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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ESA's Advanced Gradient Heating Facility (AGHF) flew aboard the Life & Microgravity Sciences (LMS) Spacelab mission in June 1996 for materials processing experiments.
NASA Payload Commander Susan Helms and CNES Payload Specialist Jean-Jacques Favier are seen extracting a processed experiment from the AGHF furnace. It was advisable to have two people performing this delicate operation because scratching the process chamber aperture had to be avoided [Image Date: 1996/06] [98.04.007-012]