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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Don't panic! This is the story of a book, a book called The Hitchiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, a wholly remarkable book.
ESA astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti reads from Douglas Adam’s “The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy” for towel day from the European laboratory Columbus on the International Space Station.
The Guide has a few things to say on the subject of towels. A towel, it says, is about the most massively useful thing an interstellar hitchhiker can have.
To all you froods on the mostly harmless planet Earth, happy towel day!
Towel Day is an annual celebration on 25 May, as a tribute to the late author Douglas Adams when fans around the universe proudly carry a towel in his honour.