You may remember a previous post of this blog about the Cosmic Vision programme of the European Space Agency. Basically it's about selecting the flagship European space missions for the years 2015-2025. Well, eight projects have been selected among the dozens of proposals received, and will now undergo a looong assessment process. After another intermediate selection in 2009, two winning missions will be selected in 2011, to be launched in 2017 and 2018 respectively.

In a nutshell, the Cosmic Vision programme can well be considered the cruellest reality show ever conceived.

But let's meet the nominees which survived the first round of "auditions". The red carpet is unrolled, paparazzi wrestle for the best viewpoint, the flashes of their cameras illuminating the night. Screaming fans wait for their heroes, while bodyguards check the situation from behind their dark glasses. A limousine stops, one of its many doors opens and reveals the dazzling smile of...

In the Solar System category:

  • Laplace, to study Jupiter and its satellites, especially Europa, with its intriguing ice crust, beneath which there may be an ocean (possibly with something swimming in it, who knows).

  • Tandem, for the exploration of Saturn, the "Lord of the Rings", pictured below (photo NASA), and its satellites Titan and Enceladus.

    Saturn imaged by the Cassini spacecraft

  • Cross-scale, a fleet of twelve spacecraft to explore near-earth space, where radiation and particles from the Sun interact with our planet's magnetic field.

  • Marco Polo, to reach a near-Earth asteroid, collect a sample and return it safely to Earth.

In the Astronomy category:

  • Dune and SPACE, to explore dark matter and dark energy, the invisible particles and mysterious force believed to be shaping our Universe. These are actually two distinct proposals with the same objective, and will be merged into a single candidate project.

  • Plato, to look for extrasolar planets, chasing the Holy Grail of another planet capable of sustaining life.

  • Spica, to observe the Universe in infrared radiation, from nearby planets to the most distant galaxies.

  • XEUS, to carry out observations in X-rays and shed light on extreme phenomena such as supermassive black holes.

An impressive array of proposals, isn't it? It's really a pity that six of these will have to be discarded.

Anyway, now we can only wait for people at ESA to make up their minds. Don't worry, we will let you know the outcome of the second selection in 2009, and we'll all celebrate with the winners in 2011.

Oh yes, this blog fully intends to be around till 2011 and beyond...