News

ESSC AT SPACE SUMMIT 2023

ESSC AT SPACE SUMMIT 2023 17 November, 2023 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5kXMenBGiSg&t=4s As the Chair of the European Space Sciences Committee (ESSC), Professor Chris Rapley took a commanding

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Revolution Space: Report

Revolution Space: Europe’s Mission for Space Exploration ESSC Chair Chris Rapley contributes to report as part of  the European Space Agency Director General’s High Level

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Michael Perryman receives the 2022 Shaw Award

We are thrilled to announce that ESSC member and University College Dublin Physics Professor, Michael Perryman, has just received the 2022 Shaw Prize in Astronomy in equal shares with Lennart Lindegren, from Lund Observatory, Sweden for their lifetime contributions to space astrometry, and in particular for their role in the conception and design of the European Space Agency’s Hipparcos and Gaia missions.

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World on Track for 3.2 Degrees Celsius of Warming

The latest IPCC report, which came out Monday, April 4th, 2022, warns that policies in place to reduce emissions as of December 2020 would lead the planet to 3.2 degrees Celsius of warming, more than double the 1.5 degrees limit that is essential for avoiding the worst impacts of the climate crisis.

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2071 – Epilogue

ESSC Chair and University College London Climate Science Professor, Chris Rapley created 2071 in 2015 along with writer Duncan Macmillan and director Katie Mitchell. This piece of theatre is a 65 minute spellbinding performance, where science is centre stage.

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JWST getting a sharper eye on the Universe 

The James Webb Telescope (JWST) is on its way to becoming the first observatory of its kind in deep space. The team has successfully completed the second and third out of seven total phases of mirror alignment. The 18 small mirrors have gone through their initial alignment and focus and can now produce a single image of a star!

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The IPCC WG2 Report: A Code Red for Humanity

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) issued the second part of its sixth assessment report (AR6) on February 28th, 2022. The report provides significant and unequivocal scientific evidence that climate change impacts are dire and being felt across the globe, from intense and frequent floods to droughts and heatwaves. Human-induced climate change will continue to increase for many more decades until global emissions of greenhouse gases are effectively reduced to zero.

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The James Webb Space Telescope – An Unfolding Story

The James Webb Space Telescope—the most powerful and complex cosmic observatory ever built—is now fully deployed. After an incredible amount of meticulous planning and almost half a year of deployment and commissioning, in addition to slowly unfolding over two weeks, it is now on a mission to study the earliest stars and explore every phase of cosmic history.

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2021 Wrapped

On behalf of the ESSC, season’s greetings & happy new year to you! We thank you for your contribution to our team in 2021, and we look forward to more endeavours in 2022.

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Science Museum Board member resigns over oil sponsorship

ESSC Chair and Professor of Climate Science Chris Rapley has resigned from the Science Museum’s Advisory Board over the issue of fossil fuel sponsorship. Rapley, who is currently Professor of Climate Science at UCL, has long-standing ties with the Science Museum, serving as its Director from 2007 to 2010.

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Launch of ESRIC

The European Space Sciences Committee – ESSC and his new Chair, Chris Rapley, congratulates Luxembourg for the launch of the European Space Resources Innovation Center – ESRIC.

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Women’s Forum Global Meeting 2018

The ESSC Chair was invited through ESA to attend the Women’s Forum Global Meeting 2018, Paris, France 14-16 November 2018, where Diversity but also Climate Change, STEM, clean energy, health and other important matters, very much relevant also to space, were addressed and discussed.

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European Science Foundation’s European Space Sciences Committee welcomes decisions taken at ESA Inter-Ministerial Council meeting 2018

The European Space Sciences Committee (ESSC) – the independent expert committee on space sciences of the European Science Foundation (ESF) – welcomes the outcome from the recent ESA Inter-Ministerial Council meeting that took place in Madrid, Spain on 25 October 2018, under the chairmanship of Mr Pedro Duque, Spanish Minister responsible for space.

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ESSC Chair meets the ACAE President in Bremen

The ESSC Chair, Dr. Athena Coustenis and the ESSC member, Dr. Alexandr Chouker met the president of the Central American Association for Aeronautics and Space (ACAE), Mr Carlos Enrique Alvarado, to discuss a potential collaboration between ESSC and ACAE.

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ESSC Chair appointed HESAC Chairperson

The Chair of the ESSC, Dr. Athena Coustenis, has been appointed as the Chair of ESA’s Human Spaceflight and Exploration Science Advisory Committee (HESAC) – the senior advisory body to ESA’s Director of Human Spaceflight and Robotic Exploration.

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ISECG Science White Paper

The International Space Exploration Coordination Group (ISECG) has published the full Science White Paper “Scientific Opportunities Enabled by Human Exploration Beyond Low-Earth-Orbit”.

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ESSC Recommendations on the Horizon 2020 SPACE Work programme for 2018-2020

The mission of the ESSC is to facilitate and foster space sciences at the European level by providing unbiased, expert advice on European space research and policy via recommendations or reports. Furthermore, ESSC provides a unique focal point to assist European national councils and agencies to achieve optimal science return and harmonise strategic priorities in space activities.

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