r bulletin 100 — december 1999

In Brief

Mercury Mission Named‘BepiColombo’ in Honourof Space PioneerMeeting in Naples on 20-23 September,ESA’s Science Programme Committeerecognised the achievements of the lateGiuseppe Colombo of the University ofPadua by adopting his name for theplanned ESA Mercury project. Almosteverything known until now about theplanet Mercury comes from three passesby NASA’s Mariner 10 in 1974-75 andinspired by Colombo’s calculations. Hesuggested how to put a spacecraft into anorbit that would bring it back repeatedly toMercury. The Italian scientist alsoexplained, as an unsuspected resonance,Mercury’s peculiar habit of rotating threetimes in every two revolutions of the Sun.

ESA’s mission to Mercury is oneof ESA’s science programme‘Cornerstones’. In the course ofthe comprehensive Horizon 2000Plus review of the programmefive years ago, it was identifiedby Europe’s space scientists asone of the most challenginglong-term planetary projects.Mercury is the least known ofthe inner planets. Its orbit closeto the Sun makes it difficult toobserve from a distance andhard to reach by spaceflight. Asa result, questions raised by the

Mariner 10 fly-bys of a quarter of acentury ago remain unanswered.

“I am very pleased we have given thename of BepiColombo to our Mercurycornerstone. Bepi was a great scientist, agreat European and a great friend; wecould do no better than name one of ourmost challenging and imaginative missionsafter him” said Roger Bonnet, Director ofthe ESA Science Programme.

Scientists cannot claim to fully understandthe origin and history of the Earth itselfuntil they can make sense of Mercury.Why is the planet surprisingly dense?Where does its magnetic field come from?What were the effects of massivecollisions suffered by Mercury, apparent inshattered zones seen by Mariner 10? IsMercury geologically active? How does itsclose proximity to the Sun affect itssurface, its tenuous atmosphere and thesmall magnetic bubble, ormagnetosphere, which surrounds it?BepiColombo will seek the answers to

these and other questions with threeseparate sets of scientific instruments.According to preliminary studiescompleted in April 1999, a PlanetaryOrbiter will examine the planet from anorbit over the poles, using two camerasand half a dozen other remote-sensinginstruments. Seven detectors in a smallerMagnetospheric Orbiter will observeMercury’s magnetic field and itsinteractions with the solar wind.

A Surface Element dropped byBepiColombo will land near one of thepoles of Mercury, where the temperatureis milder. Here the instruments will includea camera, a seismometer, a detector forchemical elements, and a package forassessing the temperature, heat capacity,density and hardness of Mercury’s ‘soil’.The Surface Element is expected tooperate for at least a week and the twoorbiters for about 12 months.

When ESA began contemplating a missionto Mercury, the journey time was expectedto be nearly four years, with a complexseries of manoeuvres around Venus andMercury designed to bring the spacecraftinto an orbit similar to Mercury’s. NowBepiColombo’s journey will be cut toabout 2.5 years with the aid of a solar-electric propulsion module, which ejectsheavy xenon ions at high speed to providea small but continuous acceleration overmany months. Swing-bys of Venus andMercury are still part of the mission profile,and a chemical propulsion module willfinally put BepiColombo’s main spacecraftinto orbit around Mercury.

Giuseppe (Bepi) Colombo (1920-1984)was a mathematician and engineer ofastonishing imagination, whose bald headand grey moustache were familiar in thecorridors of both ESA and NASA. Apartfrom his work on Mercury, Colomboinvented tethers for tying satellitestogether. As one of the initiators of ESA’smission to Halley’s Comet he suggestedits name, Giotto, but he died before thatproject was accomplished. At theUniversity of Padua his work continues inCISAS, the Centro InterdipartimentaleStudi ed Attività Spaziali ‘G. Colombo’.

In 1985, to commemorate this greatscientist, ESA created a ‘Colombofellowship’ to be granted to Europeanscientists working in the fields of scienceexplored by G.Colombo. r

Giuseppe (Bepi) Colombo (1920-1984)

XMM Draws Youthful Interest

Recently, ESA has been actively promoting a series of activities addressing the youngergeneration, in a concerted effort to stimulate their interest in space and involve as manyyoung Europeans as possible in the Agency’s activities.

In line with these activities, and to celebrate the December launch of XMM, twocompetitions for European schools in the ESA Member States were announced inSeptember: ‘Draw me a Telescope’ and ‘What’s new Mr Galileo?’

Draw me a TelescopeThis competition invited school children aged 8 to 12 to draw a telescope as a classactivity. Out of over 350 entries received, one per Member State was selected to beincluded in the official XMM logo. This logo was displayed for the first time on the fairingof the Ariane-5 rocket launching the XMM spacecraft. Additionally, ESA invited one childper country, representing the winning class, to French Guiana to see the launch.

Ariane-4 launchesThe 118th Ariane launch (V118) took placesuccessfully on Thursday 12 August at19:52 Kourou time. An Ariane 42P vehicle(equipped with two solid strap-onboosters) lifting-off from the Guiana SpaceCentre – the European Spaceport inKourou, French Guiana – placed intogeostationary transfer orbit the Indonesiantelecommunications satellite TELKOM 1.

