ESSC Contribution to the Public consultation on a Space Strategy for Europe
23 June 2016
Last April, the European Commission has open a Public consultation on a Space Strategy for Europe. The objective of this public consultation is to obtain stakeholder views on the policy priorities, challenges and opportunities that could shape a future Space Strategy for Europe.
The European Space Sciences Committee has prepared an integrated contribution highlighting the relevance of space research for European citizens and putting forward 14 recommendations across the following themes:
• Space Research on the European Landscape
• Innovation for Space Sciences, Innovations for Citizens
• Space Research at the service of the European citizens
• Transversal issues
• European Structural Aspects
• New EC Strategic Space Programme
• The Need for an advisory Body for Space Sciences Serving Europe’s Space Strategy
The ESSC contribution has been submitted and can be downloaded here.
ESSC Recommendations on the Horizon 2020 SPACE Work programme for 2018-2020
21 June 2016
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.
The following document highlights the recommendations and input of the ESSC to the EC consultation for the 2018-2020 work programme of Horizon 2020 (H2020) SPACE. There are three main areas for which ESSC provides inputs: transversal issues that touch all aspects of the H2020 SPACE calls, Space Science and Technology related issues and Earth Observation (Copernicus) related issues.
ESSC Statement on Climate Change
10 December 2015
The Sentinel family © ESA 2014
The European Space Sciences Committee (ESSC) supports the Article (2) agreement on climate change of the Declaration of the ‘2015 Budapest World Science Forum on the enabling power of science’ urges such a universal agreement aiming at stabilising atmospheric concentrations of greenhouse gases and reducing the amount of airborne particles. The ESSC encourages countries to reduce their emissions in order to avoid dangerous anthropogenic interference with the climate system, which could lead to disastrous consequences. Such consequences, albeit from natural evolution, are witnessed in other objects of our Solar System.
The Committee recognises in particular the Copernicus programme and Sentinel missions as unprecedented European commitments to Earth Observation in the service of stakeholders. The Sentinel satellites will provide European scientists, decision makers and citizens with information on the state of our climate and environment of unparalleled detail and quality.
All physical processes and data from current and future programmes helping to understand (or providing insights on) the presently ongoing climate change should be made available and analysed, including space climate influence on global climate change.
To maximise the impact of these programmes, Europe needs to make archived and near-real time data easily accessible, and should ensure its quality through a comprehensive and continuing programme of calibration and validation. Mission planning should be transparent and systematic to ensure an optimal global usage of the limited system capacities with the needs of all stakeholders considered.
Europe and the Group on Earth Observations (GEO) nations must continue to develop operational programmes, like Copernicus, that allow us to monitor the accelerating climate change and its impact, through the mapping of important indicators. GEO nations must also continue to develop thematic platforms, such as the ESA Earth Explorer missions that target specific scientific questions that help us better understand the mechanisms that link the natural and human-driven processes with greenhouse gas emissions and climate change.
Earth observational data can further be exploited to understand the health and socio-economic impacts and effects of climate change. Fundamental scientific research can help the generation of technical solutions such as those improving energy efficiency.
First woman (and former ESSC member) to head German aerospace agency
Pascale Ehrenfreund, renowned astrobiologist, professor of space policy and current President of the Austrian Research Fund (FWF), is the new Chair of the Executive Board of the German Aerospace Center DLR.
Pascale Ehrenfreund has been a very active and constructive member of the European Space Sciences Committee from 2002 to 2005, and Chair of its life and physical sciences panel. We wish her full success in this new exciting challenge and are confident that strong and constructive interactions will continue to develop between ESSC and DLR in the wake of Pascale Ehrenfreund's appointment.
ESSC member Heiko Balzter recognised for outstanding achievements
University of Leicester Professor and ESSC member Heiko Balzter has been honoured for his outstanding and distinctive achievements. Professor Balzter, of the Department of Geography, is this year's recipient of the Cuthbert Peek Award from the Royal Geographical Society. The award is made 'for advancing geographical knowledge of human impact through earth observation.'
Chair hand-over
Hand-over of chairmanship took place at the Köln plenary meeting on 17-18 November 2014.
