EUROPEAN SPACE AGENCY (ESA), EDUCATION OFFICE


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 people of Europe. 
The programmes from are limited to pacific applications, including both manned and unmanned missions.

ESA's 15 Member States are Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom. Canada has special status and participates in some projects under a co-operation agreement.
As can be seen from this list, not all member countries of the European Union are members of ESA and not all ESA Member States are members of the EU. ESA is an entirely independent organisation although it maintains close ties with the EU with whom it shares a joint space strategy.
 
ESTEC, the European Space Research and Technology Centre, is the design hub for most ESA spacecraft and is situated in Noordwijk, the Netherlands.

Apart from this, ESA has other establishments in France (the Headquarters, in Paris), Germany (the European Space Operations Centre in Darmstadt, and the European Astronauts Centre, in Cologne), Italy (the processing of Earth observation data in Frascati, near Rome) and the French Guyana (the launch site, in Kourou).

ESA staff comes from all the Member States and its official languages are English and French.

ESTEC's principal activities are:
 
  • Managing ESA space projects and preparing future projects; the projects themselves are developed and built by the aerospace industry in the different ESA member states;
    • Providing technical support to ESA project teams; ESTEC has specialists and laboratories in virtually all space related disciplines;
    • Developing new space technology for future ESA projects in close collaboration with European industry and research organisations;
    • Quality monitoring of ESA projects, including the formulation of standards and procedures and the specification of materials and components;
    • Testing satellites; ESTEC has the largest spacecraft test facilities in Europe.

    The Human Spaceflight Department supports the development of research and technologies in space - on the International Space Station but also on the US Space Shuttle, Russian Foton capsules, European sounding rockets, parabolic flights or drop towers and tubes. This research and technology development will benefit people on Earth and prepare Europe for the new challenges of human space exploration.

    My job on this department is focused on the development of two experiments for the Foton platform as well as some student projects to be carried out on board of the International Space Station and sounding rockets.
     
    ESA Education Office develops different projects and activities for Educational and Outreach purposes in connection with space, by means of the  annual percentage of the ESA Budget reserved for this purposes.
     
  • The main objectives of the Education Office are two:
    		•
    • To reach a significant number of European young people and motivate them to enhance their literacy in science and technology in general and space in particular.
    • To identify competent, creative and highly talented youngsters and stimulate them to dedicate their career to space favouring a talented workforce for the 21st century. 


    But the Education Office has also its own projects with important applications for space and science. My main tasks consisted on the co-ordination, management, development and adjudication of the money available for some of these projects.
     
    Iñaki Rodriguez Rebolledo
    		Curriculum Vitae, 2004