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 22 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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Peering through the protective lead glass window of ESA's X-ray tomography machine, where a 3D-printed mirror is being X-rayed.
The machine is the engineering equivalent of a medical CT scanner – and does an equivalent job, revealing the details of the interior of a test item without destroying it in the process.
The test part is slowly moved around as a thousand X-ray images are taken. Then specialised software stacks these individual images into a detailed 3D model.
Total acquisition time depends on the size of the part – it might be completed in six to seven hours. For a larger part multiple acquisitions might need to be performed across different sections of the part, then merged.
The resulting 3D model has a spatial resolution down to around 0.03 mm, portraying not only its surface but also its interior features, so that the engineers can perform a detailed flythrough around – and deep inside – the test part.