Operational - esa.int

Meteosat SecondGeneration BecomesOperational

Gravitational Waves and Massive Black Holes?

Gravitational Waves and Massive Black Holes?– The LISA and LISA Pathfinder MissionsAlberto Gianolio et al. 5

Meteosat Second Generation Becomes OperationalWolfgang Schumann, Rob Oremus & Sergio Rota 15

The Dragon Programme– ESA and China Cooperate in Earth ObservationYves-Louis Desnos, Karl Bergquist & Li Zengyuan 23

What Happens to the Human Heart in Space?– Parabolic Flights Provide Some AnswersAndré E. Aubert et al. 31

EGNOS Navigation Applications– A Chance for EuropeAlberto Garcia et al. 41

www.esa.int esa bulletin 119 - august 2004 1

The ESA History ProjectKarl-Egon Reuter & Johann Oberlechner 48

ESA Portal Brings Europe’s Mars Adventure to MillionsFulvio Drigani & Jurgen Scholz 57

Keeping Track of Geostationary Satellites– A Novel and Less Costly ApproachMats Rosengren, Javier De Vicente-Olmedo& Flemming Pedersen 65

Programmes in Progress 70

News – In Brief 82

Publications 88

The Dragon Programme

bulletin 119 - august 2004 Contents

ESA Portal Brings Europe’sMars Adventure to Millions

Keeping Track ofGeostationary Satellites

What Happens to the HumanHeart in Space?

57 6531

5 15 23

Gravitational Waves andMassive Black Holes?– The LISA and LISA Pathfinder Missions

Ground-based telescope view (left) of the collision between the galaxies NGC4038 and NGC4039, which revealslong arcing insect-like ‘antennae’ of luminous matter flung from the scene of the accident. Investigations using theHubble Space Telescope have revealed over a thousand bright young clusters of stars – the result of a burst of starformation triggerd by the collision. The green outline shows the area covered by the higher resolution Hubble image(right). Dust clouds around the two galactic nuclei give them a dimmed and reddened appearance, while themassive, hot young stars of the new formed clusters are blue(Image courtesy of B. whitmore (STSci), F. Schweizer (DTM), NASA)

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LISA & LISA Pathfinder

T hough they have not been directly detected so far,gravitational waves are a necessary consequence ofEinstein’s theory of General Relativity. They distort space

and time, changing the perceived distances between freemacroscopic bodies. A gravitational wave passing through theSolar System creates a time-varying strain in space thatperiodically changes the distances between all bodies in theSolar System in a direction that is perpendicular to that ofwave propagation. These could be the distances betweenspacecraft and the Earth, as in the case of Ulysses or Cassini(attempts were and will be made to measure these distancefluctuations), or the distances between shielded ‘proofmasses’ inside spacecraft that are separated by a largedistance, as in the case of LISA.

The collaborative NASA/ESA Laser Interferometer SpaceAntenna (LISA) mission, planned for launch in 2012, will be the first space mission to search for these elusivegravitational waves. As the technology needed for the projectis highly demanding, a precursor technology-demonstrationmission is considered to be a necessary pre-requisite. CalledLISA Pathfinder (formerly SMART-2) and planned for launchin 2008, it was given the go-ahead on 7 June by ESA’sScience Programme Committee (SPC).

Alberto Gianolio, Guiseppe RaccaScientific Projects Department, ESA Directorate of ScientificProgrammes, ESTEC, Noordwijk, The Netherlands

Oliver Jennrich, Ruedeger ReinhardResearch and Scientific Support Department, ESA Directorateof Scientific Programmes, ESTEC, Noordwijk, The Netherlands

Karsten DanzmannInstitut für Atom- und Molekülphysik und Albert-EinsteinInstitut, University of Hannover, Germany

Stefano VitaleDepartment of Physics, University of Trento, Italy

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6 esa bulletin 119 - august 2004 www.esa.int

What Are Gravitational Waves ?In Newton’s gravitational theory, thegravitational interaction between twobodies is instantaneous, but according toSpecial Relativity this should beimpossible because the speed of lightrepresents the limiting speed for allinteractions. So, if a body changes itsshape the resulting change in the forcefield should make its way outwards nofaster than the speed of light.

Einstein's paper on gravitational waveswas published in 1916, and that was aboutall that was heard on the subject for overforty years. It was not until the late 1950sthat some relativity theorists, and inparticular Herman Bondi (before hebecame the first Director General of ESRO,ESA’s forerunner), proved rigorously thatgravitational radiation was in fact aphysically observable phenomenon, thatgravitational waves carry energy, and that,as a result, a system that emits gravitationalwaves should lose energy.

Einstein’s Theory of General Relativityreplaces the Newtonian picture ofgravitation by a geometric one that is veryintuitive, if we are willing to accept the factthat space and time do not have anindependent existence, but rather are inintense interaction with the physical world. Massive bodies then produce‘indentations’ in the fabric of ‘spacetime’,and other bodies move in this curvedspacetime taking the shortest path, muchlike a system of billiard balls crossing aspongy surface. In fact, Einstein’sequations formally relate mass (energy)and spacetime curvature in just the sameway that Hooke's law relates force andspring deformation. Put more poignantly,spacetime is an elastic medium and if amass distribution moves in an asymmetricway, then the spacetime indentations traveloutwards as ripples in spacetime called‘gravitational waves’.

Gravitational waves are fundamentallydifferent from the familiar electromagneticwaves: the latter are created by theacceleration of electric charges andpropagate in the framework of space andtime, whereas gravitational waves arecreated by the acceleration of masses andare waves of the spacetime fabric itself. As

early as 1805, Laplace, in his famousTraité de Mécanique Céleste stated that, ifgravitation propagates with a finite speed,the force in a binary star system should notpoint along the line connecting the stars,and the angular momentum of the systemmust slowly decrease with time. Today wewould say that this happens because thebinary star is losing energy and angularmomentum by emitting gravitationalwaves. 188 years later, in 1993, Hulse andTaylor were awarded the Nobel Prize forPhysics for their indirect proof of theexistence of gravitational waves usingexactly the kind of observation thatLaplace had suggested, on the binarypulsar PSR 1913+16. However, the directdetection of gravitational waves has stillnot been achieved.

