The History of GAIA
(2011)

Long Duration Balloon Flights from Esrange Space Center
(2011)
The application of balloons for scientific use as a supplement to satellites and ground based instruments has increased in particular during the past decade. Balloons are stable platforms that can hold a payload in the higher atmosphere for several days. There are three launch areas for scientific balloons in the Nordic countries, and Esrange in Northern Sweden is the main launch area for large scientific balloons.

Lidar observations at IRF
(2/2010)

Orbit in the Lagrangian Point
(1/2010)
The Herschel and the Planck satellites are placed in Lagrangian point L2. But where is this point and why it is so attractive for these types of satellites?

Planck for the Nordic Countries
(1/2010)
Trough the system for Principal Investigator teams Nordic institutes will play an important role in using the Planck data for further research around the birth of the and the evolution to this day. Without disparagement for the other countries, Denmark has played a major role in the development, and will possibly make the most use of the incoming data.

Herschel and Planck
(1/2010)
In the Correct Orbit – What Next?

LHC - Heaven and Earth Colliding
(2/2009)
No matter if we look out in space or inside matter the world's constituents remain the same. With the imminent start of the Large Hadron Collider (LHC), the world's most powerful particle accelerator, we enter into a new area of particle physics. Any new discoveries could also be beneficial to the areas of astrophysics and cosmology, shedding light on our common understanding of the universe.

Technology Transfer from CERN
(2/2009)
In the quest to find out what matter is made of and how its different components interact, high-energy physics needs very sophisticated instruments using technologies and requiring performance that often exceed what is available to industry. New technologies are developed to solve specific needs at CERN, but these technologies are often applicable outside the physics laboratories. The most well known technology coming from CERN is the World Wide Web (WWW), originally developed to solve the information sharing need between physicists and laboratories. This technology was made freely available to everyone and is today part of the everyday modern communication.

Next Generation Particle Accelerators – CLIC
(2/2009)
While the world's largest accelerator, the LHC, is preparing for the first collisions, CERN is already designing the next generation, and its name is CLIC – the Compact Linear Collider.

Finding the Secret Code of Nature
(2/2009)

The Hunt for Supersymmetry
(2/2009)
Supersymmetry (SUSY) is one of the most promising and most studied extensions to the so-called Standard Model (SM) of particle physics. It elegantly solves several theoretical problems of the model: How is the mass of the Higgs particle kept finite? Can the forces of Nature be unified a manifestations of one governing principle? SUSY also provides a candidate for the so-called "Dark Matter" that seems to be prevalent in the Universe. Next year, when the physics programme of the Large Hadron Collider starts up we will have the best possibility so far to detect if SUSY is part of Nature.

Large Hadron Collider Activated
(2/2009)

First Light for Fermi Gamma Ray Space Telescope
(2/2009)
On August 26 2008, first light results of the Gamma-Ray Large Area Space Telescope (GLAST,[1]) were announced jointly by NASA and the US department of energy . At the same time GLAST changed its name to Fermi Gamma Ray Space Telescope.

Why Fundamental Science? Is it Worth it in Terms of Human and Material Resources?
(2/2009)
NordicSpace's Baard Kringen talking to President of the CERN Council, Professor Torsten Åkesson

The Alfvèn waves – now detected in the solar corona
(1/2008)

Cosmic Vision 2015-2025
(3/2007)
Eight new mission proposals selected for ESA's future scientific programme

Water and climate on Mars
(3/2007)
-more insight thanks to the Canadian MET weather station

What happens with the poles?
(2/2007)
As a part of the International Year of Planet Earth the International Heliophysical Year started the first day of March. The project will focus on the interaction between the Earth's atmosphere and outflow from the Sun and interstellar sources.

Aurora - Light Dancing in the Earth's Magnetic Field
(2/2007)
The Earth is a giant magnet. This simple fact, established at the end of the 16th century, is essential to an understanding of the processes that give rise to the aurora or Northern (and Southern) Lights.

From Ørsted to Swarm – Challenges for exploring the Earth's magnetic field from Space
(2/2007)
The Swarm satellite mission is designed to provide the best ever survey of the geomagnetic field and its temporal evolution. The mission, proposed by a European consortium led by the Danish National Space Center, is scheduled for launch in 2010.

Ørsted Satellite - The Danish Miracle in Space
(2/2007)
Insight in the vortex-like flows in the Earth's core of fluid metal, information on the electrical properties of the viscous mineral mass in the Earth's mantle, estimates of the crustal thickness and its remnant magnetism, calculation of the heat flow from Earth's interior to the bottom of ice caps, measurements of large-scale ocean currents, sounding of the temperature and humidity profiles in the atmosphere, mapping of the electron content in the upper atmosphere, scaling of the electric currents in outer space, detection of the high-energy particles in the radiation belts, estimates of the electric fields in the solar wind.

