ESA Top Multimedia

We get as close as possible to travelling aboard a spacecraft, experiencing what it would be like to fly towards planet Mercury. Through a sonification of data collected during ESA/JAXA BepiColombo’s sixth flyby, we can almost feel the spacecraft shaking and the rocky planet’s gravity tugging on it.  

In this episode of Expedition Sound, we explore the planets of our Solar System and make a stop at planet Mercury. Blasted by the Sun's intense heat and shaped by a magnetic field unlike any other rocky planet’s, this small world is a place that still holds many mysteries. 

We hear from BepiColombo Project Scientist Geraint Jones about which of Mercury's mysteries the mission will help scientists unravel, and about what hearing the spacecraft approach the planet is like for someone so involved in the mission. In this episode, we also talk with Ben Ruggles, who was an undergraduate student at the University of Portsmouth, UK, at the time of recording. Ben explains how he uses sonification in his astronomy research as a scientist with a visual impairment, and discusses the challenges of collaborating with others while doing science through sound. 

Hosted by Zsófi Szalavári 

Check out the sonification by Carmelo Magnafico (IAPS/INAF) here.

Learn more about ESA/JAXA’s BepiColombo mission.

Find out more about STRAUSS, the sonification tool that Ben is using for his research: https://www.audiouniverse.org/our-research-and-code/strauss-code  

Original theme music produced by Marci Szalavári (https://soundcloud.com/septrone-hd). 

This timelapse was published on social media by ESA astronaut Sophie Adenot with the following caption:

[English] Day 165, orbit 2557 — GEARS (Genomic Enumeration of Antibiotic Resistance in Space) is another experiment making good use of the Life Sciences Glovebox, a sealed laboratory workspace where we can safely handle biological samples.

You've probably already heard about antibiotic-resistant bacteria, which are a growing threat to human health on Earth and a leading cause of hospital-acquired infections. The surfaces of the International Space Station have been monitored since 2000, and two common bacterial species found on board have shown resistance to antibiotics, as well as tolerance to desiccation, starvation and disinfection.

This could pose challenges during future long-duration exploration missions, when spaceflight-weakened immune systems may leave astronauts more vulnerable to infection while crews must rely on a limited supply of antibiotics carried on board.

But it also gives researchers a unique opportunity to study how these microorganisms survive and adapt in extreme environments… This knowledge could help safeguard astronaut health and improve healthcare here on Earth as well. Go science!

[French] Jour 165, orbite 2557 — L’expérience GEARS (pour Genomic Enumeration of Antibiotic Resistance in Space) met elle aussi à profit la boite à gants Life Sciences Glovebox, un espace de laboratoire fermé qui nous permet de manipuler des échantillons biologiques en toute sécurité.

Vous avez probablement déjà entendu parler des bactéries résistantes aux antibiotiques. Elles représentent une menace croissante pour la santé sur Terre et figurent parmi les principales causes d’infections nosocomiales. Les surfaces de la Station spatiale internationale sont sous surveillance depuis l’an 2000, et deux espèces bactériennes couramment présentes à bord ont montré une résistance aux antibiotiques, ainsi qu’une tolérance à la dessiccation, à la privation de nutriments et aux procédures de désinfection.

Il s’agit d’un défi supplémentaire à relever pour les futures missions d’exploration de longue durée. Le système immunitaire des astronautes, affaibli par le séjour dans l’espace, pourrait les rendre plus vulnérables aux infections, alors même que les équipages ne pourront compter que sur un stock limité d’antibiotiques...

Mais cette situation offre aussi aux chercheurs une occasion unique d’étudier comment ces micro-organismes survivent et s’adaptent à des environnements extrêmes – des connaissances qui pourraient contribuer à protéger la santé des astronautes, et améliorer les soins sur Terre. Vive la science !

This video was published on social media by ESA astronaut Sophie Adenot with the following caption:

[English] Day 161, orbit 2497 — Cooking in space is sooooo joyful! It’s funny how little things, like gathering a mixing bowl and cooking supplies, can unlock all kind of memories – familiar gestures, smells and flavours. On Earth I sometimes wish I didn’t have to cook, but after months of ready-made meals (no matter how nutritious and tasty they are), the act of preparing a meal is a huge joyful experience!

In 2023, during his Huginn mission, Andreas was the first astronaut to use this culinary robot to prepare a chocolate mousse, which is quite challenging because of its airy texture. Food processor is a technology demonstrator: the goal is to show that preparing meals in microgravity is feasible, first using ingredients produced on Earth, and one day, with vegetables grown in space.