Gravitational waves are only very weaklycoupled to matter and, therefore, suffernegligible scattering or absorption. Thismakes them an ideal cosmological andastrophysical ‘information carrier’, because

all of the gravitational waves that have everbeen emitted in the Universe are stilltraveling untouched through space. Themain problem is that the ‘straining’ ofspacetime, i.e. the fractional change in thedistance between masses, due to the passageof a gravitational wave, is exceedinglysmall.F

For example, the periodic change indistance between two proof masses,separated by millions of kilometres, due to atypical white dwarf binary at a distance of50 parsec* is only 10-10 m. This is not to saythat gravitational waves are weak in thesense that they carry little energy. meanthat gravitational waves are weak in thesense that they carry little energy. On thecontrary, a supernova in a not too distant

* A parsec is a measurement unit for astronomical distances,equivalent to 3.084 x 1013 km. There are 3.26 light years in 1 parsec. The nearest star is approximately 1.3 parsec fromEarth, the Sun’s distance from the centre of our galaxy is about8500 parsec, and the farthest known galaxy is several billionparsecs away.

Stellar motions in the vicinity of Sgr A*. The orbital accelerations of stars close to the Galactic Centre have been studied with near-infrared high-resolution observations. The resulting data allow constraints to be placed on the position and mass of the centralsupermassive black hole

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Complementarity with Ground-based Observations

Astronomical observations of electromagnetic waves cover a range of 20 orders of magnitude in frequency, from ULF radio waves tohigh-energy gamma-rays. Almost all of these frequencies (except for visible and radio) cannot be detected from the ground, andtherefore it is necessary to place detectors optimised for a particular frequency range (e.g. radio, infrared, ultraviolet, X-ray, gamma-ray)in space.

The situation is similar for gravitational waves. Ground-based detectors will never be sensitive below about 1 Hz because of terrestrialgravity-gradient noise. A space-based detector is free from such noise and can also be made very large, thereby opening the rangebelow 1 Hz, where both the most certain and the most exciting gravitational-wave sources radiate most of their power.

Ground-based interferometers can observe the bursts of gravitational radiation emitted by galactic binaries during the final stages(minutes and seconds) of coalescence when the frequencies are high and both the amplitudes and frequencies increase quickly withtime. At low frequencies, which are only observable in space, the orbital radii of the binary systems are larger and the frequencies arestable over millions of years. Coalescences of Massive Black Holes (MBHs) are only observable from space. Both ground- and space-based detectors will also search for a cosmological background of gravitational waves. Since both kinds of detectors have similarenergy sensitivities, their different observing frequencies are ideally complementary: observations can provide crucial spectralinformation.

The experimental search for gravitational waves was started by Joseph Weber in the early 1960s, at a time when very little was knownabout their possible sources. He developed the first resonant-mass detector, made of a massive aluminium bar 1.53 m long and 0.66 min diameter.Weber’s bar was at room temperature, had a mass of 1400 kg and a resonant frequency of 1661 Hz. A passing gravitationalwave would cause the bar to oscillate at that frequency; a system of piezoelectric transducers would then convert the oscillations intoan electrical signal. In order to exclude stochastic noise sources, Weber employed two identical experimental setups, one at theUniversity of Maryland, the other at the Argonne National Laboratory near Chicago, 1000 km away. He recorded several coincidentsignals and claimed evidence for observation of gravitational waves. These and subsequent observations by Weber were greeted withgreat excitement in the early 1970s; however, there was also growing scepticism as the observations implied that the strength of thegravitational waves was very much in excess of what was expected for supernovae explosions in our Galaxy.

The sensitivity of the bar detectors can be improved by increasing their mass and by lowering their temperature.Today, three decadesafter Weber’s pioneering experiments, there are five operational bar detectors in different parts of the World all working at cryogenictemperatures and having a higher mass than Weber’s bars: EXPLORER at CERN (CH), ALLEGRO in Louisiana (USA), NIOBE in Perth (Aus),NAUTILUS in Rome (I), and AURIGA in Padua (I). They all are about 3 m-long aluminium bars with a mass of 2300 kg and a resonantfrequency of about 900 Hz (NIOBE is made of niobium, has a mass of 1500 kg and a resonant frequency of 700 Hz). So far, gravitationalwaves have not been detected.

Spherical detectors have several advantages over cylindrical bar detectors. At present small (65 cm diameter) cryogenic sphericaldetectors (resonant frequency 3250 Hz) are becoming operational at Leiden University in The Netherlands and at the University of SãoPaulo in Brazil as precursors for later large spherical detectors up to 3 m in diameter.

In the early 1970s the idea emerged that Michelson interferometers using laser light might have a better chance than bars of detectinggravitational waves. The technology and techniques for such laser interferometers have now been under development for nearly 30years. Today, six interferometers are either under construction or already operational:

in the USA In EuropeHanford (Washington): 4 km arm length (LIGO) near Pisa, Italy: 3 km arm length (VIRGO)

2 km arm length (LIGO) Hannover, Germany: 600 m arm length (GEO600)Livingston (Louisiana): 4 km arm length (LIGO)

in JapanTokyo, Japan: 300 m arm length (TAMA300)

LIGO, GEO600 and TAMA300 have already begun data runs. However, the sensitivity of the first-stage detectors may be only marginallysufficient to detect gravitational waves. Therefore, step-by-step improvements will be made until the network finally reaches theadvanced detector sensitivity goal sometime between 2005 and 2010.

* The ‘black holes have no hair’ theorem wasintroduced by John Wheeler in the early 1970s as aprinciple predicting the simplicity of the stationaryblack-hole family. The theorem shows that mass,charge, and angular momentum are the only propertiesthat a black hole can possess.

On the contrary, a supernova in a not toodistant galaxy will drench every squaremetre here on Earth with kilowatts ofgravitational radiation intensity. Theresulting length changes, though, are verysmall because spacetime is an extremelystiff elastic medium and so it takesextremely large energies to produce evenminute distortions.

