r bulletin 105 — february 2001

ESA’s Evolution asEnvisaged by TheThree ‘Wise Men’As reported in ESA Bulletin No. 103(August 2000 issue), in March 2000 ESA’sDirector General, Antonio Rodotà, asked acommittee of three ‘Wise Men’ to providehim with an independent assessment ofthe future evolution of the Agency. Thecommittee was made up of Carl Bildt(Chairman), former Swedish Prime Ministerand UN Envoy to the Balkans, JeanPeyrelevade, President of Crédit Lyonnais,and Lothar Späth, Chief Executive Officerof Jenoptik, together representing aformidable combination of high-levelpolitical, economic and industrialexpertise.

The three examined the organisation ofthe public space sector in Europe and therole of ESA in that sector, the institutionalrelationship between ESA and theEuropean Union, and the associatedpotential for synergies between civil anddefence programmes. They also analysedthe potential for enlargement of ESA toinclude more countries, and the marketopportunities available to ESA MemberStates in the space domain.

On 9 November, commensurate with thecalendar for the European space strategybeing prepared jointly by ESA and theEuropean Union, the Wise Men presentedtheir recommendations at a PressConference at the Agency’s Headquartersin Paris, hosted by Antonio Rodotà andJean-Jacques Dordain, ESA’s Director ofStrategy and Technical Assessment.

ESA and the EuropeanUnion Adopt a CommonSpace Strategy

On 16 November, Ministers representingthe 15 ESA Member States, gathered inBrussels for an Extraordinary Meeting ofthe ESA Council, adopted a Resolutionthat accompanies a joint ESA/ECdocument on a European Strategy forSpace (the Wise Men’s Report – seeprevious news item). A parallel Resolution,based on the same document, was alsoendorsed by the European ResearchCouncil in Brussels on the same day.

This was the first time that the Councils ofESA and the European Union had met onthe same date and in the same place to

adopt Resolutions that willconstitute a common frameworkwithin which all European playersinvolved in space activities willdevelop their respective plans ofaction.

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In Brief

Further information on the content andavailability of the Report can be obtainedfrom:ESA Communication DepartmentTel: +33 (0) 1 53 69 7155Fax: + 33 (0) 1 53 69 7690 s

From left to right at the Paris Press Conference:Lothar Späth, Jean Peyrelevade, Carl Bildt,Antonio Rodotà and Jean-Jacques Dordain

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“Through these resolutions, Europeanspace policy takes a first step into a newphase in which space systems become anintegral part of the overall political andeconomic efforts of European States –whether members of ESA or the EU – topromote the interests of Europeancitizens”, said ESA’s Director General,Antonio Rodotà.

The European Strategy for Spaceidentifies three lines of action:a. strengthening the foundations for space

activitiesb. enhancing scientific knowledgec. reaping the benefits for society and

markets.

The first line encompasses broadeningspace technology and guaranteeingaccess to space through a family oflaunch vehicles. The second sees Europecontinuing to pursue cutting-edge themesin space science and space contributionsto the understanding of our planet’sclimate. It includes human spaceflight and

optimisation of the use of the InternationalSpace Station as an infrastructure forEuropean research in all disciplines ofspace science. The third line of action hasthe objectives of seizing marketopportunities and meeting the newdemands of our society. It has a bearingon satellite communications and theinformation-technology sector, satellitenavigation and positioning (Galileo), andsystems monitoring the Earth forenvironmental and security purposes. Thisis where close cooperation between ESAand the EC will be most instrumental inputting space systems at the service ofEuropean policies responding to citizen’sexpectations.

The European Space Strategy also coversindustrial aspects and pays specificattention to Small and Medium-sizedEnterprises (SMEs). In the document,public/private partnerships are seen as amodel for committing the public sector,along with the complete industrial chain,to an operational project.

The two Resolutions adopted on 16 November endorse the setting up of a cooperative structure that will bringtogether the ESA Executive and theEuropean Commission. An interim high-level joint Task Force is being set up tomake proposals for the continuingdevelopment of the European SpaceStrategy and its implementation.

In addition to being a partner in the settingup of joint programmes responding topolitical initiatives of the European Union,ESA will act as the implementingorganisation for the development andprocurement of the space and groundsegments associated with such initiatives.

