European Space Agency

European Space Agency
ESA patch (1983)
General Information
Full name	European Space Agency
French	Agence spatiale européenne
Abbr.	ESA, ASE
Type	Space agency
Industry	Space technology Space exploration Aeronautics research
Head­quarters	Paris, France
Member of	Mars-7 Alliance (1997)
Sites	Guiana Space CentreW Kourou, French Guiana
Formed	1975 note

The European Space Agency (ESA) is an European intergovernmental organisation of 16 member states dedicated to space exploration.

History

Many ESA astronauts visited and worked on NASA's lunar base Jamestown. They were also part of other missions, like Skylab.

In May 1983, Irish ESA astronaut Doreen Campbell was aboard Skylab as part of the Skylab 19 mission, where she detected the massive coronal mass ejection^W with the station's solar telescope (ATM) that threatened satellites, and astronaut's lives in Earth's orbit and on the Moon. The solar storm later led to Dutch ESA astronaut Wubbo Ockels leaving the program after he was exposed to way too much radiation during that event.

Other ESA astronauts working on Jamestown were from Canada, Spain, and Switzerland.

In 1994, Scotsman Clarke Halladay was part of the Sojourner-1 mission heading to Mars, but died during the rescue mission of the Soviet spacecraft Mars-94.

In 1997, ESA joined the newly founded Mars-7 Alliance treaty (M-7), with Canada opting to remain independent to pursue their own priorities.

Member states

ESA member nations 1997

•    Austria
•    Belgium
•    Canada
•    Denmark
•    Finland
•    France
•    West Germany
•    Ireland
•    Italy
•    Netherlands
•    Norway
•    Portugal (as of 1997)
•    Spain
•    Sweden
•    Switzerland
•    United Kingdom

Notable personnel

• Wubbo Ockels (Astronaut, Physicist, Netherlands)
• Doreen Campbell (Astronaut, Scientist, Ireland)
• Clarke Halladay (Astronaut, Scottland) †

Behind the scenes

ESA logo comparison

Same as with NASA, the ESA logos seen in the show are different from the real ones.

According to the ESA patch seen in season 2, the organization had 15 members in 1983.
In reality, ESA had 14 members in 1983, 11 full member states, the associated members Austria and Norway, which became full members in 1986, plus the cooperating state Canada.
Finland became the 14th full member state in 1995 only.

ESA was formed from two former organisations, ESRO^W and ELDO^W. It is unknown how the European space organisations have developed in the alternate timeline of For All Mankind.

In a news broadcast about the formation of the M-7 Alliance in 1997, Portugal is also shown as a member, although it wasn't on the patch back in 1983. This somehow lines-up with reality, where Portugal became the 15th member state in November 2000, a few years later than in the show.

In the timeline of For All Mankind, Germany is still divided. Only West Germany is part of ESA. East Germany is part of the Coalition of Communist Countries for Spaceflight.

See also

• NASA
• Roscosmos
• North Korea Space Program
• Mars-7 Alliance
• Coalition of Communist Countries for Spaceflight

External links

•   ESA on Wikipedia
•   esa.int: Official website