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
Go to topicThank you for liking
You have already liked this page, you can only like it once!
ESA astronaut Matthias Maurer sets up the Microage experiment from the UK Space Agency and University of Liverpool. He posted this to his social channels on Monday 3 January with the caption: "Why do our bones and muscles get weaker as we grow old? As muscle and bone loss also happens faster in the weightless environment of space, the British Microage experiment – delivered by SpaceX cargo Dragon just before Christmas – studies muscle degradation aboard the International Space Station. It uses synthetic muscle cells that are electrically stimulated and, while one part of the samples is exposed to microgravity, others are exposed to artificial gravity via centrifugation. Back on Earth, the samples will be studied to help understand how this happens and identify possible modes of prevention."
Visit the Cosmic Kiss mission page to learn more about Matthias’s mission.