Ariane V120, again using a 42P vehicle,was launched on Saturday 4 Septemberat 19:34 Kourou time, delivering theKorean telecommunications satellite,Koreasat 3, into geostationary transferorbit.

Ariane V121 was launched on Saturday25 September at 03:29 Kourou time. The44LP vehicle (equipped with 2 liquid and 2 solid strap-on boosters) lifted off withthe American telecommunications satellite,TELSTAR 7.

The 122nd Ariane launch (V122) tookplace on Tuesday 19 October at 03:22Kourou time, successfully placing intosuper-synchronous transfer orbit theAmerican telecommunications satelliteORION 2.

Ariane V123 lifted off on Saturday 13November at 19:54 Kourou time carryingthe American telecommunications satellite,GE4, into geostationary transfer orbit.

in brief

The winning classes come from the following schools:

AUSTRIA: Bundesgymnasium, Baden bei WienBELGIUM: Gesubsideerde Vrije Basisschool, BruggeDENMARK: Nordstrandsskolen, DragorFINLAND: Mäntysalon Koulu, KlaukkalaFRANCE: Ecole du Vieil Orme, RambouilletGERMANY: Gerhart Hauptmann Schule, GriesheimIRELAND: North Dublin National School Project, DublinITALY: Scuola Elementare “5 giornate”, MilanoTHE NETHERLANDS: International School of Amsterdam, AmstelveenNORWAY: Kringsjå skole, OsloSPAIN: Colexio Apóstol Santiago (Jesuitas-Vigo), VigoSWEDEN: Hubertusgården, LundSWITZERLAND: Ecole Primaire de La Roche, La RocheUNITED KINGDOM: The School of St. Helen and St. Katherine, Abingdon.

What’s new Mr Galileo?This competition was open to youngsters aged 13 to 15 whose classes had to write, inEnglish, a one-page vision of astronomy and its benefits for humanity. In one month’stime, ESA received and assessed over 100 essays. The winning classes, one perMember State, were invited to Kourou to visit the launch facilities.

The winning schools are:

AUSTRIA: Bundesrealgymnasium, GrazBELGIUM: Lycée Emile Jacqmain, BruxellesFINLAND: Helsingin Suomalainen Yhteiskoulu, HelsinkiFRANCE: Collège Buffon, ParisGERMANY: Ignaz Kögler Gymnasium, Landsberg A. LechIRELAND: Malahide Community School, DublinITALY: Istituto Michelangelo Buonarroti, VeronaTHE NETHERLANDS: Niftarlake College, MaarssenNORWAY: Enebakk Ungdomsskole, EnebakkSPAIN: Colegio El Ave Maria, Benimamet (Valencia)SWEDEN: Hökarängsskolan, FarstaSWITZERLAND: Cycle d’Orientation du Gibloux, FarvagnyUNITED KINGDOM: Haggerston School for Girls, Shoreditch, London

r bulletin 100 — december 1999

50th IAF Congress

The 50th Congress of the InternationalAeronautical Federation (IAF) took placeon 4-8 October 1999 at the RAIConference Centre in Amsterdam (NL),bringing together over 2000 spacecommunity professionals under the theme‘Space – an integral part of theinformation age’. The exhibition wasopened on Monday, 4 October, by HisRoyal Highness Wilhelm-Alexander, Princeof Orange.

ESA played a major role in the Congressproviding information on current and futureprogrammes with presentations anddemonstrations of space technology,Earth observation, space science,navigation and telemedicine. Particularhighlights included a 3-D presentation ofthe International Space Station, theoriginal capsule of the AtmosphericReentry Demonstrator (ARD) and the X-raymirrors developed for the XMMspacecraft.

A total of 464 students from ESA MemberStates were sponsored by the Agency’sEducation and Outreach Office to attendthe Congress. This was the first time thatsuch a significant number of studentswere given the opportunity to follow thevarious sessions, and to exchange viewsand ideas with experts from all over theworld.

Bus trips to ESTEC were organised on

two afternoons, providing Congressparticipants with the opportunity to seethe Artemis and Envisat flight units, andvisit the Erasmus User Centre. A numberof ESA staff were on hand to welcome thevisitors and answer their questions.

ESA’s DG, Antonio Rodotà, gave aninaugural speech on Monday, 4 October,responding to the address by Annemarie

Jorritsma-Liebink, Dutch Minister ofEconomic Affairs. On Wednesday, 6October, he opened the plenary sessionon the ‘Future of European Space’. Onthe evening of 7 October, Mr Rodotàaddressed the 464 invited Europeanstudents and congratulated the winners ofthe lottery prizes.

Hans Kappler, ESA’s Director of IndustrialMatters and Technology Programmes,spoke at the plenary session on ‘SpaceTechnology needs for the 21st century’, asdid his counterparts from NASA, NASDA,the Canadian Space Agency and BallAerospace. Jörg Feustel-Büechl, Directorof Manned Spaceflight and Microgravityprogrammes, announced the winners of‘Success’, ESA’s Student Competition forthe best ISS Experiment Proposal andhanded out prizes at a special eventopened as well to the general public.

Altogether, ESA’s representatives includedfourteen session chairmen or co-chairmen, one symposium coordinator,two rapporteurs and twenty-eightspeakers.

