Guardian: The government’s aspirations to become health monitor for planet Earth received a boost yesterday when the European Space Agency (ESA) agreed to establish its first British space facility. The centre is expected to become a focus for research into space-based Earth observations, which the government is keen to establish as the cornerstone of its role in the heavens. Based at the home of Britain’s atomic energy programme, Harwell in Oxfordshire, the new centre could be up and …