About ESA
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.
Highlights
Latest
Space in Member States
Find out more about space activities in our 23 Member States, and understand how ESA works together with their national agencies, institutions and organisations.
Germany
Austria
Belgium
Denmark
Spain
Estonia
Finland
France
Greece
Hungary
Ireland
Italy
Luxembourg
Norway
The Netherlands
Poland
Portugal
Czechia
Romania
United Kingdom
Slovenia
Sweden
Switzerland
Science & Exploration
Exploring our Solar System and unlocking the secrets of the Universe
Go to topicAstronauts
Latest
Enabling & Support
Making space accessible and developing the technologies for the future
Go to topicLatest
Astronaut basic training: parabolic flight
ESA’s new generation of astronauts had a taste of space on the special Airbus ‘Zero G’ A310 aircraft. They were supported by experienced European astronauts and instructors during several parabolic flights in Bordeaux, France.
Parabolic flight campaigns recreate the 'weightless’ conditions similar to those experienced in space, and are often used to run science experiments, validate space instruments and train astronauts before spaceflight. ESA's latest astronaut recruits flew through repeated parabolas that gave them brief bursts of microgravity. They flew through 30 parabolas per flight, with up to 22 seconds of microgravity at a time. In total, the passengers experienced around 10 minutes of weightlessness inside the aircraft at the top of each parabolic manoeuvre.
The campaign offered the astronaut candidates a glimpse of their future working conditions. A first flight helped them familiarise their bodies with the challenges of inertia and orientation in weightlessness. While movements do not require any effort, stopping and controlling one's motion need practice.
During the second flight the crew took turns on several training worksites to handle tools, such as screwdrivers, and moved along the cabin using tethers, handrails and spacesuit gloves. One of the exercises saw them performing cardiopulmonary resuscitation techniques on others, better known as CPR.
New ESA astronauts during parabolic flight training
Ready to fly
Testing space tech on parabolic flights
Sławosz Uznański on a parabolic flight