Where Do Gravitational WavesCome From ?The two main categories of sources forthe gravitational waves for which LISAwill be searching are galactic binary starsystems and massive black holesexpected to exist in the centres of mostgalaxies. Because the masses involved intypical binary star systems are small (a few times the mass of the Sun), theobservation of binaries is limited to ourown Galaxy. Galactic sources that canbe detected by LISA include a widevariety of binaries, such as pairs of close white dwarfs, pairs of neutronstars, neutron-star and black-hole (5 to20 solar masses) binaries, pairs ofcontacting normal stars, normal-starand white-dwarf (cataclysmic) binaries,and possibly also pairs of black holes.Some galactic binaries are already sowell studied that they are considered tobe ‘calibration sources’. One suchexample is the X-ray binary 4U1820-30,located in the globular cluster NGC6624. If LISA would not detect thegravitational waves from such knownbinaries with the intensity andpolarisation predicted by the Theory ofGeneral Relativity, it would shake thevery foundations of gravitationalphysics!

The main objective of the LISAmission, however, is to learn about theformation, growth, space density andsurroundings of massive black holes.There is now compelling indirectevidence for the existence of massiveblack holes with masses 106 to 108 timesthat of the Sun in the centres of mostgalaxies, including our own. The mostpowerful sources are the mergers ofmassive black holes in distant galaxies.Observations of signals from thesesources would test General Relativityand particularly black-hole theory tounprecedented accuracy. Little iscurrently known about black holes with

masses ranging from about 100 to 106

times that of the Sun and LISA canprovide unique new informationthroughout this mass range.

During the gravitational capture of astar by a black hole, gravitational waveswill be continuously emitted, allowing anaccurate map to be made of thespacetime surrounding the black hole. Itwill therefore finally be possible to verifywhether the ‘black holes have no hair’theorem* is true.

This image, taken by the Chandra spacecraft, shows the butterfly-shapedgalaxy NGC 6240, which is the product of the collision of two smallergalaxies. The central region of the galaxy has two active giant black holes(inset) (Courtesy of NASA/CXC/MPE/S. Komossa et al.)

The LISA MissionThe key scientific goals for the LISAmission are to:• determine the role of massive black

holes in galaxy evolution by observinggravitational waves emanating fromtheir coalescence

• make precise tests of Einstein'sTheory of General Relativity byobserving gravitational waves fromthe capture of dense compact objectsby massive black holes

• determine the population of compactbinaries in our Galaxy by observingthe gravitational wave signals thatthey emit

• probe the physics of the early Universeby observing cosmological back-grounds and bursts.Achieving these scientific goals

requires three identical spacecraftpositioned 5 million kilometres apart atthe corners of an equilateral triangle.The distance between the spacecraft (thearm length of what is effectively aMichelson interferometer) determinesthe frequency range in whichobservations can be made. The centre ofthe triangular formation is in theecliptic plane, at the same distance fromthe Sun as the Earth, and trailing theEarth by approximately 20 degrees. Thisposition behind the Earth is a result of atrade-off between minimising thegravitational disturbances from theEarth-Moon system and thecommunications needs. Going fartheraway would further reduce thedisturbances, but the greater distancewould require larger antennas or highertransmitter powers. The plane of thespacecraft triangle is inclined by 60degrees with respect to the ecliptic,which means that the formation ismaintained throughout the year, withthe triangle appearing to counter-rotateabout the centre of the formation onceper year.

While LISA can be described as aMichelson interferometer in space, theactual implementation is somewhatdifferent from that of a ground-basedinterferometer. The laser light going outfrom the prime spacecraft to the othercorners is not directly reflected backbecause very little light would bereceived that way. Instead, the laser onthe receiving spacecraft is phase-lockedto the incoming light, generating a

Science

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return beam of full intensity. Thetransponded light from the spacecraft isreceived by the other one on the same armand superposed with the onboard laserlight that serves as the local oscillator in aso-called ‘heterodyne detection’. As thisentwines laser frequency noise with apotential gravitational wave signal, thesignal from the other arm is used to takeout the laser frequency noise and obtainthe pure gravitational wave signal.

The nature of the elliptical orbits flownby the three spacecraft, and to a lesserextent the gravitational perturbationscaused by the Earth, the Moon and thelarge planets, are sufficient to perturb thetriangular formation and cause relativevelocities between the spacecraft of up to20 m/s. In the course of a year, therefore,the distances between the spacecraft canchange by many thousands of kilometres.The relative velocity causes thetransponded light to be Doppler-shifted byup to 20 MHz. The resulting signal is welloutside the LISA detection band and can

be removed by onboard data processing.As each spacecraft has a launch mass of

approximately 460 kg (including thepayload, propulsion module, propellantsand launch adapter), all three can belaunched by a single Delta-IV. Afterlaunch, the trio separate and use their ownpropulsion modules to reach theiroperational orbits 13 months later. Oncethere, they will jettison their propulsionmodules and their attitude and drag-freecontrol will be left to the micro-Newtonthrusters on each spacecraft.

Each spacecraft carries two 30 cm-diameter, steerable high-gain antennas forcommunication with the Earth. Using the34 m antennas of the Deep-Space Network

and 5 W transmitter power, data can betransmitted (in X-band) at a rate of 7 kbit/sfor 8 hours every two days, and storedonboard in 1 Gbyte of solid-state memoryat other times. The nominal missionlifetime is 5 years once the spacecraft havereached their operational orbits.

How Will the Gravitational Waves BeDetected ?The principle of a gravitational wavedetector in space is relatively simple: thedistances between two or more test massesfree to follow geodesics (i.e. in free fall)are changed by the passing of agravitational wave. The detection of thegravitational wave and the measurement ofits strength are directly derived by theinterferometric measurement of thedistance between the test masses.

