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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Cooling technologies developed by ESA for space were improving Henri Pescarolo’s car in ‘2003 Dakar Rally’, commonly known as the Paris-Dakar Rally. A special thermal screen using technology developed for the European launch vehicle Ariane provided highly advanced protection and thermal insulation. Thanks to the thermal screen, the racing team enjoyed a significant safety boost with the decreased risk of fire in case of oil or gasoline leaks. The Italian company Grado Zero Espace provided a cooling system for the drivers’ helmets. It uses solid-state Peltier elements to ‘pump’ the heat out from the inner side of the helmet and a circulating fluid system to transport the heat away to a special heat ‘sink’, where the heat is absorbed.
In addition, the drivers also enjoyed drinks served in a completely new type of self-cooling container that may revolutionize the world of beverages over the coming years. Advanced numerical simulation techniques developed for ESA for satellite mission calculations made it possible for French company ThermaGen to calculate precisely the behaviour of the complex physical phenomena that creates the cooling effect and to design the self-cooling container.