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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AFC was designed specifically for NASA’s Dawn mission to the two largest bodies in the Asteroid belt, provided by the Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research, the DLR German Aerospace Center and Technical University of Braunschweig’s Institute of Computer and Network Engineering. ESA's Hera asteroid mission will use a flight-spare of the AFC. The camera, equipped with seven spectral filters from the visible to the near-infrared, is able to gather spectral surface information as well as an eighth clear filter for navigation purposes and broadband surface science. The 5.5 kg AFC resembles a computer printer-sized box containing power and mass memory with a thermally insulated telescope extending out from it. Maximum image sensitivity is ensured by cooling the telescope’s CCD light detector down to -60 °C.