The European Space Agency (ESA) is Europe’s gateway to space. Its mission is to shape the development of Europe’s space capability and ensure that investment in space continues to deliver benefits to the citizens of Europe and the world.
Find out more about space activities in our 23 Member States, and understand how ESA works together with their national agencies, institutions and organisations.
Exploring our Solar System and unlocking the secrets of the Universe
Go to topicProtecting life and infrastructure on Earth and in orbit
Go to topicUsing space to benefit citizens and meet future challenges on Earth
Go to topicMaking space accessible and developing the technologies for the future
Go to topicSince 18 months, Cassini and Huygens have been providing otherworldly images of Saturn and its stable of satellites. The highlight so far was the arrival on 14 January 2005 of ESA's Huygens probe on the giant moon Titan. Both the lander and the orbiting Cassini, which carried out 8 close flybys of Titan in 2005, have opened new vistas on this Earth-like satellite. This week, the Huygens science teams are meeting in Paris to celebrate this historic landing, the first ever on an object of the outer solar system. Today's Exchange reviews the latest science results - including the still open question of the origins of the moon's large quantities of methane in its atmosphere. The programme will feature interviews with Jean-Pierre Lebreton, Huygens ESA programme manager, and with Jonathan Lunine, interdisciplinary scientist. It will also present new spectacular images of Titan's surface, and animations of the probe's descent compiled from the data it sent back to Earth. Interviews in English, French and Italian (Lunine)