ESA Bulletin 139 (August 2009)
The August issue of the Bulletin introduces Europe's new astronauts, who are starting their training at the European Astronaut Centre this September. Read the Bulletin and other publications online, with our new visualisation tool. Read online
In this issue of ESA's flagship magazine, we focus on one of ESA's newest establishments, the European Space Astronomy Centre, at Villanueva de la Cañada in Spain - home to the scientific operations centres for ESA's astronomy and planetary missions, along with their scientific archives.
Also in the spotlight, the Scientific Ground Segments of ESA’s Herschel infrared space telescope and the Planck cosmic background mapper, launched in May to unveil the secrets of the darkest, coldest and oldest parts of the Universe.
Completing this issue, we look at how a study of impact craters on Earth and Mars is helping us to understand the evolution of our Solar System, and finally, a look at some small cameras with a big job: the Visual Monitoring Cameras carried on ESA spacecraft. One of these cameras is giving the world a view of Mars every week and encouraging the public to get involved with Europe’s exploration of the Red Planet.
The Bulletin is published four times a year to inform the space-interested public of ESA’s activities. In addition to a wide range of articles, every issue provides an overview of the status of ESA's major space projects.