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
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Enabling & Support
Making space accessible and developing the technologies for the future
Go to topicLatest
Down to Earth Healthcare
A look at how technologies developed for the space industry have led to improvements in healthcare on Earth.
The film is divided into four sections as follows:
SAVING LIVES: a general look at the concept of technology transfer to healthcare; the Promedus organisation; keyhole surgery, miniature eyepiece lenses; training via vrtual reality computer systems; the use of stents in surgical procedures, shape memory alloys.
HEALTH AND FITNESS: manned spaceflight and the International Space Station; the action of microgravity on human physiology and bone formation, heart failure and osteoporosis; the use of carbon fibre in artificial hips, computer modelling of stress; shape-memory alloys, use in bone fusion; diet and fitness.
TELEMEDICINE: the concept of remote operations - telecommunications, information transfer, ultrasound, robotics; secure systems of handling confidential medical data. NEW DEVICES: the Promedus organisation; effects of microgravity on the vestibular organ, eye-head coordination; the use of ocular monitoring systems in space and medical training, the Eyecatcher system; ionising radiation, detection in satellites and humans (Radfet sensors); miniature pump, use in drug administration; pressure sensor-suit, applications in monitoring babies at risk from SIDS; monitoring intra-ocular pressure.