The next IAF Congress and Exhibition(51st) will be held on 2-6 October 2000in Rio de Janeiro. For more informationvisit the IAF website at<http://www.iafastro.com/> r

His Royal Highness Wilhelm-Alexander, Prince of Orange, and AnnemarieJorritsma-Liebink, Dutch Minister of Economic Affairs (centre)

The ESA exhibition provided information, presentations anddemonstrations of current and future space technology

An inaugural speech was given by ESA’sDirector General, Antonio Rodotà

A True SUCCESA TrueSUCCESS Story

The 50th IAF Congress also saw thepresentation of prizes to the winners ofanother contest launched by ESA last year(November 1998). Dubbed SUCCESS(Space Station Utilisation Contest Callingfor European Students’ IdeaS), the contestwas designed to introduce students andtheir ideas to space and non-spaceindustries in order to stimulate potential forfuture industrial research and technologydevelopment on the International SpaceStation.

ESA received 103 experiment proposals from126 students in Austria, France, Germany,Ireland, Italy, The Netherlands, Norway,Spain and the United Kingdom, spanningthe fields of technology, life sciences, physics,materials science, and Earth observation.

Under the aegis of ESA’s Director forManned Spaceflight and Microgravityprogrammes, Jörg Feustel-Büechl, prizeswere awarded to:1st prize: José Mariano López-Urdiales, Fernando Mancebo-Ordóñez, DanielMeizoso-Latova and Pablo Valls-Moldenhauer,Instituto Universitario “Ignacio da Riva”, Universidad Politécnica de Madrid, Spain2nd prize: Paolo Ariaudo, Università degliStudi di Napoli “Federico II”, Italy.3rd prize: Alexander Roger and AnnaGlennmar, University of Glasgow, UK.

in brief

464 students were sponsored by ESA to participate in the Congress

The interest and enthusiasm the students demonstrated throughout the Congresswere rewarded with a prizes at a special student social event. Prizes were drawnby Antonio Rodotà (centre) and Wubbo Ockels (left), Head of Office forEducational Project Outreach Activities. Charly Pache (right), Ecole PolytechniqueFédérale de Lausanne (CH), was the second prize winner of a trip to Kourou towitness an Ariane launch. The third prize was a special Internet account received by: Luigi Adamo, Universityof Palermo (I), Joost van Leeuwen and Wouter Jonker, TU Delft (NL), MarioRoberto Carraro, University of Bologna (I), and Raffaele de Amicis, University ofBologna (I).The lucky first prize winners were Erik Wouters and Stephan Ullmann, TU Munich(D), who each received a trip to Rio de Janeiro to attend the 51st IAF Congressnext year

The Spanish students will each be granteda 3-month fellowship at ESA’s Researchand Technology Centre, ESTEC, to workon their experiments and get ready to testthem on a parabolic flight campaign. TheItalian student won a laptop computer,while the British students will be able tochoose a trip to either KSC to attend aShuttle launch or to Kourou to witness anAriane launch. r

Finalists of the SUCCESS contest The first prize, 3-month fellowships at ESTEC, was awardedto four students from the Universidad Politécnica de Madrid

SUCCESSSUCCESS

r bulletin 100 — december 1999

Station, where research will be carried outfor the next 15 years, parabolic flights arecrucial to the preparation of experiments,equipment and astronauts, and allowscientists to have their experiments testedbefore they are actually flown on a spacemission.

Over the coming four years, ESA will runtwo parabolic campaigns a year. Scientistsare regularly invited to submit experimentproposals for review and selection by peers.Those whose experiments are selectedhave the possibility to participate in anESA parabolic flight campaign. In each ofits future campaigns, ESA will also includeexperiments proposed by students toencourage the scientists of tomorrow tolearn all about experimention in weight-lessness and the extensive researchopportunities the International SpaceStation is going to offer.

Further information on ESA parabolicflights can be found at ESA’s specialparabolic flight Internet pages at <http://www.estec.esa.int/spaceflight/parabolic>.

Experiments and scientists involved inthe 27th ESA parabolic flight campaign1. “Gravity and lung function, first use of ARMS in microgravity”, Prof. D. Linnarsson(Karolinska Institute, Stockholm, S), Prof.M. Paiva (University of Brussels, B) and Dr G.K. Prisk (University of California, San Diego, USA). Focuses on the quantitative relationship between lung geometry, gas diffusion and convectivegas transport. 2. “Does weightlessness induce peripheralvasodilatation?”, Dr P. Norsk and Dr R.Videbaek (DAMEC, Copenhagen, DK).Tests hypothesis on the dilatation of theheart and the peripheral vascular systemthat could be caused by weightlessness.

Experiments 1 and 2 above make use ofESA’s “Advanced Respiratory MonitoringSystem” built by Innovision (DK) andAlcatel Space (CH) which is to be flownon the Shuttle in January 2001.

