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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The first instrument to directly measure gravity on the surface of an asteroid has undergone testing in ESA’s Mechanical Systems Laboratory. To prove it was ready for integration with Hera’s Juventas CubeSat, the GRASS gravimeter was subjected to spacelike vacuum and temperature extremes within a thermal vacuum chamber, then underwent sustained shaking to mimic the violence of a rocket launch, as seen here. The L-shaped instrument, the size of two smartphones stuck together, is designed to measure miniscule gravity levels because the Dimorphos asteroid it will touch down on is the smallest planetary object ever to be visited by a spacecraft.