Each spacecraft carries two opticalassemblies, which point towards anidentical assembly on the other twospacecraft. In this way, the three spacecraftform two independent Michelsoninterferometers, thereby providingredundancy. An infrared laser beam (1 Wand 1064 nm wavelength) is transmitted tothe corresponding remote spacecraft via a30 cm-aperture f/1 Cassegrain telescope.The same telescope is used to focus thevery weak beam (a few pW) coming fromthe distant spacecraft and to direct the lightto a sensitive photodetector (a quadrantphotodiode), where it is superimposedwith a fraction of the original local light.

At the heart of each assembly is a vacuumenclosure containing a free-flying polished

LISA consists of a constellation of three spacecraft flying in formation at the corners of an equilateral triangle, inclined at 60 degreeswith respect to the ecliptic plane, in a heliocentric orbit. The equilateral triangle performs a complete rotation around its centre duringone year, while rotating around the Sun. This concept permits detection of the direction of the gravitational wave sources

Each of the three LISA spacecraft will carry two telescopesarranged in a Y-shaped tube, with associated lasers and opticalsystems, pointing in directions separated by 60 degrees. Thetelescopes will communicate with the spacecraft at the other twocorners of the equilateral triangle. Central to each optical systemwill be the ‘proof mass’, a 4.6 cm-sided cube made from a gold-platinum alloy. This proof mass acts as a reflector for the laserbeams


platinum-gold 46 mm cube - the so-called‘proof mass’ - that serves as the opticalreference (mirror) for the light beams. Apassing gravitational wave will change thelength of the optical path between the proofmasses of one arm of the interferometerrelative to the other arm. The distancefluctuations are measured to a precision of 40 pm (averaged over one second) which, when combined with the largeseparation between the spacecraft, allowsLISA to detect gravitational wave strainswith great accuracy (down to a level oforder ∆ L/L = 10-23 in 1 year of observationwith a signal-to-noise ratio of 5).

The spacecraft serves mainly to shield the

proof masses from the adverse effects ofsolar radiation pressure, so that they followa purely gravitational orbit. Although theposition of the spacecraft does not enterdirectly into the measurement, it isnevertheless necessary to keep allspacecraft moderately accurately centred ontheir respective proof masses to reducespurious local noise forces. This is achievedby means of a ‘drag-free’ control system(explained below) consisting of test-massposition sensors and a system of micro-Newton thrusters.

Capacitive sensing in three dimensionsmeasures the displacements of the proofmasses relative to the spacecraft. These

position signals are used in a feedbackloop to command Field Emission ElectricPropulsion (FEEP) thrusters to follow theproof masses precisely. As a referencepoint for the drag-free system, one of themasses (or any point between) can bechosen. The FEEP thrusters are also usedto control the attitude of the spacecraftrelative to the incoming opticalwavefronts.

The LISA Pathfinder MissionDespite the simplicity of the LISA missionconcept, the technological challengesfaced to achieve it are enormous. The maindifficulty is to make the test masses follow


The LISA Technology Package

The LTP represents one arm of the LISA interferometer, in which the distance between thetwo proof masses is reduced from 5 million km to about 30 cm. As for the LISA missionitself, the proof masses play a double role, serving as optical references (mirrors) for theinterferometer and as inertial sensors for the Drag-Free Attitude Control System (DFACS).

The two identical proof masses (4.6 cm cubes) are housed in individual vacuum cans.Capacitive sensing in three dimensions measures their displacement with respect to theirhousings. These position signals are used in a feedback loop to command micro-Newtonthrusters to enable the spacecraft to remain centred on the proof mass. Field EmissionElectric Propulsion (FEEP) thrusters and cold-gas proportional thrusters will be used asactuators. Although the proof masses are shielded from non-gravitational forces by thespacecraft, cosmic rays and solar-flare particles can significantly charge them, leading toelectrostatic forces. A system of fibre-coupled UV lamps will discharge the proof massesat regular intervals. As surface effects can also cause electrostatic forces, the proof masseshave to be coated very carefully to avoid contamination.

As each proof mass is designed to ‘float’ in space, surrounded by gaps of severalmillimetres, a caging mechanism is needed to maintain them in a safe position duringlaunch.The mechanism must apply the necessary loads without damaging the coating ofthe proof masses and the surrounding electrodes. It must also be capable ofrepositioning the masses correctly afterwards, in order to allow the weak capacitiveactuators to re-take control.

The positions of the proof masses with respect to the spacecraft or each other aremeasured by an interferometric system that is capable of picometre precision in the

frequency range 10-3 Hz – 10-1 Hz. The residual temperature fluctuations aboard thespacecraft require the use of materials with very small coefficients of thermal expansion.

The Disturbance Reduction System (DRS) is a NASA-supplied system with the samemission goals as LTP, but using slightly different technology. Its baseline design foreseestwo inertial sensors and an interferometric readout similar to that planned for LTP. However, the thrusters for the drag-free controlsystem use ionised droplets of a colloid accelerated in an electric field to provide propulsion. In this way LISA Pathfinder will effectivelytest two drag-free attitude control systems and three different micro-propulsion thruster technologies.

The LTP inertial sensor. The proof mass is surrounded by theelectrode housing and is located in a vacuum enclosure.Optical windows allow the laser beam to be reflected by theface of the cube. UV optical fibres within the enclosureilluminate the cubes in order to discharge any chargingproduced by cosmic rays. The proof mass is kept in a safeposition during launch by a ‘caging’ mechanism.

Science


a geodesic, near-perfect free-fall trajectoryby employing a so-called ‘drag-free’system. This implies keeping each proofmass within an enclosure that suppressesthe disturbances from the external forces(e.g. aerodynamic, radiation pressure andother disturbances of the surroundingspace environment) and the internal forces(e.g. self-gravity, electro-magnetic forcesand other forces coming from thespacecraft itself).

This protection is achieved by acombination of extremely accurateconstruction of the entire spacecraft andthe use of a sophisticated Drag-FreeAttitude Control System (DFACS). TheDFACS is based on measurements of thedisplacement of the test masses inside theirenclosures using capacitive sensors and alaser metrology system and it controls themotion of the spacecraft surrounding theproof masses by means of ultra-precisemicro-propulsion thrusters.