3. “Respiratory mechanics under 0g”, Prof. P. Vaïda (University of Bordeaux 2, F)and Prof. G. Miserocchi (University ofMilan, I). Studies pulmonary mechanics.4. “Otolithic control of the cardiovascularsystem during parabolic flights”, Drs P. Denise, H. Normand (University ofCaen, F) and Dr P. Arbeille (University ofTours, F). Tests the hypothesis thatotolithic receptors, part of the inner ear

balance system, affect the cardiovascularsystem.5. “In vivo monitoring of the mechanical environment of fractures in microgravity”,Prof. M. Hinsenkamp and Prof. F. Burny(University of Brussels, B). Measuresmechanical constraints in healing bones insubjects having recently fractured tibia.6. “The effects of a change in gravity on the dynamics of prehension and thekinematics of the upper limb during cyclicarm movements with a hand-held load”,Profs. J.L. Thonnard, N. Heglund and P. Willems (University of Louvain-La-Neuve,B). Measures the grip force and total loadforce of test subjects.7. “The effect of short-duration microgravityon leukocyte early signal transductionevents and cytoskeleton dynamics”, Drs J.Hatton, J.P. Breittmayer (Hôpital Archet,Nice, F) and Dr B. Hashemi (NationalSpace Biomedical Research Institute, Houston, USA). Leukocytes are whiteblood corpuscles found in suspension inhuman blood plasma; this experiment willhelp explain the mechanisms of leukocytesensitivity to gravity.8. “Investigations of metallic foamproduction under microgravity conditions”, Dr S. Odenbach (ZARM, University ofBremen, D) and Dr J. Banhart (IFAM,Bremen, D)”. Studies metallic foams, newmaterials with interesting properties of highfirmness and low weight with potentialapplications in lighter car shock absorbers,for instance.9. “Thermal analysis of pure silicon and aluminum-silicon alloys by mirror furnaceexperiments”, Prof. H. Fredriksson (RoyalInstitute of Technology, Stockholm, S). Investigates samples of pure silicon andaluminum-silicon alloys using a specialfurnace developed by the Swedish SpaceCorporation and flown several times onprevious ESA campaigns.10. “Critical velocities in open capillary flow(choking)”, Dr M.E. Dreyer, U. Rosendahland Prof. H.J. Rath (ZARM, University ofBremen, D). This fluid physics experimentaims at determining the maximum flow rate,which can be established in a capillarychannel. 11. “Completion of fault arc investigations at cable bundles under weightlessness conditions”, Prof. König, J. Hanson and F.Hörtz (Darmstadt University of Technology,D). This technological investigation looksat the characteristics of insulated cablesafter exposure to the thermal effect of different electrical powers in microgravity.

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ESA Parabolic Flights toPrepare for theInternational SpaceStationOn 25 October, a specially adapted AirbusA-300, took off from Bordeaux-Mérignacairport in France on the first day of aweek-long (25-29 October) campaign ofparabolic flights designed to carry outexperiments in weightlessness, and to testinstruments and equipment before theyembark on a real spaceflight. Thesecampaigns observe how technicalsystems and biological, chemical andphysical processes function in theabsence of gravity. This campaign, the27th organised by ESA, will focus mainlyon how the human respiratory systemworks and how new materials can beproduced.

During a parabolic flight, the aircraftperforms a nose-up manoeuvre to put itinto a steep climb. This creates acentrifugal force of 1.8 g (1.8 times theforce of gravity on the ground) for about20 seconds. Then the pilot reduces enginethrust to almost zero, injecting the aircraftinto a parabola. The plane continues toclimb till it reaches the apex of the parabola,then it starts descending. This conditionlasts for about 25 seconds, during whichthe passengers and all unstrappedequipment in the cabin float in theweightlessness resulting from the free fallof the aircraft. When the angle below thehorizontal reaches 45°, the pilot acceleratesagain and pulls up the aircraft to comeback to a steady horizontal flight. Thesemanoeuvres are repeated 30 times per flight.

During the weigthlessness periods, the 28scientists on this flight – from researchinstitutes in six European countries andthe US – carried out their work: measuringblood pressure under various conditions,monitoring a newly-developed instrumentor heating metals in a purpose-builtfurnace, in order to confirm a hypothesis,test instruments or replicate resultsobtained during an earlier spaceflight.The 26 previous campaigns that ESA hasconducted since 1984 have produced atotal of 2650 parabolas and almost 15hours of weightlessness, the equivalent offlying around the Earth (in low-Earth orbit)nearly 10 times. A total of 360experiments have been carried out.

With Europe and its international partnersnow building the International Space

Foton-12 Success

The international Foton-12 mission,carrying a record-size Agency payload,was launched from Russia’s PlesetskCosmodrome on 9 September. After 14.6days in orbit, its descent capsule landedsafely in southwest Russia; the ESApayload was retrieved within hours andcarried back to Europe. Foton’s 11 ESAexperiments covered fluid physics, biology,radiation dosimetry, material science andmeteoritics – another first.

Making its debut was the FluidPac facility,with its associated Telesupport unit,which, for the first time, providedscientists with online monitoring of theirexperiments. Two fluid physicsexperiments (MAGIA and TRAMP) weresuccessfully performed, while BAMBIsuffered a technical failure and had to beaborted.

ESA’s Biopan external exposure facility,completing its fourth flight, performed well.The unit’s lid was opened 20 hours afterlaunch, by telecommand from theMoscow control centre, to expose the fourradiation and exobiology experimentsdirectly to the space environment. It wasclosed after 303 hours. Biopan wasreturned to ESTEC and the experimentsextracted on 28 September.

