Category: News items

Space capsules in Utrecht

De tentoonstelling ‘Ruimtevaart in Nederland’ laat de bezoekers ervaren wat de ruimtevaart betekent voor ons dagelijks leven. Op initiatief van SRON en de Universiteit Utrecht is de rondreizende expositie tot en met 25 november te bezoeken bij de Universiteit Utrecht. ‘Ruimtevaart in Nederland’ bestaat uit drie ruimtecapsules met veel korte films over de Nederlandse ruimtevaart. …

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SRON and JAXA agree on cooperation in space science

SRON Netherlands Institute for Space Research and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) have agreed on a long term cooperation in the field of space science. As a first step SRON will contribute to the ASTRO-H mission, the Japanese X-Ray astronomy mission to study large-scale structures of the Universe, extreme conditions of the Universe near …

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Consistent failure scenario for HIFI

The international team that investigates the problems with the Dutch space instrument HIFI on board the ESA space telescope Herschel has arrived at a complete and consistent failure scenario. A “chain of events” resulted in an overload in one of the power converters of the Local Oscillator Control Unit (LCU), which controls the signal artificially …

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Many visitors at Open Day SRON

 ‘Weer wat geleerd vandaag. Bedankt voor uw interessante verhaal’, zegt de jongste van een gezin tegen een SRON-medewerker. De medewerker heeft zojuist uitgelegd wat een spectrum is en hoe je met spectrogrammen de diepste geheimen van het heelal kunt ontrafelen. Het gezin kwam net als bijna 450 mensen zondag 18 oktober naar de jaarlijkse Open Dag …

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GOCE ready to measure Earth’s gravity field

After 6 months of intensive testing in space, the GOCE satellite is ready to make a long series of precise measurements of the Earth’s gravity field. SRON plays an important role in converting the raw measurement data into ‘gravity maps’ of the Earth. These maps might throw new light on issues such as climate change …

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Open Day SRON: everything you wanted to know about space research

On 18 October 2009 SRON Netherlands Institute for Space Research will open its doors to the public as part of the October Knowledge Month series of events. At the Utrecht and Groningen locations, visitors will have the opportunity to learn about the latest developments in space research by means of presentations, demonstrations, lectures and films. …

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HIFI one step closer to switch-on

Scientists of SRON and ESA are now closing in on the cause of the problem with the high resolution spectrometer HIFI on board ESA’s  Herschel Space observatory. A series of events which is currently being investigated has most probably led to an overload in some components in a DC/DC converter. This caused a malfunction in the …

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SRON: planetary research with spectropolarimetry

The interest for planetary research has grown internationally over the last few years. Also SRON Netherlands Institute for Space Research has developed a visible branch of planetary research within the existing Earth oriented research. Therefore the name of the division Earth Oriented Science (EOS) has been adjusted to Earth and Planetary Science (EPS). The planetary …

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Setback HIFI

The HIFI spectrometer on board the European space telescope Herschel – launched on 14 May – is experiencing a setback. The space measuring instrument has been temporarily switched off due to a problem in the so-called Local Oscillator Control Unit. The exact cause of the problem on this ESA mission remains unclear. Extensive tests – …

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A new look at the atmospheric water cycle: Isotope measurements from space using SCIAMACHY

Researchers from SRON Netherlands Institute for Space Research, Utrecht University and various international partners have obtained the first global observations of water isotopes in the lowest part of our atmosphere. They analysed measurements from the satellite instrument SCIAMACHY, providing new insights into the hydrological cycle that are expected to further improve climate models. The researchers …

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