Success stories

1. Research

• Fighting osteoporosis with ESA innovations
  ESA is helping to develop innovative tools to detect, monitor and combat osteoporosis - a disease spreading out quickly amongst the world's population.
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• Space fish against osteoporosis
  Sending small fish into space can be a very effective means to research bone loss and fight osteoporosis. What sounds like science fiction is actually highly effective real-life research: fish - like humans - suffer from a bone-loss quite similar to osteoporosis when placed in a space environment for a longer period of time.
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• Growing in curves: How gravity makes plants bend
  Gravity is one of the few constants in the evolution of life on Earth - it is the only force that in the course of history was never subdued to major changes or fluctuations. Therefore, gravitational force played a role in the development of flora and fauna on Earth. Research in plants is the basis of understanding how gravity is perceived by living beings.
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2. Technology demonstration

• Feeling an astronaut's pulse
  During his stay on the International Space Station with the DELTA Mission, ESA astronaut André Kuipers successfully performed the CIRCA experiment, a technology demonstration with the Boso TM 2430PC, a Blood Pressure Measurement Instrument (BMI) manufactured by German BOSO GmbH and provided by Kayser-Threde GmbH.
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• Buon appetito - Cosmonauts on a Mediterranean diet
  A slice of pita bread with dried tomatoes and Italian cheese, followed by peaches in jelly and a bite of chocolate. What sounds like a vacation dinner under pine trees close to the mediterranean sea is actually a new generation of space food, tested in parallel to ESA’s 2004 DELTA Mission to the International Space Station.
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• Energy-efficient lamps for the future
  The energy-saving plasma lamps, developed by Philips and Eindhoven Technical University, have been successfully tested on board the International Space Station. During the DELTA Mission, ESA astronaut André Kuipers carried out - amongst many others - the ARGES Experiment aimed at improving the function of High-Intensity Discharge lamps (HID), a new generation of energy-saving plasma lamps.
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3. Edutainment

• Get ready for the space experience
  A unique chance offered by the European Space Agency: The ESA Space Training, an intensive astronaut training session using the actual facilities European astronauts work with to prepare for their stay on the International Space Station.
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