Neutrino Astronomy - Looking for ghost particles
(1/2007)
Nearly unaffected by all hindrances, billions of neutrinos reach the earth every second. They do not only reach us, and the earth, they also pass through us unaffectedly, even through the core of the globe, and ultimately come out on the other side and continue the travel through space. Neutrinos are extremely small elementary particles that have one very particular feature: a strong antipathy for interaction with other matter, and without electrical charge.

Are we alone in the universe? - Seeking for EXO-planets
(1/2007)
Are we alone in the universe? Not very likely! On one, or several of the billion celestial bodies in the Universe there has got to be some kind of life. Intelligent peoples like us might exist, although it may sound like utopia. However, how do we find out?

Ten years of SOHO
(4/2006)
SOHO is one of the most successful space missions in history and has provided scientists and the public with a wealth of spectacular images and scientific data. It has revolutionized our understanding of the Sun, solar eruptions and of space weather effects.

Hinode – one satellite, three new windows to the Sun
(4/2006)
With Hinode in orbit the Solar Research community has got a new way of studying the processes on the Sun. The processes affect and interect with the surroundings of Earth, and it is important to obtain new knowledge.

Europe Scores New Planetary Success
(1/2006)
Venus Express Enters Orbit around the Hothouse Planetnating.

FFI participating electron measurements at Saturn
(2/2004)
The Cassini/Huygens project is a cooperative effort between NASA and ESA to study the planet Saturn, its systems of rings and icy moons....

Results from First Orbit Around Saturn!
(2/2004)
The Cassini RPWS instruments with Scandinavian participation reveals a dynamic Titan.

Swedish Institute of Space Physics - Uppsala
(2/2004)

Finnish research policy
(1/2004)
One of many reasons why people in general accept spending large amounts of money on space research is the fact that the technology brings society a step forward and into use on earth. This is the main priority for most European countries, although they will reach their goals in many different ways.

What is the position of the space research in this case?
(1/2004)
Space research has for ages been a profiled research field in Sweden, mainly to investigate visible phenomena connected to the magnetic fields and space plasma.

Sweden - a leader within applied research
(1/2004)
With a share for research and development of the Gross Domestic Product at above three percent, Sweden is among the world leaders within investing in knowledge and technology development.

EU's Sixth FrameworkPprogramme
(1/2004)
Comprehensive participating in EU's research programmes is one of the cornerstones of the Nordic research and development. In spite of different types of connections to the union, the Nordic countries are very active members of the European research community.

What are the situation for Norway?
(1/2004)
In 2002 Norway spent around three billion Euros in R&D. That is a real growth from 2001at three percent. It was the public grants that increased while the trade and industry had a small decrease.

The Nordic countries as a super region within the R & D?
(1/2004)
The Nordic countries introduce a strengthened relationship and research collaboration.

Investment in knowledge
(1/2004)
What is the current position of the Nordic countries?

Rosetta and Philae is on the way - what new knowledge can they give us?
(4/2003)
Our tiny corner of the universe - the Solar System - is home to one star, nine planets and dozens of planetary satellites. It also contains millions of asteroids and comets - the leftover debris from the cosmic construction site that created the planets and their moons.

What we today know about Churyumov-Gerasimenko
(4/2003)
Today we do not know a lot about the comet by the nickname "Chury", but relatively new information has been gathered in recent years, especially since the comet was chosen to be the new target for the Rosetta mission.

Study of asteroids - also a part of the mission
(4/2003)
On the way to the comet, Rosetta will pass two asteroids that can be observed in detail.

The Langmuir probe instrument for Rosetta: A Nordic collaboration
(4/2003)
ESA's comet chaser Rosetta is set for launch in February-March 2004, to reach its target comet ten years later.

The Rosetta mission - will it reveal the inner secrets of comets?

The FMI Contribution to the Rosetta Mission
(4/2003)
The Finnisch contributions to the ESA's Rosetta mission are significant. Researchers at the Finnish Meteorological Institute (FMI), the largest individual space research group in Finland, play an important role in several instruments on board, and an industrial company has built the structure of the entire spacecraft.

Rosetta - on the hunt for our origin
(4/2003)
The reason for the name of the Rosetta mission is linked to a concept that dates back some 40 years.

Finnish industries deliver the main structure
The Finnish company, Patria Finavicomp Oy, supplies the main structure of the satellite. The company is responsible for the structural design, manufacture, assembly, integration and static testing.

ESOC - Important for successful missions
(4/2003)
Our visit at the European Space Operation Centre, Darmstadt.

The X-ray Solar Monitor XSM on SMART-1
(2/2003)
An instrument combination with two components, D-CIXS (Demonstration of a Compact Imaging X-ray Spectrometer) and XSM (X-ray Solar Monitor), are designed to make measurements of X-rays from the Sun, the Moon, and also other celestial bodies during the whole SMART-1 mission.

