Cosmic Visions: New Space Science Missions

/ sciencereason ... Cosmic Visions: New ESA Space Science Missions Move Forward.
Under its Cosmic Vision initiative, the European Space Agency has selected three medium-sized science missions to enter the definition phase. Spacecraft to study dark energy, Earth-like exoplanets and our own Sun now have to prove that they can be built within the allocated budgets. 2011, just two of them will be retained to go forward for launches no earlier than 2017. This movie describes the three missions Euclid, Plato and Solar Orbiter.
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Since the early '60s, ESA has excelled in pushing back the frontiers in space science: exploring the nearest planets and the most distant celestial bodies of our solar system; lifting the veil with powerful telescopes on galaxy and star formation and probing the most violent processes in the Universe; and better understanding its evolution since the Big Bang.
The three selected missions are the finalists from some 50 proposals which were whittled down to just six in late 2007 and submitted for industrial assessment. In February, the Agency's Science Programme Committee pared down the choice once more.
The project called Euclid will investigate key issues in physics, cosmology and general relativity. Until about 30 years ago astronomers thought the Universe was composed of ordinary matter -- protons, neutrons, electrons and atoms.
But the picture has changed dramatically: it is today assumed that ordinary matter only accounts for 4 % of the Universe, 20 % being dark matter and the remainder a mysterious dark energy.
The Euclid spacecraft will house a wide-field, high-precision telescope. For three years it will scan the entire sky, accurately measuring the effects of dark energy, believed to be the main driver of an accelerated expansion of the Universe. Euclid will also map in three dimensions the distribution of dark matter.
Following in the footsteps of the COROT and Kepler telescopes, the PLATO mission will address the 'holy grail' question of the existence of other Earth-like worlds.
Scanning the sky with an increased field of view, and by detecting the decrease in light as planets transit in front of their host star, the missaims to discover many more exoplanets, including those with orbital periods like our own. Observing brighter stars than previous missions, PLATO will be able to characterise planetary systems, the host stars and their planets at the same time.
Several missions -- such as Ulysses, SOHO, the Clusters, or Stereo -- have already studied our own Sun. The big difference with the third mission to be selected is, in a word: distance. Solar Orbiter will place itself as close to the Sun as Mercury itself, braving the intense heat and light, ten times more intense than that felt on Earth.
From an orbit allowing views of all sides of the Sun including its poles, the spacecraft is expected to deliver images of the Suns surface and data of the powerful magnetic fields, and high-resolution views of the powerful eruptions of solar particles that are spewed into space.
Given the extreme environment, Solar Orbiter is a considerable chanllenge, and will rely on much of the technology already developed for the Bepi-Colombo mission, ESA's probe to orbit Mercury.
Each mission has now entered the definition phase to validate the the configuration choices of their spacecraft and science instruments, the technologies to be used, their launch and operations scenarios.
But perhaps their greatest challenge probably will be to stay within their allotted 470 Million euro budgets knowing full well that ESA's selection process ist not over: in 2011 only two of the three missions -- and however merit-worthy -- can be retained to go-ahead.
• www.esa.int/
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[@zx1011]

I like the strong, clear, and distinct narration on this video

[@milanpintar]

I can't wait til this all happens and we learn more!!!!!

[@AncientAtheist]

Oh, fuck! All 3 would be fantastically valuable and interesting missions! If ESA is going to drop one of them I certainly hope some other agency will pick it up.

[@MilitantPeaceist]

@SeltsamerAttraktor SNAP!!!! Nice thinking 99!

[@gigantibyte]

Tough choice. They all sound like great missions.

[@Saukko31]

@MakeNine42 We can detect its effects on movements of stars, and bending of light from distant galaxies.

[@truvelocity]

@MakeNine42 We use gravitational reading in order to map dark matter, which has been done already.

[@Saukko31]

Yay for ESA.

[@KarbineKyle]

Astronomy is amazing! Of all the galaxies we know of, and what we don't know of, I do believe there is life out there. There has to be! Where exactly, I'm not sure, but we'll never know exactly if we don't start searching. The search for life is one of the biggest questions we as humans want to search for, but if we destroy ourselves on the only planet that has proof of life, being Earth, we will never know. I believe life can thrive on planets and moons that many don't believe can. JMO...

[@ScarRavenInk]

While reading the comments I as a thirteen year old girl have never felt so stupid. I think the Plato Mission is a good idea and should go ahead. 470 million Euro's? I wish they'd give more to Science.

[@HenrikSultan]

@sparstar Best anwser I have ever heard :) Kudos

[@yttihp11]

@Danielst16 i think before we go further out, we need to understand more of whats out there first...

[@AndrewSkow1]

What tool mixed the narration in to these videos 100% on the right channel?

[@fegolem]

Dark Energy FTW!

[@lazyperfectionist1]

How come all these videos have an audio track that is completely stereo except for the narrator?

[@JTlovesDexter]

I ♥ science ; )

[@hazyhalfmoon]

When are we going to plan a mission to Europa?

[@NarutoSSj6]

what about antimater. does it even exist?

[@fieryelf]

Damn, just 4% is Protons Neutrons and Electrons 0_0

[@lillesuper]

his voice rreminds me of the setlers rise of an empire (game) #LOL

[@Frenzal88]

i see why we should explore the universe but for the fact of finding another planet that could sustain life whats the point when we cant even get it right on this planet

[@MilitantPeaceist]

@starkilla21 Australia is in on it too as well as the UK & we have other countries like Turkey & we are collectively known as THE ALLIES ffs Or do you think it's USA all the way?

[@Territomauvais]

@AncientAtheist Hopefully within the next decade the space commercial capabilities will explode exponentially; it got off to a slow start in '00-'10 but a start is a start. Then, hopefully, all SIXTY of the ideas could be funded and launched independently by those who came up with the probes; not the governmental agency that can get your craft into space.

[@ssjkrillen]

Sound fail, very very frustating. Please reupload it in stereo

[@megagagnon1]

dark vadar is using the dark force!

[@handplanty]

470 mil euro? Bah, let's quintiple that five times.

[@JeanGenie92]

Ah! Why is there not more funding going into science from the government for all these missions! :(

[@livebyreason]

@lazyperfectionist1 cuz the brit accent is plenty cool enough in mono.

[@gcerchio]

so why not take the bailout from one super bank and fund all 50 proposals?

[@501alistair]

i'm watching this in 2011 lol

[@MilitantPeaceist]

@starkilla21 We could solve the worlds problems if we could just stop creating them mate!

[@MilitantPeaceist]

@megagagnon1 Darth Vader wears Lace Panties - he showed me just before he skitz'd out and cut off my tossing hand coz "HE" spilled too much - bloody hypocrites are everywhere!

[@Frenzal88]

@dodow1234 yeah so lets focus all that money on solving the problems this planet has mainly poverty

[@milanpintar]

@LucaModernTalking you can't really invest money in stupid and changing that.. that's a social phenomenon I think. We need to go forward with whatever we can learn as fast as possible... slowing down will only give the stupid ignorant more money to go to war or something else.. :) I think we are all moving progressing far too slow.

[@Casterchip]

3rd xD