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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ESA’s Lander Radioscience experiment, or LaRa for short, nearly two weeks inside a thermal vacuum chamber in ESA's Mechanical Systems Laboratory to perform functional testing in hot and cold conditions. It was at first placed in high vacuum to ‘degas’ fumes that might otherwise pose problems in space and to test its behaviour in conditions similar to that of the voyage to Mars. LaRa was then subjected to simulated Martian conditions, with 6 millibars of carbon dioxide added to the chamber, at the same time as the temperature was cycled up and down. A carbon dioxide was therefore in place to the right of the thermal vacuum chamber.