Europe off to Space despite Earthly Woes

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Even as the U.S. space program finds its horizons narrowed by budget cuts, the European Space Agency (ESA) appears determined to defy economic gravity, launching an ambitious space exploration program amid a deepening sovereign debt crisis. While an underperforming economy has damped U.S. space aspirations, most members of the ESA remain committed to forging ahead with plans to explore the universe, including projects on the Columbus space laboratory and missions to explore dark matter.

Launched in 2008, the Columbus laboratory has served as a platform for research into material science, physics, human physiology, and biology, in addition to Earth observation, according to Thomas Reiter, the ESA's director of human spaceflight and operations, who views space exploration as an innovation driver. Now, he said, Europe needs to "maximize the use of knowledge gained through aerospace research by developing new technologies for the benefit of people here on Earth." And with its new space missions, he added, the bloc will create incentives for its scientists and engineers to acquire still greater expertise in space …