Experimental Astronomy - Published Part 1 of the Special Issue “Voyage 2050 – science themes for ESA’s long-term plan for the scientific programme: the nearby and distant Universe”
October 2021
We are pleased to present the Part 1 of the Special Issue “Voyage 2050 – science themes for ESA’s long-term plan for the science programme: the nearby and distant Universe”, with Guest Editors Karen S. O’Flaherty, Linda J. Tacconi, Christopher S. Arridge, Günther Hasinger, Fabio Favata.
The European Space Agency (ESA), by way of its Science Programme, provides Europe with the tools to be a world leader in space science. The scientific community defines the Programme through a bottom-up process involving periodic invitations to propose ideas for the most important scientific topics to be addressed in the coming decades. The success of the current Science Programme is built on the Horizon 2000, Horizon 2000+, and Cosmic Vision community consultations, which started in 1984, 1994, and 2005 respectively. The most recent consultation, Voyage 2050, began in 2019 with a call to the community for ideas for science themes that could or should be addressed by 2050. The call generated close to 100 diverse and ambitious ideas, submitted to ESA as White Papers, most of which are included in this two-part Special Issue of Experimental Astronomy.
Read the editorial at:
https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10686-021-09746-4 (this opens in a new tab)
Access the complete special issue through the following web page:
https://link.springer.com/journal/10686/volumes-and-issues/51-3 (this opens in a new tab)
The complete Special Issue is available for free access for two months following its publication on 22 October 2021.
Our Guest Editors are:
Karen S. O’Flaherty, ESA – ESTEC, The Netherlands
Linda J. Tacconi, Max-Planck-Institut für Extraterrestrische Physik, Germany
Christopher S. Arridge, Department of Physics, Lancaster University, UK
Günther Hasinger, ESA – ESAC, Spain
Fabio Favata, ESA – ESTEC, The Netherlands
Inset-top-right: Courtesy of NASA/SDO and the AIA, EVE, and HMI science teams.
Top: (left) NASA/JPL-Caltech; (centre) ESO/M. Kornmesser; (right) ESA/Planck Collaboration.
Centre: (left) NASA/JPL/University of Arizona/University of Idaho; (centre) ESA/Gaia/DPAC; (right) ESA.
Bottom: (left) NASA/JPL-Caltech/SETI Institute; (centre) B. Saxton & A. Angelich / NRAO / AUI / NSF / ALMA (ESO/NAOJ/NRAO); (right) ESO/M. Kornmesser.