#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

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#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...

In 2025, we celebrated the 30th anniversary of European satellite navigation, a milestone built on decades of innovation, collaboration and excellence. Read about the challenges and triumphs that have shaped the navigation systems we rely on today 👇#50YearsOfESA

🎉 Congratulations @fennygoldfish.bsky.social! Please drop us a DM with your address so that we can send you a copy of Tim Peake's book!

Now uploading : -Thousands of documents from many US space programs such as Constellation, STS or Mercury. -Hundreds of thousands of STS, Mir and ISS high res scans -Many Gbs of archive videos (Apollo/Mir/STS/Mercury/Gemini)

🎅 🔔 @esa.int and partners in European industry have built up a history of festive launches, from the first flight of Ariane 1 on 24 December 1979. Closing the commemorations of #50YearsOfESA, #ESAarchives take a look back at #Christmas past in Kourou! @cnes.fr @transport.esa.int @fr.esa.int

On this day in 2015, Tim Peake became the UK’s second astronaut when he launched to the International Space Station. 🚀 Today we’re celebrating 10 years since Tim historic Principia mission. Hear from Rosemary Coogan, Meganne Christian and John McFall on how Tim's mission inspired them.

#OnThisDay 1️⃣0️⃣ years ago, 15 December 2015, Tim Peake🇬🇧 became first British @esa.int astronaut and second British citizen in space on his #Principia mission to the International Space Station. www.esa.int/Science_Expl... @daraobriain.bsky.social @cmdr-hadfield.bsky.social @ukspaceagency.bsky.social

#OTD 1️⃣5️⃣ years ago: 15 December 2010, Italian ESA astronaut Paolo Nespoli 🇮🇹 was launched to the International Space Station on his six-month #MagISStra mission 👉 www.esa.int/Science_Expl... @exploration.esa.int @ita.esa.int

Tycho Brahe born 14 December 1546, built his Uraniborg, the first custom-built observatory in modern Europe on the island of Hven. It cost a fortune, how was it financed and why? #histsci #histtech thonyc.wordpress.com/2014/10/30/f... Brahe's Uraniborg main building from Blaeu's Atlas Maior (1663)

Ten years ago this weekend? But what was #Spacerocks? We'll let British ESA astronaut Tim Peake himself explain... 🖖🤘 www.esa.int/Science_Expl... @spacerocksofficial.bsky.social

There were many more messages to come via social media and video after launch and during the six-month #Principia mission, I’ll share some more in time… but wanted to leave this list here with this from our great friends the @inspiralcarpets.bsky.social Enjoy!

#OMD were one of the first bands to join in sending ‘good luck’ messages for Tim Peake and his launch to the International Space Station 10 years ago! youtu.be/rgMr08YHSZc?...

Join us for a behind the scenes look at the very moment when the Gaia spacecraft was switched off. On 27 March 2025, this emotionally charged milestone marked the end of operations, but not an end to the science coming from the Gaia data 👉 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dduXM5FbpcY 🔭

As one chapter closes, a new one begins at Europe's spaceport: the Ariane 5 launcher assembly building was transferred to Avio on 2 December. The launcher assembly building (or BIL from the French 'Bâtiment Assembleur Lanceur') was used for assembly of Europe’s now-retired Ariane 5 rockets.

In October 2015, just over 10 years ago, we kicked off ESA astronaut Tim Peake's #Spacerocks campaign a few months before his launch on 15 December. Introducing Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark! www.youtube.com/watch?v=MADA... @spacerocksofficial.bsky.social

#OTD: 10 December 2006, ESA astronaut Christer Fuglesang was launched on STS-116 Discovery to the International Space Station on his 12-day #Celsius mission, becoming the first Swedish citizen in space. @exploration.esa.int

😎 Coming soon! The finale to #50YearsOfESA celebrations, #ESAarchives are unveiling a new project to make public the plan of the collections at the European Centre for Space Records at ESRIN – more here👇 and tell us what you would like to see included! historicalarchives.esa.int/coming-soon-...

