Il est indispensable de surveiller la cryosphère afin de pouvoir évaluer, prévoir et s’adapter pleinement à la variabilité du climat et à son évolution. Étant donné l’importance de cette composante fragile du système Terre, l’ESA a signé aujourd’hui avec Airbus Defence and Space et Thales Alenia Space un contrat pour le développement de la mission Copernicus Polar Ice and Snow Topography Altimeter, connue sous le nom de CRISTAL.

Chaque année, l’ESA propose une centaine d’offres de stage d’une durée d’un an destinées à des étudiants bac+5 ou en passe d’être diplômés – il s’agit du programme Young Graduate Trainee, alias YGT. Les candidats retenus bénéficient d'une première expérience professionnelle de valeur qui les qualifie pour de nombreux postes notamment du secteur spatial, de l'industrie à la recherche en passant par la communication ou le juridique. Les stagiaires sont bien sûr soutenus tout au long de leur travail par un tuteur expérimenté.

Test du moteur Vulcain®2.1 pour le premier vol d'Ariane 6

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Applications are now open for ESA’s next Space Physician Training Course, scheduled to take place online from 21-22 January 2021. 

Join astronauts and experts for an aural journey through the history of European spaceflight in the latest series of ESA podcast, ESA Explores Time and Space. 

The International Space Station is an exciting place for experiments. This one in particular was making waves in space. Called Fluidics, the experiment studies fluid dynamics in microgravity and recently performed another successful round of science on board the Space Station. 

Developed by French space agency CNES and co-funded by Airbus Defense and Space, the Fluidics or Fluid Dynamics in Space experiment is probing how fluids behave in weightlessness.

Have you ever tried walking while carrying a full cup of water? Your steps invariably cause the water to slosh about, making spills hard to avoid. Now imagine a satellite turning – the fuel inside will slosh, affecting the satellite’s stability.  The experiment will help improve the performance of satellite propellant systems, extending their working lives by using every last drop in their tanks.

A second part of the Fluidics experiment will look at capillary wave turbulence in liquids. On Earth, gravity and surface tension influence how energy dissipates in waves or ripples. In space, scientists can observe how surface forces behave without gravity.

By looking at capillary wave turbulence without gravity interfering, researchers can single out non-linear interactions. This could help us improve climate models forecasting the sea states and better understand wave formation on Earth, like rogue waves for example.  

The experiment is made up of five small, transparent spheres housed in a black centrifuge seen here. Three spheres hold water for the wave-turbulence research; the other two carry a special liquid with low viscosity and little surface tension for sloshing. 

Fluidics was first installed and run by ESA astronaut Thomas Pesquet during his Proxima mission in 2016. The most recent session was completed by NASA astronaut Chris Cassidy in the European laboratory on board the Space Station.

Learn more about the Fluidics experiment with this infographic.