EUROPEAN SPACE AGENCY
The European Space Agency is Europe's gateway to space. Its mission is to shape the development of Europe's space capability and ensure that investment in space continues to deliver benefits to the citizens of Europe.
ESA has 17 Member States. By coordinating the financial and intellectual resources of its members, it can undertake programmes and activities far beyond the scope of any single European country.
ESA's job is to draw up the European space programme and carry it through. The Agency's projects are designed to find out more about the Earth, its immediate space environment, the solar system and the Universe, as well as to develop satellite-based technologies and services, and to promote European industries. ESA also works closely with space organisations outside Europe.
AURORA
Due to the nature of space exploration, this has grown into becoming one of the highest priorities of space faring nations across the globe. As such, ESA's response to this has been with the development of the Aurora space exploration programme which has for aim to further space exploration of our solar system and stimulate new technology through long term goals of robotic and human missions to the Moon and Mars.
Indeed, at the recent ministerial conference held in Berlin on the 5-6 December 2005, the Aurora programme met with such great response that 14 Member States subscribed to the programme. As a result, the ExoMars mission will be ESA's first robotic mission to be sent to Mars; it is scheduled for launch from Kourou in 2011.
DeWo 2006 on ESA website
Advertisment of DeCo 2006:
''Design an unmanned aerial vehicle for Mars
29 March 2006
Students are invited to submit their ideas for an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) suitable for exploring Mars – the best designs will win a place at the Euroavia Design Workshop to be held at the Erasmus User Centre in Noordwijk, the Netherlands, between 16 July and 5 August 2006.''
Report of DeWo 2006:
''Euroavia students design Martian aerial vehicle
15 August 2006
Higher resolution than from an orbiter and a greater range than a rover – European aerospace engineering students recently presented their design concepts for an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) for Mars in ESA’s Erasmus Centre.''
ESA and DeWo
ESA has been a partner of EUROAVIA also for DeWo 1995 and 1992:
- 1995.
- 1992.
During the 1995 DeWo at ESA / ESTEC in Noordwijk, The Netherlands the participants developed a preliminary design of a satellite, the Lunar Investigating Orbiting Navigator (LION).
LION's was to find a suitable landing site for LEDA (Lunar European Demonstration Approach) on the Moon, map the lunar surface with a 4 m resolution and be an emergency relay for LEDA’s rover in case of a communications blackout.
During the 1992 DeWo at ESA / ESTEC in Noordwijk, The Netherlands the participants developed a preliminary design of an ecological monitoring satellite for Europe’s eco-system.
This satellite was meant to supply on-line data of the most critical pollution parameters to a wide range of institutions and companies directly.