On Earth, one can never reproduce the free-fall conditions required toquantitatively prove the correct working inspace of the DFACS. It was to demonstratethis and the other key technologies neededfor the LISA mission that ESA decided toundertake the LISA Pathfinder precursor

project (formerly the SMART-2 mission).The Pathfinder will accommodate a LISATechnology Package (LTP) provided byEuropean institutes and industry, and aDisturbance Reduction System (DRS) thatis very similar to the LTP and has the samegoals, but is provided by NASA.

The LTP (see previous page) will:– demonstrate DFACS in a spacecraft with

two proof masses with a performance ofthe order of 10-14 ms-2/√Hz in thebandwidth 10-3 – 10-1 Hz (the LISArequirement is an order of magnitudehigher at 10-15 ms2/√Hz)

– demonstrate the feasibility ofperforming laser interferometry in therequired low-frequency regime with aperformance as close as possible to that required for the LISA mission (10-11m/√Hz in the frequency band 10-3 Hz –10-1 Hz)

– assess the longevity and reliability of theLISA sensors, thrusters, lasers andoptics in the real space environment.

As the environment on the LISAPathfinder spacecraft will be com-paratively ‘noisy’ in terms of temperaturefluctuations and residual forces, thePathfinder technology demonstrator isdeliberately aimed at meeting speci-fications that are about a factor of 10 morerelaxed than those for LISA itself.

The LISA Pathfinder spacecraft is asimple-looking octagonal box, about 1 mhigh and 2.1 m in diameter, with a smallfixed solar array mounted on the top). TheLTP is mounted above the DRS, inside thecentral core of the spacecraft, the twoexperimental packages being separated bya horizontal floor.

LISA Pathfinder will be launched inearly 2008 by a small European vehicleinto a low Earth orbit. Like LISA, it willuse its own propulsion module to reach itsoperational ‘halo orbit’ around the Sun-Earth Lagrangian point (L1) about 1.5million km from Earth. This orbit has beenselected because it provides a quiet

CAD drawing of the LISA Pathfinder spacecraft, with the sciencepackage containing the LTP and the DRS sitting atop thepropulsion module, which will carry it out to the L1 halo orbit

Current Project Status

LISA is a NASA/ESA collaborative project that is currently under development. Thesharing of management responsibilities and provision of mission elements betweenthe two agencies is presently being negotiated on the basis of ESA takingresponsibility for overall payload integration and testing and NASA for the provisionof the three spacecraft, the launch vehicle, and the ground segment (Deep SpaceNetwork), including the mission operations. The science operations will also beshared.

The payload will be shared 50/50, with the European elements funded by nationalspace agencies in the ESA Member States. The scientific data will be analysed by twoindependent data-analysis teams, one in Europe and one in the USA.

In November 2003, ESA's Science Programme Committee (SPC) decided to includeESA’s share of the LISA mission in the Agency’s long-term plan for space science.Preparations for a two-year system level industrial study, starting in October this year,are in progress. The SPC also decided to include the LISA Pathfinder precursorproject, subject to affordable Cost at Completion and formally secured LTP payloadfunding. In June 2004, the SPC approved the financial envelope for the project andrecommended to Council to approve the draft LTP Multilateral Agreement betweenESA and those Member-State funding agencies providing elements of the LTP.

Since March 2004, LISA Pathfinder has been in the Implementation Phase, withAstrium (UK) as the Prime Contractor. The industrial contract was officially signed ata ceremony on 23 June. The System Requirements Review, the first milestone duringthe Implementation Phase, was completed with the Board meeting on 25 June.


environment in terms of ‘tidal forces’(produced in the vicinity of massivebodies, from which L1 is sufficiently faraway), thermal stability, magnetic field,and radiation, is reachable year-round, andalso allows daily visibility from a singleground station. The ‘halo’ in fact is a three-dimensional orbit with a shape similar tothe contour of a potato chip.

Following the orbital transfer, initial set-up and calibration phases, the in-flightdemonstration of the LISA technology,consisting of 90 days of LTP, 70 days ofDRS, and 20 days of joint operations, willtake place in the second half of 2008,thereby providing timely feedback for thedevelopment of the LISA mission itself.

What the Future HoldsAs the first space-based gravitational

wave detector, LISA is an extremelyambitious programme that has the

potential to open a radical new window onastronomy. We will be able to look at theUniverse in a completely new way and weare expecting great discoveries, possiblyeven a quantum leap in our presentunderstanding of the most powerful cosmicevents. The technological challenge,however, is enormous. Extremely delicatemeasurements will have to be performedby highly sophisticated spacecraft, capableof harnessing all of nature’s forces and yetstill able to listen for the ‘whisper’ ofgravitational waves.

LISA Pathfinder, though not able itselfto detect gravitational waves due to itssingle spacecraft configuration, willthoroughly test the gravitational wavedetection technologies and pave the wayfor the unique LISA gravitational waveobservatory, which will be the largest evermanmade ‘construction’ in space.


Large Eclipse FreeLissajous Orbit

Injection Manoeuvre

L 1

8 hours a day communication link to15 m ground station

Launch into elliptical orbitUp to 16 kbps

X band TM

Station Keeping

Multiple burns raise apogee to 1.3 million km

4 kbpsX Band TC

On 2 April 2004, ESA's Directorate ofScientific Programmes issued a Call forThemes for the Agency’s Cosmic Vision2015-2025 Programme. Among the 150proposals submitted by the scientificcommunity were several for researchthemes to follow up the LISA mission.They range from studies of gravitational-wave cosmology, to the search for darkmatter and missing baryonic matter, to thesearch for super-massive black holes in theUniverse. These proposals illustrate justhow much interest the LISA mission isgenerating in the astronomy andastrophysics communities with its inherentpromise of providing a completely newview of the Universe, perhaps heralding arevolution similar to those brought by thebirths of radio and X-ray astronomy.

r

The transfer trajectory sequence, for which 11 separate burns ofthe propulsion module are needed to progressively raise theorbit’s apogee and achieve injection into the L1 halo orbit

Meteosat Second GenerationBecomes Operational


MSG Operational

Aseries of four Meteosat Second Generation (MSG)satellites will provide more comprehensive and morefrequent data to meteorologists and climate-monitoring

scientists for at least the next 14 years. They will bringabout a step change in the accuracy of our weatherforecasting systems, with considerable benefits for peopleboth in Europe and further afield.

