ESA Ground-based Facility – now at IFA
IFA's Planetary Environment Facility, also known as the Mars wind tunnel, is now a ESA ground-based facility
There are only 21 facilities on ESA's list of Ground-based Facilities, and IFA is now included in this list - as the first in Denmark.
These facilities conduct research into a wide range of topics, all related to space exploration, including how humans are affected by stays in space, the properties of materials to be used in space missions, the life of microbes under these conditions, and much more. One of the most important criteria when selecting was that the facility is unique; Nowhere else in the world is there a wind tunnel that can operate from atmospheric pressure down to vacuum with different types of gas, blow dust and sand and work at a wide temperature range. At the same time, it is important that we are already doing projects for ESA, including testing many parts for the ExoMars rover, which is named after Rosalind Franklin.
Researchers from Denmark and abroad can now apply for grant of up to €50,000 from ESA to carry out projects with us, giving IFA the opportunity to participate in exciting new research projects that will teach us about conditions on other planets, in space and on our own Earth.
Read more about ESA's Science in Space programme here
Read mere about the Mars wind tunnel here.