The Ministers invited ESA’s DirectorGeneral to prepare Programme Proposalson the basis of this strategy and to submitthem to the ESA Council Meeting atMinisterial Level scheduled for November2001. s

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Ariane-4 – 100 Launchesand Counting!Not so much an anniversary, more aconsecration. On 29 October Ariane-4carried the Europe*Star-1 communicationssatellite safely into Geostationary TransferOrbit (GTO) with the precision that hasbecome Ariane’s hallmark. So much so in fact that the lift-off could have gonealmost unnoticed, but for the fact that thiswas the 100th launch of the Ariane-4generation of vehicles. For this particularlaunch (V134), the Ariane-44LP wasequipped with two solid-propellant andtwo liquid-propellant strap-on boosters.

Just two weeks later, on 15 November,Ariane was at work again, lifting off fromthe Guiana Space Centre in Kourou,French Guiana, to put the PAS-1Rtelecommunications satellite into GTO,together with a radio-amateur satellite,AMSAT P-3D, and two technologymicrosatellites. On this flight (V135),however, it was an Ariane-5 launcherproviding the ride.

The 136th Ariane launch (V136) took place successfully less than a week lateron 22 November 2000. This time anotherAriane-4 – a 44L fitted with four liquid-propellant strap-on boosters – put the

Anik-F1 telecommunications satellite intoGTO for Canadian operator Telesat.

The next Ariane-4 launch (V137), originallyscheduled to lift the Eurasiasat-1 telecom-munications satellite for Turkey into orbiton 8 December, was subsequentlypostponed until the new year.

The 138th Ariane launch (V138) took placesuccessfully on 20 December. This time,another Ariane-5 launcher (V508) placedthe Astra-2D and GE-8/Aurora-IIItelecommunications satellites safely intoorbit for GE Americom (USA), along withthe LDREX experimental payloadbelonging to the Japanese Space Agency(NASDA).

Ariane-4 was in action again on 8 February (V139). This time an Ariane-44Lequipped with four liquid strap-onboosters lifted-off from Kourou to launchtwo European military communicationsspacecraft into GTO – Sicral for Italy andSkynet-4F for the UK.

The next Ariane launch, an Ariane-5, iscurrently scheduled for Friday 2 March,carrying two more telecommunicationssatellites, Eurobird and BSAT-2A. s

V134 Ariane-4 No. 100

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Agreement Signed withGreeceOn 17 January, ESA’s Director General,Antonio Rodotà, signed a frameworkCooperation Agreement with the GreekMinister for Development, Mr NikosChristodoulakis, in Athens. The areasconsidered as offering potential for futurecooperation include: space science,Earth-observation research andapplications, telecommunications, satellitenavigation, microgravity research, andground-segment engineering andutilisation. In the next phase, projects ofmutual interest will be identified and theywill be defined in specific implementingarrangements once the CooperationAgreement enters into force. s

Memorial Symposiumin Honour of Prof. Henk van de Hulst

Professor Henk van de Hulst, who died on21 July 2000 at the age of 81, was notonly one the greatest Dutch astronomersof the last 150 years, but also one of thefounding fathers of ESA – and indeed inno small way responsible for ESTEC beingsituated in Noordwijk (NL). To mark hiscontribution to ESA and ESTEC, the ESAScience Directorate organised a MemorialSymposium in his honour at ESTEC on 6 November, which was attended bymany eminent Dutch and internationalscientists, as well as Prof. van de Hulst’swidow and family.

The afternoon began with the planting of achestnut tree just outside the ESCAPEbuilding by Mrs van de Hulst. Henk Olthof(ESA) explained that once the roots of thetree are firmly settled, a bench will be builtaround it so that the staff at ESTEC canenjoy its shade – something Henk van deHulst himself would certainly haveapproved of.

The Symposium proper was held in theESTEC Conference Centre with Prof. van

de Hulst’s central role in the setting up ofESRO and ESA as the theme. Prof. HarmHabing from Leiden University gave theopening talk on ‘The Self-evidentImportance of Quality: Some Remarks onthe Life of Henk van de Hulst’. In 1958,Prof. van de Hulst became the firstPresident of COSPAR, then a newinternational organisation for the peacefulexploration of the Universe, out of whichcame the European Space ResearchOrganisation (ESRO), and later ESA. Thiswas reflected in the talk given by Prof.Reimar Lüst on ‘Henk van de Hulst andthe Build-up of European Co-operation inSpace Research’. Prof. Sir HermannBondi spoke on the ‘Changes inGovernmental Attitudes to Space’ duringthis period.

