Going to the European Space Technology Research Centre - Pictures from the heart of Space in Europe!

If you want to see "the cool stuff" we do at the European Space Agency (ESA), the European Research and Technology Centre (ESTEC) in the Netherlands is where you will have to go! Whereas the headquarters where I work mostly consists of office spaces and meeting rooms, this place is packed with fascinating equipment ranging from vacuum chambers to test satellites in space-like conditions to test-beds for rovers and other space-related technologies.

Last year, I went there twice to attend a series of strategy workshops on how the Agency can learn from, and adapt to, new technology megatrends. I, of course, could not help but take a number of pictures and thought it would be nice to do a post to share some of the ones that I liked. First, you may want to know a few facts about the place.

Aerial view of ESTEC, the European Space Research and Technology Centre
image credit ESA source

ESTEC is by far the largest ESA centre hosting over 2000 ESA staff, contractors and research fellows. This is where most European space missions are planned, developed, tested and prepared for their respective missions. So if you are a technology provider involved in the European Space sector, whether it be components for satellites, launch vehicles, research instruments for the ISS, etc, chances are high that you'll visit ESTEC at some point.

Arriving at the entrance to ESTEC where you'll either need to register your visit or show your badge
Picture taken by me in front of the entrance to ESTEC

As ESA works closely with industry partners and works predominantly as planner, coordinator, and tester, there are continuously people visiting ESTEC to take part in meetings or to overlook different tests. With more than 600 companies providing parts and services only to the launcher division of ESA, ESTEC is a busy place with new visitors coming daily to discuss contracts, progress on programs and other business. Luckily for me, there was no need to enter the long queue at the entrance as the ESA badge from the HQ in Paris is accepted also here!

Picture as I walked from the entrance and over the building where our workshop was hosted

Once inside and just passed some of the flags you could see in the image above, I could not help but take another photo of the Norwegian flag as well as the model of a satellite kept outside as decoration! As much as I would have loved to take a sharp left and go to the test centre where the cool things are, I was visiting to participate in a strategy workshop held in the red building seen on the bottom right of the image further above detailing the ESTEC area.

But as you will see, the room we used is still pretty epic ;)

Picture I took of our workshop at ESTEC

The facilities used for the strategy meeting could not have been any better when it comes to giving inspiration! It was quite special to sit at a table and have a scaled down model of the International Space Station hanging down from the ceiling right above my head. The entire room is also filled with retrieved space hardware and models used for exhibitions.

A model of a Mars landing capsule used for the attempted landing of the Schiaparelli Lander with a stretched out parachute!

You would almost have to be excused for getting distracted away from the powerpoint slides to instead look at the surroundings! The lander you see next to the pulpit is a model of the one that crashed when it attempted to land Schiaparelli on the red planet back in 2016. For more information, you may want to read ESA's conclusions on their own website here.

@steemSTEM logo on my laptop during the ESA strategy workshop, in the background, is a full-size module of the International Space Station

Me peeking inside the Space Station module after the workshop had ended

Before taking another selfie in front of a large printed image taken by a satellite, perhaps one to add to my beautiful images of our planet series?

Another late meeting taking place at the same time as ours, doubt they had as delicious refreshments though!

On one of the walls was a screen showing a live tracking of the International Space Station

Anyone of you interested in tracking the ISS can actually do it yourself here. Many amateur astronomers have captured images of the ISS when its position relative to themselves and the sun allows them to catch a glimpse of it as it passes over their heads. With an average speed of approximately 27500 km/h, you'll have to be very quick though if you want to take an image!

Test lab for autonomous rovers at ESTEC

The coolest part that I got to see during my short visit was the Automation and Robotics Laboratory. Here, programmes that are to be used on rovers and other robotics are tested in different environments. What does the rover do if a wheel gets stuck in the sand? Can it be programmed to better predict when this is about to happen and if so, what are the best response countermeasures to execute to avoid getting stuck? Or how should it react to eventually getting stuck? Also, how can it autonomously detect rocks and other formations that are interesting to study, and how will it then approach it to carry out an experiment?

Images of a retrieved BIOPAN capsule

Some relics of the past are also kept here for display. One example is this retrieved BIOPAN capsule, a programme that began in the early 90s and continued into the millennium. The capsule contained numerous science experiments that were carried out in microgravity before the whole capsule was returned to Earth. In total, six different missions were carried out with the capsule, carrying different science experiments with each launch and return.

It would be really cool to arrange a steem meetup here someday. When the date is set for the next Open Day event, most likely to happen in October, I will look into whether we could have an event here and perhaps have a friend or colleague also give a short tour of the test labs that are otherwise closed for the public. Time will tell :).

Anyways, those were some of the images I took during the two days I was there I hope you enjoyed them!

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As always, take care and steem on!

@fredrikaa