Like Biopan’s experiments, the standaloneALGAE (cell biology) and SYMBIO (botany)went as planned and were safelyrecovered after landing. The novel reentrystudy, STONE, with simulated-meteoriterock samples embedded in the capsule’sheatshield, went well, although one of thethree samples was lost during descent.

Another ESA experiment processed threesamples in the Agat furnace to investigatethe diffusion coefficients of tellurium andindium in gallium antimonide. Otherpayloads, from France, Germany andRussia, were also flown. Throughout themission, Foton-12’s status could be closelyfollowed on the Web, where a specialhomepage was updated daily. Furtherinformation can still be found at <http://www.estec.esa.nl/spaceflight/foton/>; see also page 95 ofthis issue. r

in brief

r bulletin 100 — december 1999

Plastics and SpaceMeeting the Challengesto MankindESA and the European plastics industryhave presented new research showinghow plastics and space research will helpaddress some of the future challengesfacing mankind. A joint press conferenceon the subject, organised by ESA’sTechnology Transfer Programme headedby Pierre Brisson of the Directorate ofIndustrial Matters and TechnologyProgrammes, was held on 7 October atESTEC’s Erasmus User Centre.

The proceedings, opened by Jörg Feustel-Büechl, ESA’s Director of MannedSpaceflight and Microgravity, were followedby representatives of the European plasticsindustry, environment and sustainabilityexperts, and over forty journalists workingfor the international media

The report ‘Coming of Age: Plastics andSpace Meeting the Challenges toMankind’, commissioned by the Europeanplastics industry and the ESA TechnologyTransfer Programme, was presented. Ithighlights some of the key issues facingmankind, such as climate change,pressure on finite resources and terrestrialhabitat, and shows how transferringtechnologies developed for spaceapplications could provide some of therequired solutions.

Numerous examples illustrated in thereport include:– water purification systems, based on

technology for use on the International Space Station, are currently under

development to deliver fresh water to millions of needy people in India and the Far East

– lightweight vehicle construction techniques, applied to components of the Space Station, Space Shuttle and other space systems, are integral to new generations of eco-efficient aircraftand automobiles

– the use of solar light, and the efficient use and retention of energy on board spacecraft, are opening up the development of alternative energy sources on Earth and ensuring efficient use of fossil fuels through improved domestic insulation.

For further information about ESA’sTechnology Transfer Programme, visit thewebsite <http://www.esa.int/technology/>.

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New Head of ESACabinet

The new Head of Cabinet, Mr BrianWalker, took up duty on 1 August 1999.His Office provides the Secretariat to theESA Council, manages planning,information, representational andoperational requirements for the DirectorGeneral, and is responsible for theAgency’s official record and themanagement of its archives.

A long-serving ESRO and ESA staffmember, Brian Walker joined ESTEC (NL)in October 1964 to work on the ESRO-2satellite project, as deputy ProjectManager with specific responsibility forcheckout and orbital operations. In 1967,he moved on to the TD1A project to managecheckout design and procurement.

In 1968, he moved to the newly createdEuropean Space Operations Centre,ESOC (D), to work on ESRO-1 operationsand the preparation of the operations forthe re-launch (following the initial launchfailure) of ESRO-2. He subsequentlyprogressed at ESOC to become Head ofthe Mission Management Branch and laterDivision, Head of the Office for Coordinationand Management, and ultimately Head ofthe Ground System Engineering Department.

In 1989, he moved to ESA Headquartersto Head the Coordination andManagement Office, where one of hismany functions was to Chair the Agency’sAdjudication Committee (1989 to 1994). In1994, he was appointed AssociateDirector for Information Systems, withadditional responsibility from 1997 for thereform of Purchasing, RecordsManagement, and Information andDocumentation Services.

In his new role as Head of the ESACabinet, Brian Walker will also beresponsiblefor theAgency’sCentralManagementSupport Unit.

On 7 October, ESA’s Technology Transfer Programme organised a joint press conference with theEuropean plastics industry on the benefits of plastics and space research, at ESTEC’s ErasmusUser Centre

Pierre Brisson, Directorate of Industrial Mattersand Technology Programmes

Brian Walker

between institutions, academia, industry,etc. was highlighted. The creation of‘space projects’ with the capacity toinvolve a large number of youngEuropeans, and the use of theInternational Space Station for educationand public outreach, were just two of therecommendations to emerge.

Basically two topics stood out in theScience and Technology discussiongroup: how to use the effects of

Mercure ProjectSuccessfully CompletedOn 6 October, the Mercure project wasformally concluded during a meeting of itsGoverning Board, held at the Ministry ofForeign Affairs in Madrid. The project wascreated in Madrid on 25 November 1994when six ESA Member States – Austria,Belgium, Norway, Spain, Switzerland andthe United Kingdom – signed aMemorandum of Understanding, togetherwith the Agency, to participate in and tocontribute to the project. Mercure is aEuropean response to the importance thatthe United Nations Conference on theEnvironment, UNCED, held in Rio deJaneiro in June 1992, placed on the needto improve the availability of and access toenvironmental information in achievingsustainable development.