The emphasis then moved to Prof. van deHulst’s scientific work with ESRO and ESA– Prof. Livio Scarsi (Palermo) explained thepivotal role played by Henk van de Hulst inthe Cos-B project, and Prof. MalcolmLongair (Cambridge) discussed Prof. vande Hulst’s work on the Hubble SpaceTelescope.

The day was rounded off with a dinner inthe ESTEC Restaurant, where Prof. RogerBonnet, ESA Director of Scientific

Portugal Officially Fifteenth ESA Member State

On 14 November 2000, Portugal deposited its instrument of accession to the ESAConvention with the French Government, thereby completing the legal formalitiesmaking it the fifteenth Member State of the European Space Agency.

Programmes, gave the After-DinnerSpeech, reflecting on how Prof. van deHulst’s work has paved the way for anumber of the Science Directorate’s futureprogrammes. s

Mrs van de Hulst planting the chestnut treeoutside ESCAPE

Prof. Reimar Lüst addressing the family andassembled guests

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Green Light for SmallLauncher and Advanced Solid Booster

The Vega Small-Launcher DevelopmentProgramme and the P80 Advanced SolidPropulsion Stage Demonstrator Programmewere formally approved on 15 December by theParticipating States. Belgium, Italy, theNetherlands, Sweden and Switzerland decided(with Spain’s decision still pending) to proceedwith full development of the Vega small launcher.

Developed and manufactured by Europeanindustry, Vega will complete the range ofEuropean launch services by offering on theinternational market a competitive vehicle forsmall payloads of up to 1500 kg (primarily polarEarth-orbiting missions at around 700 kmaltitude).

Belgium, France, Italy and the Netherlands also decided to finance the P80 AdvancedSolid Propulsion Stage demonstrator. This development programme is designed to:– demonstrate most of the technologies required to improve Ariane-5 solid-

propellant booster performance and competitiveness– develop and ground-qualify an advanced-technology first stage for the Vega

launcher.

The development milestones for the P80 are consistent with the schedule for developingVega, whose maiden flight is planned for end-2005. s

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Envisat, the largest and the mostsophisticated European Earth-observationsatellite ever built, will complete its finaltest sequences at the ESTEC Test Centreover the coming weeks before beingshipped to Kourou in French Guiana forthe three-month campaign leading up toits planned Ariane-5 launch in the secondhalf of July.

The next issue of the ESA Bulletin – No.106, May 2001 issue – will be dedicatedto the Envisat mission. s

Envisat NearingLaunch

A Media Information Day atESTEC in Noordwijk (NL) on 1 February provided the lastopportunity for the press andmedia to take a look at theimpressive 10 metre-tall EnvisatEarth-observation spacecraftbefore launch. All teninstruments were installed onthe spacecraft and the largeAdvanced Synthetic Aperture Radar(ASAR) antenna was deployed.

The leading international scientistsinvolved in the design of Envisat’sinstruments, top managers from theAstrium industrial consortium that has builtthe spacecraft, and the ESA Project Teamthat has managed the satellite’s designand construction, gave comprehensivebackground briefings on the missionobjectives for this unique spacecraft, itssophisticated instruments, and the workscheduled between now and the start ofits operational life in polar orbit.

ESA Satellite SupportsRescue Efforts in El Salvador

Responding quickly to support rescueefforts converging on El Salvador, memberspace agencies of the InternationalCharter on Space and Major Disastersdispatched their Earth-observationsatellites to capture images of thedevastation caused by the mid-Januaryearthquake. The satellites involved wereESA’s ERS-2 radar satellite, Canada’sRadarsat-1 satellite, and France’s SPOToptical series, and together they providedthe emergency rescue crews with supportbased on images captured day and nightand in all weather conditions after thequake. Up-to-date maps and informationobtained from these specially acquiredimages and existing archived images wereforwarded to the rescue authorities assoon as they were available. Satellitepositioning and operation and imagecapture were coordinated by theInternational Charter partners.

ERS-2 circles the Earth at a height of 800 km and completes an orbit every 100 minutes, crossing both poles andcovering the entire globe in just threedays. It will be followed this year by ESA’s

new-generation environmentalsatellite, Envisat, due to belaunched in July.

