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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Expedition 42 astronauts on the International Space Station enjoying their Thanksgiving meal in 2014.
Clockwise from top: cosmonauts Anton Shkaplerov and Elena Serova, NASA astronauts Terry Virts and Butch Wilmore and ESA astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti with cosmonaut Alexander Samoukutyaev centre.
From the brain’s point of view, living in space is very stressful. The signals from an astronaut’s body in space go haywire in weightlessness. The inner ear reports that it is falling, but the eyes show that nothing is moving.
As fluid shifts to the head, the brain usually interprets this extra pressure as a sign it is upside down – but in space there is no up or down. The body clock might signal that it is tired after a day’s work on the International Space Station, but astronauts experience 16 sunrises and sunsets every 24 hours.
This picture was taken during Samantha’s Futura mission. Follow her via samanthacristoforetti.esa.int