Inspecting a vacuum chamber in the ESA Propulsion Laboratory. ESTEC labs test candidate parts and materials for space missions to the point of destruction if need be. ‘Nanoscratchers’ check the resistance of coatings a millionth of a metre thick, while atomic force microscopes survey test item surfaces down to the scale of individual atoms. Items can be bombarded with radiation, crushed, shaken, heated or exposed to space-quality vacuum.