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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When designing a mission for space, engineers work in terms of ‘end-of-life’ performance – how will a material respond to the extreme environment of space across multiple years? Continuous testing in simulated conditions across the actual timespan required is often not feasible. Instead the team at ESA’s Materials and Electrical Components Laboratory employ established methods to accelerate testing, including the ‘Time Temperature Superposition’ technique – where test materials are subjected to a dynamic thermal-mechanical environment to help estimate how a material will respond over a longer duration. Engineers Virginie Cesar-Auguste and Jason Williamson explain how and why it is applied for testing.