These four geostationary satellites are being developedbased on the combined expertise of ESA and EUMETSAT (theEuropean Organisation for the Exploitation of MeteorologicalSatellites). With a thorough understanding of users’ needs,EUMETSAT is making a major investment in the overallprogramme, including development of the ground segment,procurement of the launchers and follow-on satellites andoperation of the MSG system from its own Mission ControlCentre in Darmstadt, Germany.

Geostationary meteorological satellites deliverfrequent and high-quality images of one quarter of theEarth’s disc. In this orbit, a satellite circles the Earth atthe same speed as the planet rotates, and thereforeseems to ‘hover’ in one place – in the case of MSG

Wolfgang Schumann & Rob OremusProjects Department, ESA Directorate of Earth Observation,ESTEC, Noordwijk, The Netherlands

Sergio Rota & Jochen KerkmannEUMETSAT, Darmstadt, Germany

Earth Observation


above the Gulf of Guinea at 3.4 degW offthe west coast of Africa. From this vantagepoint it provides imagery of Europe,Africa, part of the Indian Ocean, and theeastern part of South America.

With its first-hand experience from thefirst generation of Meteosats, ESA wasideally placed to develop the MSGsatellites for EUMETSAT. For thedevelopment of the first of the foursatellites, MSG-1, ESA contributed two-thirds of the initial investment, with theremaining third coming from EUMETSAT.The satellites are built by Alcatel Space,involving more than 50 subcontractorsfrom 13 European countries. EUMETSATfunds all of the MSG-2/3/4 relatedactivities, with ESA retaining the technicaland procurement role for the satelliteprime contractor.

The Launch and Early Life of MSG-1MSG-1 was successfully launched, with itsco-passenger Atlantic Bird, on 28 August2002 by an Ariane-5. The accuracy of theorbital injection provided by Ariane wasexcellent. ESA’s European SpaceOperations Centre (ESOC) in Darmstadt,Germany, assumed control of thespacecraft after its separation from thelauncher and successfully performed themanoeuvres required to take it from

the Ariane injection orbit to a quasi-geostationary orbit drifting slowlytowards the commissioning longitude of10.5 degW. During this drift phase thespacecraft successfully survived severaleclipses, the protective covers of its maininstrument, SEVIRI (Spinning EnhancedVisible and Infrared Imager), werejettisoned, and the Imager’s launch-lockingdevice was released.

Following a successful CommissioningReadiness Review, Eumetsat assumedcontrol of MSG-1 on 25 September 2002as planned, after two days of interleavedspacecraft operations with ESOC.EUMETSAT began commissioning thesatellite at the beginning of October, with

spacecraft platform and communicationpayload tests.

In the early hours of Thursday 17October, an amplifier on the satelliteswitched off unexpectedly, at a time whenoperating conditions were otherwisenominal. After the occurrence of thisanomaly, the solid-state power amplifier(SSPA) in question could not be switchedback on, causing substantial delays andchanges in the execution of commissioningtasks. An Inquiry Board was set up by ESAand, following its initial recommendations,commissioning activities were restarted inNovember 2002 with the communicationpayload in minimum-output-power modesupporting only the raw data downlink.The onboard data-dissemination capabilitywas not reactivated, although redundantSSPA units were available, in order tosafeguard the mission. The first SEVIRI

MSG-1 sets out on its mission, with its Ariane-5 launch on 28 August 2002

The MSG-1 spacecraft in the Integration Hall in Kourou, FrenchGuiana, shortly before launch


image was successfully acquired on 28November, and the first GERB (GlobalEarth Radiation Budget) instrument imageon 12 December 2002.

The results of the SSPA Inquiry Boardinvestigations were presented on 7 April2003. Extensive analyses and a testingcampaign at equipment and componentlevel followed, resulting in proposeddesign modifications to the SSPAsdestined for the MSG-2/3/4 satellites. ForMSG-1, the initial precautions that hadbeen taken were substantially confirmed as correct and the onboard data-dissemination capability was not re-activated, maintaining the spare SSPA forthe Raw Data channel instead. EUMETSATtherefore assessed alternative dissem-ination methods, based on commercialservices providing Digital VideoBroadcasting (DVB). The disseminationtrial began over Europe at the end of April2003 using the Ku-band. In parallel, a C-band dissemination service was studiedand its implementation over Africainitiated.

The Satellite and System CommissioningCommissioning is the final phase ofverification of the performance of thecomplete system versus the applicable

MSG Operational

At the beginning of August 2003, in conjunction with the heat-wave over Western and Central Europe, Portugal was hit by themost devastating forest fires of the last 100 years. Thousands offiremen battled for weeks to keep the blazes under control. Morethan 10 people were killed and more than 50 000 hectares offorest were burned. Spain was also affected, but to a lesserextent. MSG, with its channels in the visible and near-infraredspectral range, provided near-real-time information concerningthe locations of the fires and the extent of the smoke plumes.Meteosat-8, 03 August 2003, 17:00 UTC, Channel 12 (HRV)

In September 2003, MSG monitored the development ofHurricane Isabel, which was ‘born’ on 7 September southwest ofthe Cape Verde Islands. On 13 September, it developed into thefirst category-5 hurricane (mean wind speed of more than 260 km/h) since Hurricane Mitch in 1998. It then degraded to acategory-2 hurricane on 16 September, before making landfall inNorthern Carolina and Virginia on 18 September, with winds ofup to 160 km/h. In this image, orange to red shows high-levelice clouds with large ice particles, while yellow represents high-level ice clouds with small ice particles. The most active parts ofthe hurricane with the most severe precipitation are visible in anintense yellow colour to the southwest of the eye of the storm,and in the spiral band further to the south of the storm centre.Meteosat-8, 8 September 2003, 12:00 UTC, RGB compositeWV6.2-WV7.3, IR3.9-IR10.8, NIR1.6-VIS0.6

www.esa.int

The Applications of Mete

These channels are essential for cloud detection, cloud tracking, sceneidentification and the monitoring of land surfaces and aerosols. Together withchannel 3 they can be used to generate vegetation indices.