SMART-1 industrial team
(2/2003)
A key element in ESA's new policy in developing and constructing small satellites is to give more responsibility for the projects to the prime contractor and to the industrial teams though that obviously involves greater risks on the part of the contractors, thus less on the part of ESA.

SMART-1 A technological step forward
(2/2003)
To secure adequate preparation for the large future space research such as Bepi-Colombo and LISA, it is necessary to develop new technology. One such technology is an effective and reliable propulsion system for space probes.

Mars Express - Europe's contribution to learn more about Mars.
(1/2003)
As a part of the Cosmic Vision 2020 Mars Express is the first of the missions that will bring about more knowledge about our neighbours in space. Later, missions such as Venus Express to Venus, and BepiColombo to Mercury, will provide Europe with greater knowledge about the inner planets, missions that can place Europe in the forefront of planet investigation.

Mars - the planet most like Earth
(1/2003)
Mars has always been the most interesting celestial body for us at earth. Through well known astronomers such as Tycho Brahe, Johannes Kepler, Galileo Galilei, Christian Huygens, G. Domenico Cassini, William Herschel. Giovanni Shiaparelli and Euchene Antoniadi, we have gradually extended our knowledge about the planet. But in all respect for the previous astronomers, the space ages with satellites and landers, the past four decades have given us more detailed information about the planet than several hundred years of research have before.

Martian atmospheric pressure observations onboard BEAGLE-2 / Mars Express
(1/2003)
The global mean pressure on Martian surface is of the order of 7 mbar. Large spatial and seasonal variations occur due to surface altitude variations and the CO2 cycle between the polar caps and the atmosphere, causing the surface pressure to vary between about 5...13 mbar at extreme locations.

ASPERA - Where did the water on Mars go?
(1/2003)
Today, there is no, or very little, water in the atmosphere of Mars. However, it seems that there once was a lot of water on Mars. For example, studies of surface features suggest that there existed the equivalent of a several hundred meter deep water layer.

VINTERSOL - The study of the situation regarding the arctic ozone
(3/2002)
For the second time Kiruna will host a large ozone study campaign. NASA and the European Union will work together in two very well co-ordinated campaigns where the European campaign bears the very pleasant name: "VINTERSOL".

Danish Space Research Institute - Focus on the basic research
(3/2002)
Danish Space Research Institute (DSRI) is, in spite of many well-known space research institutes in Denmark, regarded as the flagship in Danish space research

Integral - for better knowledge about the dangerous gamma-rays
(2/2002)
With Integral, the most high energetic space radiation we know can be continuously detected with instruments that are very well adjusted to these phenomena. Used on earth in medical examinations, but fortunately for us, continuous influence from space is effectively stopped by the atmosphere.

The JEM-X instruments on the INTEGRAL satellite
(4/2002)
Modern astronomers uses the entire electromagnetic spectrum to learn about the cosmos. Europe's next major scientific satellite, INTEGRAL, is designed to make astronomical observations in hard X-rays and gamma rays, the most energetic forms of electromagnetic radiation. One of the four instruments, the Joint European Monitor for X-rays, JEM-X, has been provided by a collaboration of European laboratories with a strong Nordic contribution.

Eiscat Svalbard - Contributes to the understanding of the sun's effect
(2/2002)
After decades of research much of the interaction between the earth and the sun, the sun's effect on our surroundings and the mechanisms that control the effects are not so well known. But, in spite of the possibilities the satellite techniques provide, ground based instruments are still the most cost effective way to gain new knowledge, with satellites and rockets as important supplements.

Cluster II: Research Iniatives by Norwegian Groups
(2/2002)
Cluster II is a unique programme of interest to a worldwide scientific community studying solar-terrestrial physics. For the first time in history multi-spacecraft observations will make it possible to observe fundamental plasma processes in both space and time.

The MIDAS campaign 2002 - studies of strong radar echoes and clouds in the Earth's upper atmosphere
(1/2002)
During the Arctic summer, when the temperature in the 80-90 km height region becomes very low, cirrostratous like clouds called Noctilucent Clouds (NLC) can be observed around 82 km height. These are the highest clouds in the Earths atmosphere and are caused by low temperatures in combination with the existence of water vapour in the upper mesosphere.

Andøya Rocket Range to potential customers: "Bring your payload - we'll launch it!"
(1/2002)
This is the slogan the Andøya Rocket Range is using to help widen their customer base. If you want to launch sounding rockets or balloons or if you want to carry out an experiment through ground based instruments, the Andøya Rocket Range (ARR) in many cases will be able to help.

The Automated Transfer Vehicle Jules Verne The first Supply Ferry to Space
(2/2002)
When the International Space Station (ISS) is complete, and fully manned, the station will need a regular supply of propellant, food and other supplies for general maintenance activities onboard. The most cost effective way to achieve this is to use unmanned ferries for one time use. Europe's main contribution to the station is developing and building the required number of such ferries. The Automated Transfer Vehicle (ATV) is today in the closing stages of development/