#OTD: 10 December 1999, the launch of ESA's XMM-Newton space observatory on #Ariane5 V119 (the first commercial launch of an Ariane 5) from Kourou. XMM-Newton is one of the longest missions to be operated from ESA's European Space Operations Centre in Germany. @science.esa.int

'Around The World In A Day' 4,411 images from a time-lapse sequence photographed by Jonny Kim are repaired, remastered & retimed to create 3x real time 4k UHD video footage with music by Stellardrone. Credit: Jonny Kim / ISS / NASA / ESRS / Seán Doran youtu.be/kgSCynekKJ8?...

BOOK GIVEAWAY: to mark the upcoming 10th anniversary of ESA astronaut Tim Peake’s #Prinicipia mission launch, we’ve got a couple of copies of Tim’s first book, ‘Hello, is this planet Earth?’, available for our followers. To be in with a chance to win, simply REPOST this post!

🛰️ All Galileo launches in one graphic. Next week, two Galileo satellites will be launched on #Ariane6, the 14th launch of the programme. Europe's navigation system serves billions of users and has over 30 satellites in orbit. 🔎https://www.esa.int/ESA_Multimedia/Images/2025/12/Galileo_launch_history

The first person to attempt to construct a reflecting telescope, the Italian Jesuit Niccolò Zucchi, was born 6 December 1586 #histsci thonyc.wordpress.com/2018/12/12/t...

Happy 10th launch anniversary, LISA Pathfinder! 🥳 For the first time ever, this mission tested in space the technology needed to detect gravitational waves, which paved the way to LISA 🤜 🤛 Planned to launch in 2035, LISA will be first gravitational wave detector in space 👉 esa.int/lisa 🔭

The close of 2025 brings to an end two concurrent years of celebration for the #ESAarchives – the 60th anniversary of the creation of ESA’s predecessors ELDO and ESRO in 2024, and our journey along the ‘road to 1975’ this year for the first 50 years of ESA. #50YearsOfESA #ObjectOfTheMonth

🌞🛰️Sun-watcher SOHO turns 30! 🎂 "SOHO has overcome nail-biting challenges to become one of the longest-operating space missions of all time" – Prof. @cmundell.esa.int , ESA Director of Science 👉 www.esa.int/Science_Expl... 🔭🧪

#OTD 2 December 1993, Space Shuttle flight STS-61, the first Hubble Space Telescope Servicing Mission, was launched with @esa.int astronaut Claude Nicollier on board 🧪🔭 @science.esa.int @exploration.esa.int @stsci.edu en.wikipedia.org/wiki/STS-61 #SpaceHistory

#OTD 3️⃣0️⃣ years ago, 2 December 1995, launch of the joint ESA/NASA Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO). Originally designed for a two-year mission to study the Sun, it was extended multiple times and is still operational 🧪🔭 www.esa.int/Science_Expl... @science.esa.int @americaspace.bsky.social

#OTD 28 November 1983, with the launch of Shuttle Columbia STS-9, @esa.int made its debut in human spaceflight. 👨‍🚀 ESA's first astronaut in space, Ulf Merbold 🇩🇪 🛰️ first European scientific lab in orbit, #Spacelab-1 🔗 www.esa.int/About_Us/ESA... @dlr-de.bsky.social @exploration.esa.int #SpaceHistory

🆕 #ESAarchives opened the 'ESA Scientific & Technical Review' collection in their SHIP database. This was the first iteration of ESA’s primary technical publication, giving insight into areas where ESA was investing its research efforts in the mid-1970s. 🔗 historicalarchives.esa.int/opening-esa-...

#ThisWeek 35 years ago: 26 November 1988, launch of @cnes.fr astronaut Jean-Loup Chrétien 🇫🇷 on his #Aragatz mission! @aseastronauts.bsky.social @exploration.esa.int @cieletespace.bsky.social @museeairespace.bsky.social @citedelespace.bsky.social www.esa.int/Science_Expl...

#OTD 26 November 1965, France 🇫🇷 launched its first satellite Astérix, on a Diamant A rocket from Hammaguir, Algeria. It is still in orbit today but not operational @fr.esa.int @cnes.fr @museeairespace.bsky.social @citedelespace.bsky.social en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ast%C3%...

🎂 26 novembre 1965 : la fusée Diamant place en orbite le satellite Astérix. La France devient alors la 3e puissance spatiale mondiale. 60 ans plus tard, on revient sur cette histoire fondatrice. 🔗 Article : cnes.fr/actualites/y... #Diamant #Astérix #Ariane6 #CNES