Helps to discriminate between snow andcloud, and between ice and waterclouds. Also provides aerosolinformation.

Used mainly to provide quantitativeinformation on thin cirrus clouds and tosupport the discrimination between iceand water clouds.

Responsive to ozone concentration inthe lower stratosphere. It will be usedto monitor total ozone and assessdiurnal variability. Potential fortracking ozone patterns as an indicatorof wind fields at that level.

The so-called split-window thermal infraredchannels. Each responds to the temperatureof clouds and the surface. By splitting thispart of the thermal infrared, each channel hasa slightly different response with respect toclouds and the Earth’s surface. Used togetherhelps to reduce atmospheric effects whenmeasuring surface and cloud toptemperatures. Also used for cloud trackingfor atmospheric winds and for estimates ofatmospheric instability.

CHANNEL 1: VISIBLE 0.6(0.56 - 0.71 µm)

CHANNEL 2: VISIBLE 0.8(0.74 - 0.88 µm)

CHANNEL 7: INFRARED 8.7(8.3 - 9.1 µm)



CHANNEL 3: NEAR-INFRARED 1.6(1.50 - 1.78 µm)

teosat Second Generation

CO2 absorption channel, to be used for

the estimation of atmosphericinstability, as well as contributingtemperature information on the lowertroposphere.

Broadband visible channel, as thecurrent Meteosat VIS channel, but withan improved sampling interval of just 1km (compared with Meteosat’s 2.5 km).

Primarily for detection of low cloud andfog at night, but also useful formeasurement of land and seatemperatures at night and the detectionof forest fires.

Provides continuity of the Meteosat first generation broadband water vapourchannel to measure mid-atmospheric water vapour and to produce tracers foratmospheric winds. Also supports height assignment for semi-transparent clouds.Two separate channels representing different atmospheric layers instead of thesingle channel on Meteosat.

e

as

er

CHANNEL 10: INFRARED 12.1(11 - 13 µm)


CHANNEL 12: HIGH RESOLUTION VISIBLE(0.6 - 0.9 µm)


CHANNEL 5: WATER VAPOUR 6.2(5.35 - 7.15 µm)

CHANNEL 6: WATER VAPOUR 7.3(6.85 - 7.85 µm)

Earth Observation


requirements, involving both the space andground segments. It includes validation ofthe procedures to be used during theroutine operations, calibration of theinstruments in space, fine-tuning of theground facilities, validation of themeteorological products themselves (e.g.comparisons with other satellitemeasurements), etc.

The Satellite Commissioning ResultsReview, begun in March and completed inJune 2003, confirmed the goodperformance of all but the data-dissemination capability. The performanceof the SEVIRI instrument was particularlypromising. The Commissioning Oper-ations Readiness Review was alsosuccessfully completed in the second halfof June. Commissioning activities thencontinued in the second half of 2003 withthe preliminary tuning and testing of theimage-processing chain.

Once the satellite-commissioning phasehad been completed and calibration both ofthe instruments and the imaging chainbetween satellite and ground was wellunderway, validation of the meteorological

Between 1 and 10 February 2004, after days of torrentialrainfall, large parts of Eastern Angola, Western Zambia andNorthern Namibia were heavily flooded by the Okovango,Zambezi and cuando Rivers. In total, an area of about 600 000sq km was affected by the floods. On 6 February 2004, floodsinundated crops in the Kavango and Caprivi regions of Namibia,with the Okavango River reaching its highest levels in a decade.Meteosat-8, 03 February 2004, 11:30 UTC, RGB composite NIR1.6, VIS0.8,VIS0.6

In early March 2004, the passage of cold air from Europe toWestern Africa caused a major dust storm over large parts ofWest Africa. As it travelled southwards, the cold air fanned outacross the Sahara, diverging greatly over subtropical regions andgiving the dust front (magenta colour) the form of a Spanish fan.In the following days, the dust was blown out across the AtlanticOcean and reached the coast of South America. Due to the lowemissivity of desert surfaces in the IR8.7 infrared channel, dust‘clouds’ are clearly distinct from cloud-free desert surfaces in theIR10.8 - IR8.7 brightness-temperature-difference images (shownin green in this image). This feature, which was not well knownbefore the launch of Meteosat-8, plus the brightness-temperaturedifferences between the IR3.9, IR12.0 and IR10.8 channels, helpsin monitoring dust storms over the deserts both during the dayand at night.Meteosat-8, 03 March 2004, 12:00 UTC, RGB composite IR12.0 - IR10.8,IR10.8 - IR8.7, IR10.8


products was begun. Dissemination of thosemeteorological products started viaEUMETCast (the system name given to thealternative dissemination) on 21 October2003, and was subsequently upgraded withthe addition of other data and products. Forexample, Meteosat-5 images (over the IndianOcean) were added in November, along withthe dissemination in C-band for Africa.

The MSG-1 System CommissioningResults Review and the Routine OperationsReadiness Review were both successfullycompleted on 18 December 2003 and theraw images from MSG-1 were confirmed tobe of excellent quality and rectifiable withinthe specified accuracy, and the specifiedradiometric and geometric performanceswere being met with ample margins.Relocation of the spacecraft to the closestpossible position to the Equator (0 deg) wastherefore authorised ready for the start ofroutine operations. By 27 January 2004 thesatellite had reached 3.4 degW and theoperational service was initiated from thisorbital position two days later. The satellitewas renamed Meteosat-8 as a sign ofcontinuity within the geostationarymeteorological service being provided byEUMETSAT.

The satellite’s Search & Rescuesecondary payload was also testedsuccessfully and from the end of the yearwas being used pre-operationally byCOSPAS-SARSAT. In fact, severalpeople’s lives have already been savedthanks to the acquisition of rescue signalsby MSG-1.

The long-term calibration and validationof meteorological products has continuedaccording to plan, with the Image andProduct Validation Review (IPVR) beingcompleted between February and earlyMarch 2004.

