For the past two decades, Sweden has continuously developed and built their own scientific satellites – and the next in line, MATS, is now ready for launch. MATS is the next in a series of satellites that include Viking, Freja, Astrid 1 and 2, Odin and Prisma, all national initiatives, although some are built together […]
Space Research
Swedish Institute of Space Physics – Fifty Year in Space and Still Holding the Lead
October 3, 1968, the first instrument, developed and built at The Swedish Institute of Space Physics (Institutet för rymdfysik, IRF) was launched onboard the European satellite ESRO–1A. Fifty-one years later the first Swedish instrument landed at the Moon’s far side, as a part of the Chinese Chang’E-4 spacecraft. The first instrument, named S71B could […]
Grand Challenge Initiative – Rocket Campaign at Andøya Space Center
Two sounding rockets from NASA blasted off from the rocket range at Andøya early in December 2018, marking the beginning of one of the largest campaigns ever from the rocket range in the northern Norway. The campaign named “Grand Challenge Initiative” is designed to explore the area called the Geomagnetic Cusp, or Polar […]
The mysterious Jets, Sprites and Elves
Danish/Norwegian Instruments at the International Space Station May Unveil the Mysteries. Jets, Sprites and Elves are phenomena that occur above the clouds with thunder and lightning conditions on Earth. Unknown and invisible for most of us, but visible from high flying airplanes and from manned spacecrafts. However, what are these phenomena? Many scientists have […]
RIMFAX – Norwegian Ground Penetrating Radar on Schedule for Mars 2020
When a new “Curiosity” lands on Mars in 2020, the rover also bears the Norwegian developed instrument, RIMFAX. RIMFAX is short for Radar Imager for Mars’ Subsurface Experiment and is a ground penetrating radar designed to expose the hidden conditions under the surface of Mars. The Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) is not a […]
NASA’s MMS – Magnetospheric MultiScale Mission
Star Cameras From Denmark Technical University Used to Handle Navigation
Swedish Instrument Circling a Comet
Rosetta Near the Comet Churyumov-Gerasimenko After more than ten years in space the comet chaser Rosetta is supposed to meet the target 6 August and will follow the comet for more than a year. After the rendezvous Rosetta will start the scientific investigations, investigations that will add much new knowledge about the comets that now […]
Cosmic Vision – Space Science for Europe 2015 – 2025
In spite of the fact that astronomical observations and calculations have been carried out even before Christ and several centuries of astronomy and space research are way behind us, there are still many things we are not familiar with and space is therefore an important field within basic research Today, space research is carried […]
‘What is the probability of life existing elsewhere in the universe?
Looking for exo-planets is one of the hottest research fields for the scientists within the field of astronomy.
PoGOLite – Around Top of the World
Utilize Polar Wind Phenomena Investigating Gamma Rays in the Universe