The south polar region of the Moon, with dark craters and high ridges, is a world away from the relatively smooth terrain visited by Apollo astronauts four decades ago. This rugged moonscape is the target for Europe’s next leap into space.

ESA’s Maxus-8 sounding rocket was launched today from Kiruna in northern Sweden carrying four microgravity research modules on a hectic 12-minute space voyage. The ultimate results may include improved turbine blades for aircraft engines.

The European Technology Exposure Facility community gathered at ESTEC in the Netherlands on 16 March to present the preliminary results of the mission and to celebrate its success.

For astronauts aboard the ISS, a small multiband amateur radio station is a relaxing way to be in contact with people on Earth. It is also an effective tool for education. Now this Amateur Radio in the International Space Station project (ARISS) has been awarded the prestigious 2010 Boselli prize.

A crew of six, including two Europeans, will soon begin a simulated mission to Mars in a mockup that includes an interplanetary spaceship, Mars lander and martian landscape. The Mars500 experiment, as long as a real journey to Mars, is a test of human endurance.

The International Space Station has won two prizes as the greatest international space project of all time. Aviation Week’s Laureate Award and the Collier Trophy are two of the most prestigious awards in the aerospace realm.

Production of the Automated Transfer Vehicles is gearing up. After the flawless flight of the first ATV, Jules Verne, the second, Johannes Kepler, is being completed for launch later this year. Now the third ATV has been named after the Italian physicist and space pioneer Edoardo Amaldi.

ESA PR 2010-05 A crew of six, including two Europeans, will soon begin a simulated mission to Mars in a mockup that includes an interplanetary spaceship, a Mars lander and a martian landscape. The Mars500 experiment, as long as a real journey to Mars, will be second to none as the ultimate test of human endurance.

ESA PR 2010-04 The heads of the International Space Station (ISS) agencies from Canada, Europe, Japan, Russia and the United States met in Tokyo, Japan, on 11 March 2010, to review ISS cooperation.

In space, many things work differently, but not always. Take the movement of liquid in fine tubes. Gravity has something to do with this capillary action, but what? Students using ESA’s 'Take Your Classroom into Space' kit can now find out.

The biggest engineering project ever built by humankind is flying 400 kilometres overhead. The International Space Station has been 12 years in the making, and it's almost complete. And its unique collection of laboratories up there is already giving scientists a new insight into daily life down here. Strap yourselves in for a trip to the ISS, in this edition of Space.

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