The project is elaborated by the United

Nations Environment Programme, UNEP,in partnership with ESA. Under theauspices and technical coordination ofESA and the leadership of the SpanishCompany INDRA in Barcelona, aconsortium of industry from theparticipating States, including Newtec CY(B), Nera (N), Softlab (A) and CIR SA (CH),has provided satellite earth stations andassociated equipment, installed at severalof UNEP’s world-wide centres. Globalcapacity on the Intelsat system is used tointerconnect the earth stations. The overallMercure network is controlled by a MasterStation operated by Swisscom Telecom inLeuk (CH).

The Mercure network is now an integralpart of UNEPnet, which is a dedicatedglobal Internet for environment andsustainable development. Its role is toimprove environmental data andinformation exchange and to address the

‘widening gap’ between the industrialisedand developing worlds. Responsibility forthe technical implementation and day-to-day operation of the UNEPnet/Mercureprogramme rests with the UNEPnetImplementation Centre in Arendal, Norway.

UNEP’s ability to operate as a UN centrefrom Kenya is entirely dependent onreliable and cost-effective communicationsnot only with other UN centres, but alsowith UNEP’s own offices around the Worldand the national governments served bythe programme. High-capacity Internetservices, video conferencing andelectronic publication of UNEP’s productswould simply not be feasible withoutMercure. In fact, Mercure has greatlyincreased UNEP’s ability to collaborateeffectively with other centres around theWorld. r

in brief

The Space GenerationForum Sister Conferenceat ESTEC

The Third United Nations Conference onthe Exploration and Peaceful Uses ofOuter Space (UNISPACE III) was held inVienna, Austria from 19-30 July 1999. TheUN had agreed that an international youthforum for university students, graduatestudents and young professionals, calledthe ‘Space Generation Forum (SGF)’ andorganised by International Space University(ISU) alumni, should be held in conjunctionwith UNISPACE III.

It was proposed by the Forum committeethat local brainstorming sessions, knownas Sister Conferences, should be heldaround the World before the Viennameeting to collect and assimilate ideasand thereby provide as meaningful aninput as possible for the Forum. To involvethe younger staff at ESA in the aboveactivities, it was decided to hold one of theSGF Sister Conferences at ESTEC, inNoordwijk (NL).

The ESTEC Sister Conference, held on themorning of 3 June, was built around twomain discussion groups: Education &Public Outreach and Science &Technology. The event was supported bythe ESA Office for Education Projects andOutreach Activities. Seventeen peopleparticipated, seven of whom chose to be

in the Education and Public Outreachdiscussion group, and ten in the Scienceand Technology group.

The Education and Outreach groupfocused on eight topics:1. Education and Outreach: present

concerns 2. NASA versus ESA Experiences 3. Europe’s Needs 4. Added-value of a European Approach 5. Organisation of a European Effort 6. Use of ISS for Education and Public

Awareness 7. Pan-European Student Micro-satellite

Programme 8. Our Future in Education and Outreach.

The Science and Technology group alsohad eight main topics as a starting point:1. Microgravity 2. Physiology3. Breakthroughs in Propulsion Systems4. How to Develop Innovative Technology

using Space Missions?5. Space Weather6. Astrophysics, Astronomy7. Planetology8. From the Smallest to the Largest

(fractal geometry?).

One of the most important results of theEducation and Outreach discussion groupwas the concept of the added-value of aEuropean approach, using all of ourcultural differences to our advantage. Theimportance of high-level communication

Participants at ESTEC Education & Public OutreachDiscussion Group:Cedric Bouvry Ana Colorado McEvoy Viney Dhiri Christian HenjesTobias HornPaul TuckerSander Van Dijk

Science &Technology DiscussionGroup:Antonio Manuel AraujoNicolas BoulantAnne CizeronPatrick CoutaJean-Christophe Dunat Annette JaeckelSandra MingotEsther MartinezOscar Martinez Erik Nijs

r bulletin 100 — december 1999

microgravity to our advantage, and how toavoid hazardous space-weather effects.The participants were intrigued by howmicrogravity might be used to benefitscience, technology and physiologyresearch. It was suggested that more newmaterials (e.g. medicines, polymers,computer chips, crystals, etc.) with verypure properties could be developed (asyet unknown types of atomic bindingmight be possible in microgravity?). It wasemphasised that these new materialsshould be developed for peacefulpurposes! Also, it was suggested thatmicrogravity could be used to test someof our basic theories about, for example,atomic structures. The need for moreresearch into the effects of microgravity onthe human organism (bone loss andmuscle weakness) was emphasised. Could research in microgravity lead to new immunisation possibilities againstdisease?

The participants also found the subject ofspace weather highly important for theadvancement of the utilisation of thespace environment. ‘Space weather’ (i.e.how the space environment may haveunwanted effects on both technologicaland biological systems in space and onEarth) is becoming a topic of world-wideinterest due to the fact that it directlyand/or indirectly influences everybody onEarth. It was agreed that improvedprediction techniques for the radiation andparticles coming from the Sun is essential.Also the growing problem of debris(natural and man-made) in space wasdeemed to be a very important issue inthis context.