The International Charter onSpace and Major Disasters isthe expression of a collectiveresolve to put space technologyat the service of rescueauthorities in the event of majordisasters. Its current signatoriesare ESA, the French spaceagency (CNES) and theCanadian Space Agency (CSA).

The Charter, set up in the context of theUnited Nations UNISPACE III Conferencein 1999 and in force since 1 November2000, remains open for signature by otherspace agencies and satellite operatorsanywhere in the world.

Further information can be obtained from:Simonetta CheliESA-ESRINTel.: + 39 06 94180350Fax: + 39 06 94180302Simonetta.cheli@esa.int s

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ESA Takes Further Stepsin Caring for the EarthAt the end of November, the Agency tookfurther steps to enhance Europe’scapacity to predict the evolution of theEarth’s environment, under the influence ofboth natural variability and man’s activities:it selected five new candidate Earth-observation space missions to undergopreliminary feasibility studies. This movereflects the importance of Earthobservation from space in providing theglobally coherent data that are theessential complement to ground-based,airborne and shipborne measurements.

To be at the forefront of these activities, in 1999 ESA launched the Living PlanetProgramme, which funds many of theAgency’s Earth-observation activities,including the Earth Explorer missions.These are research/demonstrationmissions intended to advance ourunderstanding of the Earth’s environment,which can also be used to demonstratenew observing techniques. There are twocomplementary types of Earth ExplorerMission:– Earth Explorer Core Missions, which are

large ESA-led research/demonstration missions

– Earth Explorer Opportunity Missions, which are smaller research/ demonstration missions that are not necessarily ESA-led.

In June 2000, ESA issued a Call for Ideasfor the next Earth Explorer Core Missions.Ten proposals were received, spanningthe interests of the whole Earth-sciencecommunity and involving some 180scientists from ESA Member States andCanada, plus countries such as Japanand the USA. The ten missions proposedwere:– ACE – atmospheric chemistry explorer – CARBOSAT – a mission dedicated to

monitoring the carbon cycle– CLOUDS – a cloud, aerosol, radiation

and precipitation explorer– EarthCARE – Earth clouds aerosol and

radiation explorer– GeoSCIA++ – a passive remote-sensing

experiment assessing the impact of regional tropospheric pollution on globalchange

– LICODY – laser interferometry experimentfor core and ocean dynamics

– SPECTRA – surface processes and ecosystem changes through response analysis

– WALES – water-vapour lidar experimentin space

– WATS – water vapour and wind in atmospheric troposphere and stratosphere

– W_WISE – atmospheric windows and clouds, water vapour, ozone, carbon dioxide, infrared spectral radiation explorer.

The ten proposals were evaluated by theEarth Sciences Advisory Committee, whoassessed them and selected five forpreliminary studies, but also made specificrecommendations to ESA for furthering allten missions. The five proposals retainedwere (in alphabetical order): ACE,EarthCARE, SPECTRA, WALES andWATS.

On 20 November 2000, ESA accepted therecommendations of the Earth SciencesAdvisory Committee and work has nowstarted on all five missions in anticipationof a Workshop to be held in Granada (E)in October 2001. During that meeting allfive missions will be presented to the usercommunity for comment and reaction as aprelude to their further assessment, todecide which should go forward for furtherstudies and implementation.

These proposals follow four other studiesthat were completed in late 1999 and led to the selection of the first two EarthExplorer Core Missions to beimplemented: the Gravity Field andSteady-State Ocean Circulation Mission,which will help to advance knowledge ofthe Earth’s interior structure and provide amuch better reference for oceanographicand climate studies, and the AtmosphericDynamics Mission, which will provide thefirst direct observations on a global scaleof atmospheric wind profiles over thedepth of the atmosphere.

In parallel with its work on the EarthExplorer Core Missions, ESA has alsoinitiated considerable activity on the EarthExplorer Opportunity Missions front. A Callfor Proposals in July 1998 resulted in 27proposals, which were subjected to peerreview by the Earth Sciences AdvisoryCommittee and consideration by the EarthObservation Programme Board.

