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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One of the Abigaille wall-crawler robot's six feet, with six degrees of freedom for agile climbing and dry adhesives on its footpad to keep it stuck to surfaces. Tensioned with an elastic band, it is operated by a detaching motor cam with infrared sensor. Its rigid plastic foot is covered with macro-posts, covered in turn with micrometre-scale micro-posts, with mushroom caps on their ends. These are tiny enough that atomic interactions between the plastic and the surface come into play.