It looks to be a big year for the European Space Agency while NASA continues to spin its wheels as each new Presidential Administration plays spin the bottle with America's future in space. The details:
After a busy 2010, the upcoming year will also be interesting for space activities. Indeed 2011 will mark the anniversary of the first human spaceflight: it will be 50 years since Yuri Gagarin made his historic flight around our planet. Now cosmonauts and astronauts are living together on the International Space Station. Among them is Paolo Nespoli from ESA, due to return in May from the third European long-duration stay. He will be joined by Roberto Vittori, who will visit the ISS on one of the last Shuttle missions. Another important ESA mission in 2011 is the second ATV cargo ferry, planned for launch by Ariane 5 in February. Later, Europe's Spaceport in French Guiana will see the inaugural launches of both Soyuz and Vega, complementing the performance of Ariane and reinforcing Europe's independent access to space. ESA is also expecting interesting results from its Earth Explorer satellites.
Links to more information on the programs detailed in the video:
Mars 500
ATV Kepler Automated Transfer Vehicle
STS-134 Space Shuttle Mission
Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer particle physics experiment
Ariane 5 Heavy Lift Vehicle
Soyuz Medium Launch Vehicle
Vega Light Duty Launch Vehicle
Galileo Satellite Navigation System
Planck Astronomy Mission
Earth Explorer Missions
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