The first Earth Explorer OpportunityMission selected for launch is Cryosat in2003, to be followed by SMOS 2005.Cryosat will measure the variations in thethickness of the polar ice sheets and the

thickness of floating sea ice. Its data willbe used to study the mass balances ofthe Antarctic and Greenland ice sheets, toinvestigate the influence of the cryosphereon global sea-level rise and to provideimportant observations of sea icethickness for use in Arctic and globalclimate studies. Cryosat is scheduled forlaunch in 2003. SMOS is intended todemonstrate the observation of two keyEarth-system variables, namely soilmoisture over land and salinity overoceans, to advance the development ofclimatological, meteorological andhydrological models. It should also providenew insights into snow and ice structure,so helping to advance our understandingof the cryosphere. s

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Compatibility Testing ofATV TranspondersSuccessfully AchievedAn important milestone in thedevelopment of the communicationssystem for ESA’s Automated TransferVehicle (ATV) was achieved at the end of1999 with the successful compatibilitytesting of the Vehicle’s S-bandtransponders by Alcatel Espacio (E). Theobjective of this test, performed with theparticipation of ESA, NASA and AstriumSAS representatives, was to verify thetransponder’s ability to communicate withthe Ground Control Station via the TDRSSdata-relay satellite network.

The test involved sending data andranging information from the TDRSStransponder located at Alcatel Espacio’slaboratory in Madrid, via the TDRSSsatellites, to the Ground Control Stationlocated in White Sands (USA), and vice-versa. All of the tests were madesimulating normal operational modes,making it possible to check and confirmthat the TDRSS transponder receives anddemodulates the signals as required, aswell as that the signals sent by it areproperly received at the Control Station.

The work performed under ESA contractby Alcatel Espacio in the design,development, manufacture and testing ofthis new equipment has positioned thecompany as the sole European supplierfor TDRSS S-band-compatibletransponders. s

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Scientists, SchoolTeachers and StudentsConduct Physical- andLife-Sciences Studieson ESA Parabolic FlightsESA’s 29th Parabolic-Flight Campaign wasconducted from Bordeaux-Mérignacairport in France, from 21 to 23November, using the specially adapted‘Zero-g’ Airbus A300. This particularcampaign included 11 differentexperiments: four in physical sciences,four in life sciences, two experimentsproposed by students and one servingeducational purposes for the generalpublic. 30 microgravity-simulatingparabolas were flown by the A300 oneach of the three days.

Parabolic flights are practically the onlymeans on Earth of reproducingweightlessness with human operators onboard. During a parabolicflight, the Airbus pilot –flying at an altitude ofapproximately 6000 m,usually in a speciallyreserved air-corridor abovethe Gulf of Gascogne –first performs a nose-upmanoeuvre to put theaircraft into a steep climb(7600 m). This generatesan acceleration of 1.8g(1.8 times the accelerationdue to gravity on theground) for about 20 sec.Then, the pilot throttles back to inject theaircraft onto a parabolic flight path. Theplane continues to climb until it reachesthe apex of the parabola (8500 m) andthen starts descending. This conditionlasts for about 20 sec, during which timethe passengers in the cabin float in theweightlessness resulting from the aircraft’sfree fall. When the angle below thehorizontal reaches 45°, the pilot opens thethrottles again and pulls the aircraft up toreturn to steady horizontal flight. Thesemanoeuvres are repeated 30 times perflight.

With Europe and its international partnersnow building the International SpaceStation, on which research andexperiments will be carried out for the next15 years, parabolic flights are crucial tothe preparation of experiments, equipmentand astronauts, and allow scientists tohave their experiments tested before they

are actually flown on a space mission.

The four physical-sciences experimentswere related to fluid physics andinvestigated electrostatic effects in boilingliquids, particle motion in aerosols, annularliquid flows and plasma states:– Study of the effect of an imposed

electrostatic field on pool boiling heat transfer and fluids management, provided by Prof. W. Grassi and Dr P. Di Marco (Univ. of Pisa, I).

– Three-dimensional tracking by digital holography of particle motion in non-equilibrium aerosols, provided by Prof. J.C. Legros and Dr A. Vedernikov (Univ.of Brussels, B) and Prof. F. Prodi (ISAO-CNR, Bologna, I).

– Annular flow film thickness and pressuredrop measurements in microgravity, provided by Prof. K. Rezkallah (Univ. of Saskatchewan, CDN) and Dr C. Colin (Inst. of Fluid Mechanics, Toulouse, F).