Professor Athena Coustenis (left in picture on the left) was handed the Chair from Professor Jean-Pierre Swings (right in picture), who had been chairing the ESSC for two terms since May 2007.
TECHBREAK report published
The final report from the ESF-ESF Forward Look on Technological Breakthroughs for Scientific Progress (TECHBREAK) has just been published.
See LINK
ESSC member Roberto Battiston is appointed President of ASI
Our colleague Roberto Battiston, Professor of Experimental Physics at the University of Trento and researcher at INFN, has just recently been appointed as the new President of the Italian Space Agency by the Italian Minister for Education, University and Research.
The ESSC has benefited in the past 2 years from Roberto's broad expertise and large international network. We wish him luck in his new and challenging endeavour and are confident that strong and constructive interactions will continue to develop between ESSC and ASI in the wake of Roberto Battiston's nomination.
Ad memoriam Colin Pillinger
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Renowned space scientist Colin Pillinger dies at 70. Prof Colin Pillinger, who had been the driving force behind Britain's Mars lander Beagle 2, suffered a brain haemorrhage at his home in Cambridge and died in hospital on Wednesday.
Prof Monica Grady, a planetary scientist at the Open University and former ESSC member, was one of Pillinger's PhD students and worked with him throughout her career. She told The Guardian: "He was a determined and controversial figure. I crossed swords with him more than once in the 35 years I have known him. But he was enthusiastic, inspirational and never-failing in his drive to promote planetary sciences and the science that would come from missions to the moon and Mars. He was one of the most influential people in my life."
Image credit: ESA - Prof Colin Pillinger and the Beagle -2 probe
More at:
http://www.theguardian.com/science/2014/may/08/beagle-2-scientist-colin-pillinger-dies
http://www.theguardian.com/science/2014/may/08/colin-pillinger-courage-beagle-2-mars
Chair Elect Prof Athena Coustenis endorsed by ESF Governing Council
The ESF Governing Council meeting in Munich on 14-15 April 2014 endorsed the nomination of Prof Athena Coustenis (Meudon Observatory) as the upcoming Chairperson of the European Space Sciences Committee (ESSC), effective November 2014.
Prof Coustenis is Director of Research with the National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS) of France, working at Paris Observatory in Meudon. Her specialty is Planetology (exploration and study of the Solar System from ground-based and space observations), with extensive experience in that domain, both in Europe and in the US. Her astrophysicist research is devoted to the investigation of planetary atmospheres and surfaces, with emphasis on icy moons like Titan and Enceladus, Saturn's satellites, and Jupiter's Ganymede and Europa, objects with high astrobiological potential.
Prof Coustenis also works on the characterisation of exoplanetary atmospheres. In the recent years she has been leading efforts towards the definition and contributing to the selection of future space missions. She has shown exceptional public leadership in her previous role as the chair of the Solar System and Exploration Working Group within ESA.
Athena Coustenis visits NSSC
On April 11, 2014, Athena Coustenis, the ESSC-ESF Chair Elect visited China's National Space Science Center (NSSC) to seek potential collaborations with the Chinese space science community. Prof. WU Ji, Director General of NSSC, introduced the history of Chinese space science and the current as well as the planed space science missions, including the Hard X-ray Modulation Telescope (HXMT), Quantum Experiments at Space Scale (QUESS), Dark Matter Particle Explorer (DAMPE), Recoverable Satellite for Microgravity and Space Life Sciences (SJ-10), Magnetosphere-Ionosphere-Thermosphere Coupling Exploration (MIT), Solar Polar Orbit Radio Telescope (SPORT), X-ray Timing and Polarization mission (XTP), Space Millimeter VLBI Array, Einstein-Probe (EP), Search for Terrestrial Exo-Planets (STEP), Advanced Space-borne Solar Observatory (ASO-S) and Water Cycle Observation Mission (WCOM). "International cooperation is fundamental in the Chinese space science missions", Prof. WU emphasized. Prof. Coustenis made an introduction of the current structure, the work mechanism, the mission of the ESSC as well as its strategic plans. Prof. Coustenis expressed her wish to find the common interests with NSSC, which promises possible cooperation opportunity in the future. Both parties exchanged opinions on the roadmap study, mission selection procedures and the possibility to share the expertise.
