youtu.be/AAUPp4oNlkI @esa.int @ukspaceagency.bsky.social @spacerocksofficial.bsky.social @spacecentre.bsky.social

#OTD 14 January 2005, @esa.int's #Huygens probe landed on Saturn's moon #Titan; humankind's only landing (to date) in the outer Solar System, the farthest landing from Earth a spacecraft has ever made, and also the first landing on a moon other than our own 🧪🔭 www.esa.int/Science_Expl...

#ThisWeek in 2017, French ESA astronaut Thomas Pesquet made his first spacewalk on 13 January. He spent 5 hour 58 min working outside the International Space Station (and even had time to take a selfie 😉) www.esa.int/ESA_Multimed... @fr.esa.int @exploration.esa.int @thom-astro.bsky.social @cnes.fr

#ThisWeek 20 years ago! 12 January 2006, the #Galileo GIOVE-A navigation satellite transmitted the first Galileo signals from medium Earth orbit 🛰️ @esa.int @navigation.esa.int @euspa.bsky.social @ec.europa.eu

😎 #ESAarchives' ‘theme’ for 2026: an exploration of the origins of ESA activities, science, events and people in its early years. Follow through the year for more, but here's an appetiser! 😊 🔗 historicalarchives.esa.int/beginning-es... #ESAorigins @eui-euarchives.bsky.social @eui-eu.bsky.social

#ESAarchives kicks off 2026 with a look back at ERS-1, the first environmental monitoring satellite developed by ESA, and the origins of European Earth observation for environmental protection – more about this model too, in #ObjectOfTheMonth 👇 historicalarchives.esa.int#oom

#NollaignamBan The first woman admitted to the all-male Royal Astronomical Society, Agnes Mary Clerke's analyses were so reliable, thoughtful & wide reaching that she became a revered authority. The Clerke lunar crater was named to commemorate her. www.dib.ie/biography/cl... #DIBLives

Also #HappyBirthday/#Bonanniversaire 🎂to @esa.int and @cnes.fr astronaut Philippe Perrin 🇫🇷 (born #OTD 6 January 1963)! www.esa.int/Science_Expl... @aseastronauts.bsky.social @fr.esa.int @exploration.esa.int

#HappyBirthday🎂 to British-born NASA astronaut Mike Foale, born in Louth, UK, #OTD 6 January 1957. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael... @aseastronauts.bsky.social @ukspaceagency.bsky.social @spacecentre.bsky.social @sciencemuseum.org.uk

#OTD 5 January 1972, President Richard Nixon announced start of development of the US space transportation system, or 'Space Shuttle'. Here seen with #NASA Administrator Dr James Fletcher 👉 www.nasa.gov/image-articl...

#OTD 3 January 2015, @esa.int's #Rosetta spacecraft took a series of pictures at a distance of 28.4 km from Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko to make this awesome four-image mosaic 🧪🔭 www.esa.int/ESA_Multimed... @science.esa.int @dlr-de.bsky.social @cnes.fr @spacerocksofficial.bsky.social

😎

#OTD This amazing image was taken on 1 January 2001, showing the Galilean moon Io above the cloudtops of Jupiter, by the NASA/ESA/ASI Cassini-Huygens spacecraft, two days after its closest approach to the giant planet. ciclops.org/view/90/Io-T... @esa.int @science.esa.int @carolynporco.bsky.social

Check out our latest post on @eurospacehistory.bsky.social #Substack 😎 #Space #History #Books #Reading

Did you catch this year’s @rigb.org Christmas Lectures? 🌠 If not, you can now watch all three lectures on BBC iPlayer. 📺 👉 bbc.co.uk/programmes/m00…

#OTD 50 years ago, 31 December 1975, #Ireland 🇮🇪 signed the ESA Convention, becoming ESA's 11th Member State (the 10 original ESRO and ELDO members had signed the Convention a few months earlier on 30 May 1975). #50YearsOfESA www.esa.int/About_Us/Cor... @entirl.bsky.social @ucddublin.bsky.social

#OTD 31 December 2004, the NASA/ESA/ASI #Cassini spacecraft took this image of #Saturn's moon #Iapetus from a distance of about 172 900 km after the spacecraft's closest approach to the icy moon🧪🔭 #space #history ciclops.org/view/707/Dar...

We’d have to go with… 😉 Post a perfect album from the 90s that isn't Nirvana, Sound garden, Pearl Jam or Alice In Chains.

There are very few surviving portrait of Johannes Kepler and each of them has a question mark hanging over it for some reason #histsci thonyc.wordpress.com/2025/12/27/c...

#OTD: 25 December 2003, ESA's Mars Express entered orbit around the ‘Red Planet’, the first European spacecraft to do so, after a journey lasting 205 days and covering 400 million km 🧪🔭 👉 www.esa.int/Science_Expl... @esa.int @sci.esa.int @operations.esa.int

#OTD: 25 December 2021, a perfect launch on #ChristmasDay for the NASA/ESA/CSA James #Webb Space Telescope on #Ariane5 flight VA256 from Europe’s Spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana 🧪🔭 👉 esawebb.org/images/webb_... @esa.int @science.esa.int @stsci.edu

Happy anniversary, Webb! www.esa.int/ESA_Multimed...

👏 That's it! Hope you enjoyed this year of 50 (51😉) #50YearsOfESA images. If you missed some, you can search on the hashtag to catch up! 🎄 Thanks for following! Best wishes to all for Christmas and the New Year. We'll be back soon with more #SpaceHistory!

#50YearsOfESA #2025 OK, 51 years 😉 but we couldn't resist this. This March, @esa.int's Proba-3 achieved what no other mission has before – its two spacecraft flew 150 m apart in perfect formation without control from the ground, and created their first ‘artificial total solar eclipse’ in orbit.

#50YearsOfESA #2024 The first Ariane 6 was launched on 9 July 2024, restoring Europe’s independent access to space. This inaugural flight #VA262 was greatly celebrated in Europe, paving the way for the next Ariane 6 flights. www.esa.int/Enabling_Sup... @transport.esa.int @cnes.fr

#50YearsOfESA #2023 @esa.int's Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer ('Juice') is an interplanetary spacecraft now on its way to Jupiter to study three of its icy moons: Ganymede, Callisto and Europa. Juice was launched on #Ariane5 VA260 on 14 April 2023 🧪🔭 #SpaceHistory @transport.esa.int @science.esa.int

Happy 'New Year' @rmathematicus.bsky.social 😉 (PS we love GMT here at @eurospacehistory.bsky.social 👍)

On this day in 2003, Beagle 2 separated from ESA's Mars Express to make its way to the Martian surface, landing on 25 December.🔴 10 years ago, NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter located the lander, finding it intact but partially deployed. 🛰️ Read more 👉 gov.uk/government/n...