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
Go to topicThank you for liking
You have already liked this page, you can only like it once!
Rosetta’s Structural and Thermal Model replica having undergone thermal vacuum testing inside ESA’s Large Space Simulator (LSS) in 2000, the mission’s final flight model underwent the same testing in March 2002, as shown here.
Europe’s largest vacuum chamber, this 15 m-high, 10 m-diameter cylinder can achieve a vacuum a billion times lower than standard sea level atmosphere, while liquid nitrogen circulated around the walls approximates the cryogenic temperatures of space. An array of powerful xenon lamps reflected in an array of mirrors can reproduce the unfiltered sunlight found in space, and the satellite can also be rotated. Note the Philae lander, attached to Rosetta’s side, due to land on comet 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko in November 2014.
In order to simulate the warmth of the inner Solar System, the exterior of the spacecraft was heated to a sizzling 150°C. During subsequent tests, the temperature was allowed to plummet to –180°C. Sensors indicated that the spacecraft’s insulation and heat control systems enabled Rosetta to survive these thermal tortures in fine shape, with internal temperatures restricted to between 40°C and –10° C.