The Space Generation Forum in ViennaThe Space Generation Forum was fundedmainly by the Austrian Government, theUN and commercial sponsors, such asBoeing and Lockeed Martin. The availablebudget was used to promote the eventand to finance approximately 200 youngpeople (students and young professionals)from all over the World to participate.

The areas that the SGF delegates inVienna focussed on were: – Public Awareness and Outreach– Education– Development of Society & Meeting

Basic Needs– Arts and Humanities– Philosophy, Religion, Ethics/Morality – International Co-operation– Transmission of Knowledge

– Environment– International Security and

Peacekeeping– Military– Commercialisation– Science and Technology– Access to Space.

Forty-nine recommendations were drawnup by the SGF participants and ten ofthem, representing the younger genera-tion’s vision for the future of space, wereselected by democratic vote forpresentation to the official Delegations toUNISPACE, representing 60 countries:

Recommendations:1. Education without Frontiers: a Global

Education Curriculum: indicating that education is a priority for young people.

2. Priority Access to Mobile Satcom Network for Disaster Emergency Relief: indicating that direct benefits of space technology to humankind is a concern.

3. International Space Authority: indicating that young people expect leadership.

4. SGF Follow-up: indicating that the SGF participants appreciated the Forum as a means of expressing theiropinions and their vision.

5. Establishment of an International Centre for Space Medicine (ICSM): indicating that health is a main concern.

6. International Space Chamber of Commerce: indicating that young people would like to see an official institution that would provide funding for space activities all over the World.

7. Action Plan for Meeting the World’s Basic Needs through Technology: indicating the same conclusion as for R-3.

8. Nobel Space Prize: indicating a common desire to increase awareness of space among the general public and to raise its status in the scientific community.

9. UN Space Youth Advisory Council (YAC): indicating that young people want to have a voice and to participate actively in long-term policy making.

10. Planetary Defence/Protection: indicating that there is a common awareness, among young people, that our species needs a global understanding of such natural threats as possible impacts of Near Earth-Objects with the ‘Blue Planet’.

Five of these ten recommendations – R1,R2, R4, R8 and R9 – were integrated intothe so-called ‘Vienna Declaration’emanating from UNISPACE III. Furtherinformation concerning these Recommen-dations can be found under ‘Declarationof the SGF Conference’, at www.space-generation.org.

Many ESA staff were involved in the SGFconference in Vienna, and several formerand present ESTEC employees were onthe event’s Local Organising Committee.Mr Clovis de Matos presented the resultsof the ESTEC SGF Sister Conferenceduring the poster exhibition.

C.J. de Matos, C. De Vos, N. Crosby & J. Kraemer Local SGF OrganisingCommittee, ESTEC r

The SGF Participants at UNISPACE III inVienna, July 1999

SOHO RescuersHonoured

On 16 July, during the 1999 NASA HonorAwards Ceremony at Goddard SpaceFlight Center (GSFC) in Maryland (USA),ESA’s Francis Vandenbussche waspresented with the NASA Medal for PublicService by Mr A.V. Diaz, Director of GSFC,and Dr Edward Weiler, NASA AssociateAdministrator for Space Science, “inrecognition of his inspiring leadership,engineering insight and diplomatic skills,which were the key to the successfulrecovery of the ESA/NASA Solar andHeliospheric Observatory (SOHO)”.On the same day, Mr Vandenbussche alsoreceived, on behalf of the EuropeanSOHO Recovery Team, the NASA GroupAchievement Award, “in recognition of theoutstanding achievements of the ESA/NASA Recovery Team who successfullyrestored operation to the disabled Solarand Heliospheric Observatory.” r

REMSAT not only provides improvedcommunications between fire crews in thefield and the fire-fighting control centres,but also data, video images andgeographical location capabilities, throughto the positioning and status informationof all resources. It also allows additionalbackground information on the fire area, inthe form of satellite imagery, aerialphotography and meteorological data –essential aids to fire modelling, predictionand suppression.

A pilot demonstration of REMSATcapabilities was conducted in Canada lastSeptember. Under an ESA contract,MacDonald Dettwiler & Associates (CDN)– a company with extensive expertise inspace-based operations and transportableequipment – teamed up with the BritishColumbia Forest Service. TheBCFS is charged with fightingforest fires in B.C, protectingcommunities and timberresources in an area of over 1 million square kilometres. The protection programme isdeployed for an average of over3000 fires annually.

Under the demonstrationscenario, a nominal fire lasting 19days was simulated. Positioningfunctions were provided by GPS,messaging by the Orbcomm LEOsatellite system and low/high data

rate voice and video services by theCanadian GEO satellite system Anik. Theresults met with an enthusiastic responsefrom Provincial Government Minister ofForests, Mr David Zirnhelt and the BCFS.A further two (full-scale) simulations areplanned in spring 2000, followed by fulloperational deployment of the system in areal fire that summer.

Forest fire fighting was the selectedapplication for the pilot demonstration, butREMSAT can be adapted to meet theneeds of many other types ofemergencies such as earthquakes, floods,exceptionally heavy winter conditions andthose involving hazardous materials. It canalso be made compatible with varioussatellite systems currently available. r

in brief

Francis Vandenbussche with Mr A.V. Diaz (left) and Dr Edward Weiler (right)

European SatelliteTechnology Helps FightForest Fires

In managing emergency situations, suchas forest fire fighting, modernorganisations require real-timecommunications between commandcentres and those ‘in the field’, as well asdeployment over the affected region of, forexample, helicopters, vehicles and heavyfire-fighting equipment.

