The European Space Agency (ESA) is Europe’s gateway to space. Its mission is to shape the development of Europe’s space capability and ensure that investment in space continues to deliver benefits to the citizens of Europe and the world.
Find out more about space activities in our 23 Member States, and understand how ESA works together with their national agencies, institutions and organisations.
Exploring our Solar System and unlocking the secrets of the Universe
Go to topicProtecting life and infrastructure on Earth and in orbit
Go to topicUsing space to benefit citizens and meet future challenges on Earth
Go to topicMaking space accessible and developing the technologies for the future
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Scientists and students last week took part in ESA’s 65th campaign that offers around 20 seconds of weightlessness at each apex of an aircraft’s rollercoaster flight.
This student team from the Polytechnic University of Madrid, Spain, investigated how piezoelectric devices can be used to control fluids in weightlessness.
The minute vibrations over a wide frequency range were used to change the shape of a liquid inside a container.
The hope is that the approach could be used in satellites to feed fuel into engines or water in spacecraft from storage tanks to drinking dispensers instead of mechanical pumps or pressurised systems.
The “Fly your thesis!” programme gives master and PhD candidates an opportunity to work in microgravity conditions. The experiments can be related to fluid physics, chemistry, biology, material sciences, heat transfer and astrophysics.