– Preliminary tests for the International Microgravity Plasma Facility, provided by Prof. G. Morfill and U. Konopka (Max-Planck Institute, Garching, D).

In life-sciences, two physiologyexperiments studied the cardiac systemand two biology experiments investigatedplant gravitaxis and cell and particlemotion by ultra-sound:– An assessment of the feasibility and

effectiveness of a method of performingcardiopulmonary resuscitation during microgravity, provided by S. Evetts (School of Biomedical Sciences, King’s College London, UK) and Prof. T. Russomano (Univ. do Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, Brazil).

– Acute heart response to weightlessnessconditions during parabolic flights, provided by Prof. A. Aubert, Dr. F. Beckers and Dr. D. Ramaekers (Univ. of Leuven, B).

– Investigation of physiological parameters of gravitaxis in Euglena gracilis, provided by Prof. D-P. Häder (Univ. of Erlangen-Nuremberg, D).

– Ultrasonic particle and cell manipulationin microgravity, provided by Dr. L.G. Briarty (Univ. of Nottingham, UK).

Two experiments were proposed bystudents and selected after twointernational competitions, one in amedical field and the other in spacetechnology:– Pulse transit time for the non-invasive

determination of arterial wall properties, provided by P.F. Migeotte, T. Dominiqueand R.C. Sá (Univ. of Brussels, B).

– Globular Cooking Facility, provided by S. Podhajsky and G. Grillmayer (Univ. ofStuttgart, D).

The eleventh experiment was flown forpromotional and educational purposes.Several secondary-school teachers,

attached to the EuroSpace Centre in Transinne,Belgium, conductedsimple classroomexperiments in physicsand chemistry,emphasizing the role ofgravity’s absence duringparabolic flights. Theseexperiments wererecorded and will beshown later to the generalpublic and schoolsattending space classes atthe Centre to promote

early awareness of the characteristics andpossibilities of the space and microgravityenvironment. Springs, yo-yos, gyroscopes,magnetic balls, pendulums, and simplefoods (sweets, bananas, grapes) inmicrogravity will be used to explain theirdifferent behaviours in weightlessness andthe difficulties that astronauts encounter intheir everyday lives in orbit.

ESA’s next parabolic-flight campaign isscheduled for May 2001 and will carry amixed complement of life- and physical-sciences experiments, again includingstudent-proposed experiments.

More information on ESA parabolic flightscan be found at:

www.estec.esa.nl/spaceflight/parabolics

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The ‘Physics on Stage’FestivalA screeching noise emanates from one of the 22 stands at the fair: the Irishdelegates are demonstrating with a violinbow, a metal plate and some sand, howsound waves propagate through a metalplate. New patterns form in the sanddepending on where the bow is struck. A few metres away, in CERN’s mainauditorium, 400 physics teachers andphysics popularisation experts are tossingsmall wooden blocks into the air to findout about which axis they rotate in astable manner. Two young Germans – one dressed as a talk-show host, theother as a confused scientist – havecaptured their audience’s attention withtheir performance. A few doors down the hall, a workshop group of some 30delegates are sitting deep in discussionover how physics should best be taught insecondary schools to motivate the youthof today to become the scientists andengineers tomorrow.

‘Physics on Stage’ took place at CERN inGeneva from 6 to 10 November and wasa great success. It was the brainchild ofthree international organisations: CERN(European Organisation for NuclearResearch), ESA, and ESO (EuropeanSouthern Observatory). It was a uniqueinitiative that had a significant impact onthe public understanding of physics andon the teaching of physics in Europe’sschools. The European Commissionsupported the project as part of its 5thFramework Programme.

The five-day festival in Geneva was theclimax of the year-long ‘Physics on Stage’

programme and it brought together over400 experts on physics teaching andpopularisation, including high-schoolphysics teachers, university lecturers andresearchers, curriculum developers andscientific and educational journalists.Delegates from 22 European countriespresented their ideas and techniques formaking physics a fascinating subject forschoolchildren and the public alike. The range of ideas was as wide asit could be – experiments withelectricity, light, sound, speed,chaos theory, toys, free fall and theBig Bang – and the ways in whichthese ideas were presented werehighly creative and original.

The festival in Geneva was theculminating event in a year of wide-ranging activities in each of the

participating countries. The nationalprogrammes organised by the NationalSteering Committees played a crucial rolein the ‘Physics on Stage’ programme.