Newly emerging and existing space-basedtechnologies such as navigation satellitesystems, satellite communications andEarth observation methods could satisfymany of today’s emergency managementrequirements. But a gap currently existsbetween these technologies and theiroperational use. How can this gap bebridged?

ESA has come up with an answer bypromoting a new initiative for REal-timeManagement of emergency situations viaSATellite. REMSAT makes maximum useof existing space technologies (telecom-munications, positioning, Earth observationsystems) as well as hand-held terminalscarried by firemen, in order to providecommunications with central EmergencyManagement Control Centres viatransportable Intermediate SatelliteTerminals.

r bulletin 100 — december 1999

Planets, PlanetsEverywhereMore than a dozen planets orbiting other‘suns’ have been found in the last fewyears, but are they the rule or theexception? ESA’s Infrared SpaceObservatory (ISO) has shown that theformation of extra-solar planets must be avery common event. As explained in thejournal Nature (30 September 1999), ISOhas found that almost all young stars aresurrounded by a disc of debris – arequisite for planet making – while mostabove a certain age are not. Correlatingthese data and certain events in thehistory of our own Solar System, such asthe formation of the Moon’s craters,astronomers postulate that the discs ofolder stars have vanished because theyhave already condensed into planets.

The authors, an international team led byHarm Habing, from Leiden University (NL),wanted to know if stars belonging to aparticular class were more likely thanothers to form planets. In our own SolarSystem, planets formed out of a disc ofsmall particles of dust, so every starsurrounded by such a disc is a potentialplanet-forming star. The astronomerstherefore chose a sample of 84 nearbystars, all of them very common and in themost stable phase of their lives – the‘main sequence’ – but of different ages.Which ones would have discs?

Discs are difficult to see because theyemit very faintly; only a few have beenpositively detected so far. Using ISO, theinternational team found that 15 stars intheir sample did have a disc. Then theyanalysed the ages of the stars: it turnedout that most of those younger than 400million years had discs, while the greatmajority of the older ones did not.

“We show for the first time that thepresence of a disc around a mainsequence star depends strongly on thestar’s age. Why do those above a preciseage not have discs? We searched forclues in our own Solar System, andrealised that it was just when the Sun wasthat age (about 400 million years) thatplanets were forming”, Habing says.

In our Solar System, several factsdemonstrate that very soon after theformation of the planets the disc orbitingthe Sun disappeared. Some evidencecomes, for instance, from Moon craters.

These ‘scars’ on the lunar surface weremade while the planets were completingtheir formation phase and the Sun waslosing its own disc of debris, during the‘clean-up phase’ of the Solar System. Thenewly-born planets scattered the remainingplanetesimals, which were ejected fromthe system, fell into the Sun or collidedwith other large bodies, such as theMoon. The age determinations of lunarrocks brought back by the Apollo missionsprove that all this happened when the Sunwas 300 to 400 million years old.

In the light of these facts, the authors

World Experts on Space Debris MeetSpace debris experts from around the globe gathered from 11 until 13 October 1999, atthe European Space Agency Operations Centre (ESOC), Darmstadt (D) for the 17thmeeting of the Inter-Agency Space Debris Coordination Committee (IADC).

IADC is concerned with all technical issues of the space debris problem. The mainobjectives of IADC are to exchange results of research in the field of space debris, tocooperate in research activities and to identify debris mitigation options.

The 17th IADC discussed ways and methods to control the growing amount of orbitingdebris. Radar and optical telescopes regularly track over 10 000 artificial objects inspace. The number of untrackable objects in the size range from 1 cm to 10 cm thatcould seriously damage an operational spacecraft, is estimated at between 100 000and 150 000. The International Space Station (ISS) will be equipped with about 200shields in order to defeat impacts of particulates about 1-2 cm size.

Some recent and current topics of the IADC include:– guidelines for the disposal of spacecraft in the geostationary orbit– data exchange procedure and communications for reentry of risk objects– common database of space objects– risk assessment for the 1999 Leonids and countermeasures– measures to reduce the growth of the debris population in low-Earth orbit.

The results from the work of the IADC will provide a technical basis for deliberations onspace debris at next meeting of the Scientific and Technical Subcommittee ofUNCOPUOS in February 2000. r

postulate that the young stars in their sample– those with a disc – are now undergoingtheir ‘heavy bombardment’ period. Whenthis process finishes, the disc will vanish andproto-planets will orbit the star instead.

Does this theory mean that all stars forwhich a disc cannot be observed aresurrounded by planets?

“This is something we cannot say. That’swhere the knowledge barrier is”, Habinganswers. “However, we think the Sun hasthe same history as the other planetarysystems. When the planets form theydestroy the disc”. r

Computer rendering, based on a hydrodynamic model which calculates the evolution of aprotostellar disk as a giant protoplanet forms (Image courtesy: Geoffrey Bryden, Lick Observatory,University of California, Santa Cruz)