Congratulations to the French teams who did a fantastic job! Even before I started mixing the ingredients, the smell was tantalizing… The recipe, a Mediterranean Duo consisting of eggplant puree and hummus, tastes like a home-cooked meal made with fresh ingredients and aromatic herbs. It’s funny because whenever French gastronomy is on the menu, nobody’s late at the dinner table and everyone’s 150% delighted!

After four months in space, it’s clear to me that France has unique expertise in preparing meals that are both delicious and nutritious for space exploration. I hope the current partners will continue to showcase French gastronomy, and why not, take the lead in this area!

[French] Jour 161, orbite 2497 — Cuisiner dans l’espace, c’est un vrai moment de joie ! C’est drôle de voir à quel point de petites choses, comme sortir un bol mélangeur ou préparer des ingrédients, peuvent faire remonter tant de souvenirs – des gestes familiers, des odeurs et des saveurs qui rappellent la maison. Sur Terre, je n’ai pas toujours envie de cuisiner, mais après plusieurs mois de plats prêts à consommer (aussi bons et équilibrés soient-ils), le simple fait de préparer un repas procure un bonheur intense. 

Le robot culinaire Food Processor a été utilisé pour la première fois par Andreas en 2023 pendant sa mission Huginn. Il avait préparé une mousse au chocolat, un défi de taille compte tenu de la texture souhaitée, légère et aérienne. Food Processor est avant tout un démonstrateur technologique : l’idée est de montrer qu’il est possible de préparer des repas en micropesanteur, d’abord avec des ingrédients venus de la Terre, puis, un jour, avec des légumes cultivés directement dans l’espace.

Un immense bravo aux équipes françaises qui ont développé cette technologie ! Avant même de commencer à mélanger les ingrédients, les arômes étaient déjà très prometteurs. Au menu : un Duo Méditerranéen, composé d’un caviar d’aubergine et d’un houmous. Le résultat ? Un goût de cuisine maison, avec des ingrédients frais et de délicieuses herbes aromatiques.

Il y a une chose qui me fait toujours sourire : lorsque la gastronomie française est au menu, personne tout le monde est à l’heure pour le repas et l’enthousiasme est 150% garanti !

Après quatre mois passés dans l’espace, il me paraît évident que la France possède un savoir-faire unique lorsqu’il s’agit de concevoir des repas à la fois savoureux, équilibrés et adaptés aux défis de l’exploration spatiale. J’espère que les partenaires engagés aujourd’hui continueront à faire rayonner cette la gastronomie française et à ouvrir la voie de la nutrition spatiale!

The European Space Agency’s terrestrial planet hunter Plato has recently completed a series of key tests inside the Maxwell Test Chamber at ESTEC, demonstrating that its electronic equipment is fit to work in space.

This photo captures the spacecraft standing inside the special chamber. The shielded enclosure features conducting metal walls, floor, and ceiling that form a Faraday cage, screening out all external interference. Its 9 m-high interior is lined floor to ceiling with foam spikes that absorb electrical signals and sounds to mimic the void of space.

Once the chamber was sealed closed, engineers remotely switched on and commanded Plato’s electronic equipment. They ran a series of tests to ensure that the spacecraft’s complex instruments and modules did not interfere with each other or with the communication systems, creating unwanted ‘crosstalk’.

In the extreme vacuum of space, a spacecraft’s electronics can behave differently than they do in a typical test lab on the ground. Without proper testing, this can have unforeseen consequences that could affect the mission’s goals or even damage the equipment.

Thanks to the tests run in the Maxwell Test Chamber, engineers verified that Plato’s many electronic systems can work together in space without interference – in other words, that they are electromagnetically compatible.

With compatibility checked off, Plato has now cleared the last remaining major exam in the series that the spacecraft must undertake to graduate for launch.

The exams started back in January this year with vibration and acoustic tests, followed by a month-long stay inside the Large Space Simulator where Plato aced a demanding set of tests and demonstrated that it is fit to withstand the harsh conditions of space.

Plato will lift off on an Ariane 6. Its launch is planned by Arianespace for March 2027.

[Image description: Photograph of a spacecraft towering at the centre of a large test chamber. The chamber's walls and ceiling are covered with dense rows of blue foam spikes that create a striking geometric pattern extending in all directions around the spacecraft. The right side of the spacecraft is dominated by shiny black, stowed, solar panels. The spacecraft body is partly visible on the left wrapped in reflective gold-coloured insulating foil and partially covered by a translucent protective sheet secured with small pieces of red tape.]