Thanks to the enthusiasm andcommitment of all delegates, the mainobjectives of ‘Physics on Stage’ havebeen successfully realised:– A debate on physics teaching amongst

educators, the media and politicians has been catalysed.

– The most effective and innovative methods for teaching physics have been identified, incorporating demonstrations, lectures, innovative teaching materials, hands-on-activities, theatre, video, web applications, etc.

A colourful highlight of the ‘Physics onStage’ festival was the physics teachingfair, where all countries had theopportunity to present their methods,ideas, experiments, books, andbrochures. It was buzzing with life, sound,conversation and surprises at every turn. Itwas so much of a real fair that there wereeven gingerbread hearts (stamped, ofcourse, with E = mc2 !) and heart-shapedhelium balloons proclaiming ‘Physics is atthe Heart of Everything’.

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The Physics Fair

The French performance

ESA BR-171, February 2001

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Other important components of thefestival were the Plenary presentations,which were of outstanding quality, and the special performances, which broughttheatre and physics to the stage hand in hand, and more than once made theaudience roar with laughter or go silentwith astonishment.

The visit of the Directors General of ESA,ESO and CERN and the active involvementof the European Commissioner forResearch, Dr. Philippe Busquin, during theFestival were an important source of

motivation and inspiration for theeducational community, as wellas for the organising team. TheEuropean Commission and theEuropean Science Organisationsdemonstrated strong politicalsupport to the ‘Physics onStage’ Festival and its outcome.

Throughout the Festival, participants metin small groups to discuss various themesclose to the heart of physics education.These Workshops, with titles such as‘Mapping the Crisis’, ‘Women in Physics’and ‘Curriculum Developments’, provideda forum for the delegates to suggestactions that could be taken to improve the current state of physics literacy inEurope. From a total of 74recommendations emanating from‘Physics on Stage’, the present crisis inthe teaching of physics has been clearlyidentified:

This crisis will have a major impact on thecultural identity of Europe. A frighteningtrend is underway in terms of the lack ofinterest in physics among the generalpublic (particularly young people) and thediminishing number of physics teachers inEurope. Together, these points indicatethat, if action is not taken now, Europe willenter a dark age of knowledge.

ESA, ESO and CERN had discussions inGeneva with the educational communityregarding what role the three Europeanorganisations could play in the future ofphysics education.

To close the Festival, there was a votingsession involving all participants to establishpriorities in the list of recommendations.The results of this vote represent a goodstatistical assessment of the will of theEuropean physical teaching community.

It was a wonderful week: many contactswere established across Europeanfrontiers and the ‘Physics on Stage’participants are eagerly looking forward toputting some of the new ideas intopractice.

Clovis de Matos, Helen Wilson,Barbara Warmbein s

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The Plenary presentations and special performances were all well-attended

Entering into the spirit of ‘Physics on Stage’: Dr. Philippe Busquin (centre)

For more information about the‘Physics on Stage’ project, visit thefollowing web sites:

www.estec.esa.nl/outreach/posor

www.cern.ch/pos

Workshop group

The Dutch presentation

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r bulletin 105 — february 2001

ESA Helping to Developthe Next Generation ofthe World Wide WebWith the World Wide Web (WWW) beingused by more and more people, itslimitations in dealing with huge amounts ofdata are becoming ever more apparent.Its successor, ‘The Grid’, should comprisecomputing resources in which super-computers, processor farms, disks, majordatabases, informatics, collaborative toolsand people are linked by a high-speednetwork.

The DataGrid initiative originated in theframework of the European Summit inLisbon, Portugal, in March 2000, when theidea of a dedicated network for Europeanscience applications research was putforward. The objective is to develop anddemonstrate an informatics architecturegeographically distributed throughoutEurope with high-data-rate transmissionlinks. The project was submitted to theEuropean Union in May for fundingthrough its Fifth Framework Programmefor Research and Technological

Development. Funding of 9.8 MEuro overthree years was authorised at the end ofDecember and a contract has beenawarded to CERN as project leader.

