Mosquitos fail at flight in heavy fog

Mosquitos have the remarkable ability to fly in clear skies as well as in rain, shrugging off impacts from raindrops more than 50 times their body mass. But just like modern aircraft, mosquitos also are grounded when the ...

Planck satellite manoeuvre aims at L2 arrival

(PhysOrg.com) -- Beginning today, ESA's Planck satellite will carry out a critical mid-course manoeuvre that will place the satellite on its final trajectory for arrival at L2, the second Lagrange point of the Sun-Earth system, ...

Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter sees GRAIL's explosive farewell

(Phys.org) —Many spacecraft just fade away, drifting silently through space after their mission is over, but not GRAIL. NASA's twin GRAIL (Gravity Recovery and Interior Laboratory) spacecraft went out in a blaze of glory ...

Using thoughts to control airplanes

Pilots of the future could be able to control their aircraft by merely thinking commands. Scientists at the Institute of Flight System Dynamics of the Technische Universität München have now demonstrated the feasibility ...

How Rosetta arrives at a comet

After travelling nearly 6.4 billion kilometres through the Solar System, ESA's Rosetta is closing in on its target. But how does a spacecraft actually arrive at a comet?

ESA's Cluster satellites in closest-ever 'dance in space'

(Phys.org) —Since 2000, the four identical satellites of the Cluster quartet have been probing Earth's magnetosphere in three dimensions. This week, two of them made their closest-ever approach, just 4 km, enabling valuable ...

ESA teams ready for Europe's next weather satellite

Ground control teams are ready to shepherd Europe's next weather satellite through its critical first days in orbit, ensuring it is working and healthy in the harsh environment of space.

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