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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Danish ESA astronaut Andreas Mogensen during a summer visit to ESTEC’s Orbital Robotics Laboratory, experiencing weightless motion in 2D – courtesy of a friction-free air-bearing platform combined with a virtual reality headset.
The Orbital Robotics Lab, used to test out mission scenarios involving microgravity or low-gravity environments, incorporates a 4.8 x 9 m epoxy floor smoothed to within 0.8 mm across its surface.
Like an air hockey table, air-bearing platforms can glide freely across it, to simply and easily replicate the dynamics of low-gravity motion in two rather than three dimensions.
Seen here with colleague Matthias Maurer of the European Astronaut Centre and lab engineer Marius Klimavicius, Andreas could compare the experience to his memories of actual weightlessness – he went on a 10 day mission to the International Space Station last September.
The Oculus Rift headset, meanwhile, displayed a visualisation of the interior of the ISS as its wearer glided about.
See a video clip of Matthias taking his own ride on the platform here.
Note the shoe covers worn by everyone; the epoxy floor must be kept dust-free to maintain its pristine smoothness.
ESTEC, based in Noordwijk, the Netherlands, is ESA’s technical heart, where most Agency space missions are first designed then guided through development. It is home to a suite of specialist labs and a full-scale satellite test centre.
Your chance to visit the place where space starts comes on Sunday 2 October, on the annual ESTEC Open Day.