ESA, through its ESRIN establishment inItaly, is one of six partners* in the DataGridProject and will demonstrate use of thedistributed infrastructure for Earth-observation applications. The noveldistributed-computing environment,specifically designed to analyse and movevast amounts of data, will be developedand deployed using emerging technologiesand ‘open source’ code to create a newworldwide data and computational facilityon a scale not previously attempted. The resources will be made availabletransparently to a wide community usingnew ‘middleware’ between the computeroperating systems and applications thatenables and facilitates collaborative workingin new ways. This ‘middleware’ – to bedeveloped in collaboration with some ofthe leading centres in Grid technology,thereby leveraging practice andexperience from existing Grid activities inEurope and elsewhere – will subsequently

be made available to industry, potentialpartners and research bodies.

The DataGrid Project will provide scientistsaround the world with flexible access tounprecedented levels of computingresources, and will therefore usher in anew era of e-science. It will enable next-generation scientific exploration usingshared databases of up to a petabyte(equivalent to a pile of CD-ROMs standingover a kilometre high), across widelydistributed scientific communities.International connectivity will be achievedthrough an advanced research networkinginfrastructure, which is the subject ofanother EC initiative.

Further information can be found at:

The DataGrid website: www.cern.ch/grid

The DataGrid Earth Observation ScienceApplication:

http://tempest.esrin.esa.it/~datagrid

* The other partners are: CERN (CH), CNRS (F),INFN (I), NIKHEF (NL) and PPARC (UK). s

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Opening Event of ESA‘Mars City Competition’

Ex-astronaut Wubbo Ockels arrived at hisold primary school in Brielle, Holland, in aschool milk truck with the very first ‘MarsCity Competition’ package on Friday 2 February.

Over 2000 of these packages have beendelivered to Dutch primary schools withtheir Melkunie school milk. The packagescontain a Space Kwispel game, developedby ESA’s Education & Outreach Office incollaboration with the Dutch toy company‘King International’ and ESA Publications

Division. Children 10 -12years old will use the SpaceKwispel in their search forinformation to help themdesign and build a Mars Cityfrom school milk cartons.

The children in MeesterEewoutschool in Brielle builtan enormous, glittering andinventive Mars City from theschool milk cartons that theyhad been collecting. Themodel, which they had justtwo hours to complete,included a meteorite gun for

protection, oxygengenerators, a greenhouse, aburger and pizza café, andeven a soccer pitch for thefuture soccer team, the‘Mars Maniacs’.

Other classes from schoolsaround Holland will submitphotographs of their ‘MarsCity’, along with designdata, in order to enter thecompetition. The winningteam will be treated tospace-related prizes and a‘Space Day’ at ESTEC to

see satellites and astronauts first handand to show off their design work to realspace scientists and engineers. Thecompetition ends on 16 March.

For more information, visit:www.estec.esa.nl/outreach/kwispel

or contact:Julia BirchTel. +31 71 565 3110Fax. +31 71 565 5590Julia.Birch@esa.int s

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Our Galaxy – In ThreeDimensions !Measuring the distances to the starsaccurately is one of the great challengesthat continues to face experimentalastronomy. Hipparcos was an original andhighly successful scientific mission,conducted by ESA in collaboration withEuropean space scientists between 1981and 1997. Its goal was to create a mapof the stars with unprecedented precision.

New techniques allow the projection of thesky in three-dimensions, precisely asmeasured by Hipparcos. On 8 February,Michael Perryman of ESA’s Space ScienceDepartment showed some of the 3Dresults to a packed audience in theNewton Conference Auditorium at ESTECin Noordwijk (NL). Using an elaborateprojection system based on polarised-lightimages, the audience was able to view anumber of 3D movies using polarisingglasses. They could see how stars travelthrough the Galaxy over intervals ofmillions of years, observe the spacedistribution of some of the recentlydiscovered extra-solar planets, and follow

the passages of stars whose spacemotions brought them close to the Sun in the geologically recent past. Othersequences illustrated the new insight thatthe Hipparcos data are giving into thedetails of our Milky WayGalaxy, for example its age,three-dimensional structure,and its possible formationprocess.

The GAIA Cornerstonescience mission, recentlyaccepted by ESA for launcha decade from now, will

in brief

133

Dr. Michael Perryman

The ESTEC audiencein their 3D polarisingglasses

build on the results of Hipparcos to mapthe three-dimensional structure of morethan one billion stars extendingthroughout our Galaxy. s

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IN BRIEF 3/7/01 8:34 AM Page 11