Space telescopes are humankind’s eyes in the heavens: from their superior observing positions high above the Earth’s atmosphere, they provide us with astounding views of the Universe. ESAC, the European Space Astronomy Centre, is where some of those views are first studied – signals from black holes and distant galaxies, from neighbouring planets and even from planets far beyond the Solar System are beamed back to the Madrid countryside. ESAC is thereby the ‘home’ of ESA’s space-telescope and planetary missions, the place from where science operations are conducted, and where all of the scientific data produced are archived and made accessible to the world.
