EarthCARE meets the Large Space Simulator

ESA’s EarthCARE satellite in ESA’s ESTEC Test Centre in the Netherlands. Here the satellite is being lowered into the Large Space Simulator. The satellite spent almost 12 months in the Netherlands being tested to ensure that it will withstand the space environment once it is in orbit. The mission will answer some critical scientific questions related to the role that clouds and aerosols play in reflecting incident solar radiation back out to space and trapping infrared radiation emitted from Earth’s surface.