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
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Go to topicMaking space accessible and developing the technologies for the future
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ESA astronaut Christer Fuglesang, STS-128 mission specialist, during his mission’s third and final spacewalk. He worked outside of the International Space Station for more than seven hours.
“Working in the weightlessness of space is light, but the stiffness of the space suit makes many basic movements quite hard to do,” notes Christer. “The pressurised suit is like a balloon, and for instance tilting a hand requires much more force than with normal clothes.
“At the end of my last spacewalk we had some power and air left in our suits, and we tried to move back to the airlock as slowly as possible,” Christer confesses. “We wanted to stay little bit longer in space, because being outside the spacecraft inside a spacesuit is an extraordinary experience.”