From simulated lunar environments on Earth to astronauts experiencing microgravity for the first time, 2024 was a remarkable year for European space exploration. We saw martian-like rovers collecting samples on their own and European industry building crucial space components bound for the Moon.
Check out our gallery of 12 standout images from 2024 and pick up your favourite one.
ESA project astronaut Marcus Wandt wears a cap with sensors to record his brain activity during a session of the Orbital Architecture experiment in ESA’s Cupola module. Credits: Axiom Space/Michael López Alegría
Mpemba effect at Concordia – the observation that hot water freezes faster than cold water. Credits: ESA/IPEV/PNRA
Engineers hand-stitching an essential part of the second European Service Module that insulates the Orion spacecraft. Credits: Airbus
First metal part 3D printed in space by ESA’s Metal 3D Printer on the International Space Station. Credits: ESA/NASA
ESA’s newly graduated astronauts Pablo Álvarez Fernández, Sophie Adenot, Rosemary Coogan, Raphaël Liégeois, and Marco Sieber marked the official completion of one year of rigorous basic training with cake. Credits: ESA – P. Sebirot
Gateway’s Lunar I-Hab module under construction in Turin. Credits: ESA – S. Corvaja
False colour image of interesting impact craters in Valles Marineris. Credits: ESA/TGO/CaSSIS
Rover trials in a quarry in the UK showing a four-wheeled rover, known as Codi, using its robotic arm and a powerful computer vision system to pick up sample tubes. Credits: Airbus
Hello from Houston: Sophie Adenot and Raphaël Liégeois assigned for their first missions to the International Space Station. Credits: ESA – M. Cowan
ESA astronaut Rosemary Coogan analyses minerals in a lava tube in Lanzarote, Spain, during the PANGAEA geology training. Credits: ESA – A. Romeo
ESA astronauts during the inauguration of LUNA, a training and testing ground that recreates the Moon’s surface on Earth. Credits: DLR/ESA
ESA Astronaut Reserve member John McFall familiarises itself with the challenges of controlling his movements in ‘weightless’ conditions during a parabolic flight campaign onboard the ‘Zero G’ aircraft. Credits: ESA/Novespace