Success stories

ESA is helping to develop innovative tools to detect, monitor and combat osteoporosis - a disease spreading out quickly amongst the world's population.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.