The commissioning of a meteorologicalsystem is, as the above story shows, asomewhat lengthy process compared tothat for a telecommunications system.Extensive calibration of the instrumentsand validation of the images and productsis essential before the users can start toapply the products with confidence.Despite the unforeseen problemsexperienced with MSG-1 during the

satellite and system commissioningphases, these tasks have ultimately beencompleted according to the initial plans.

The MSG Operational ServiceSignificant benefits to society from theMSG mission are to be found in itscontribution to the Global ObservingSystem (GOS) of the World WeatherWatch (WWW) as part of the globalsystem of geostationary satellites fulfillingthe new European requirements in terms ofbetter weather forecasting methods,meteorological observations and climatemonitoring. In support of these objectives,the MSG system provides multispectralimaging of cloud systems, the Earth’ssurface and atmospheric emissions withsignificantly improved capabilitiescompared with existing systems in termsof extraction of meteorological productsand image and data dissemination to users.It is an operational mission designed toprovide a high-quality, readily availableand cost-efficient data service fullyadapted to meeting the needs of the user, inthis case primarily the nationalMeteorological Services and the WorldMeteorological Organization.

The agreed service availability figure forMSG is 95%. Given that predicted systemavailability always decreases with time, theproblem is then to determine the criticalavailability threshold that represents anunacceptable risk to users. This leads inturn to the concept of an in-orbitconfiguration with a satellite performingthe nominal mission and another one instandby mode just in case. The foreseenlaunch date for the replacement satelliteneeds to be defined such that it can becommissioned and available in orbit intime to maintain the statistical availabilityabove the agreed threshold.

It was on the basis of such considerationsthat MSG-1’s entry into operation wastargeted for early 2004, to maintain aminimum overlap of two years with thefirst-generation Meteosats in order ensure asmooth transition for users to the newsystem. The same logic is driving thedefinition of launch dates for the other threesatellites in the series, MSG-2, 3 and 4.

MSG-2, 3 and 4In parallel with the commissioning ofMSG-1, work on the other three MSGsatellites has been progressing well. On 1 March, EUMETSAT took the decision totake MSG-2 out of storage and to resumework on its final preparation for launchsome time between February and April2005.

The concept of storage and de-storagebecame part of the MSG-2 baseline afterthe launch of MSG-1 was rescheduled. AllMSG satellites are essentially the samefrom a technical standpoint, with most ofthe industrial production work being donein parallel after the end of the developmentphase. Following MSG-1’s entry intostorage, MSG-2 and MSG-3 wereintegrated, and to a large extent tested, inorder to optimise the work at industrylevel. The satellites then remain in storageuntil their de-storage and preparation forlaunch is initiated by EUMETSAT.

The planned launch date for MSG-3 is inthe period 2008-2009. Work on MSG-4has also started, in April 2003, and it willbe ready to enter storage in spring 2007,for a launch in the period 2010-2011.Together, the four MSG satellites willensure continuity of the geostationaryoperational service from this uniquemission until 2018.

Information on how to access MSG datacan be found by visiting www.eumetsat.de,or by contacting the EUMETSAT UserService via e-mail at [email protected].

r

MSG Operational

The Dragon Programme– ESA and China Cooperate in

Earth Observation

High-resolution satellite image of the Beijing area taken with Envisat’s MERIS instrument


Dragon Programme

ESA has been cooperating with China’s National RemoteSensing Centre (NRSCC) in the development of EarthObservation (EO) applications for the last 10 years.

Following recent high-level meetings between Chinese andESA officials, it was decided to reinforce this cooperation,which has now been given new momentum with the creationof a dedicated three-year EO exploitation programme called‘Dragon’. This programme forcuses on the development of EOscience and applications in China using data primarily fromESA’s ERS and Envisat missions.

IntroductionAs China has a land surface of more than 9.6 millionsquare kilometres, satellite-based Earth observation isclearly an ideal tool for the monitoring and overallmanagement of the country’s resources. Anotherimportant factor is that today China accounts for one-fifth of the World’s population, with 1.45 billioninhabitants, and is also currently the World’s fastestgrowing economy. With this rapid growth and the stressthat it implies on the country’s natural resources and itsenvironment, remote sensing can provide precise datato help decision-makers at all levels.

Satellite data can be used in land-resource mappingapplications such as forest inventory and management,rice-production monitoring, and water-resourceassessment and management. A new element in theDragon programme is the extension of techniques andmethods for monitoring oceans and atmosphere as well

Yves-Louis DesnosScience and Applications Department, ESA Directorate of EarthObservation, ESRIN, Frascati, Italy

Karl BergquistInternational Affairs, ESA, Paris

Li ZengyuanNational Remote Sensing Centre of China (NRSCC),Ministry of Science and Technology, Beijing

Earth Observation


as land using the full complement ofEnvisat’s instruments.

Satellite data can also contribute to themitigation of the effects of naturaldisasters by providing timely informationto local and national authorities. Thenatural disasters that affect China are oftenon a gigantic scale and include flooding ofthe Yangtze River, earthquakes on theTibetan plateau, and droughts, which areparticularly acute in China. When suchcalamities occur, Earth Observation can bethe key to understanding and managing theensuing crises. Hopefully, in the nearfuture it will also help us to predict suchevents through the use of assimilationmodels and long time series of historicaldata to establish trends and alert theappropriate authorities when changes inthose trends are first observed.

Early CooperationESA’s first contacts with China in theEarth Observation domain wereestablished when the Chinese authoritiesexpressed an interest in cooperating onERS data applications. China’s remote-sensing ground station in Beijing wassubsequently upgraded to receive ERSdata in 1994 and the two sides signed anAgreement to that effect.

In May 1997, China and ESA decided tobegin a cooperation project for theincreased operational use of ERS data. Inorder to stimulate exploitation of the

Synthetic-Aperture Radar (SAR) datafrom ERS-1 and 2, five pilot projects werecreated, addressing:– Rice Mapping in Southern China– Land-use Mapping for the Beijing Area– Flood Monitoring– an Oceanographic Study, and– Mapping China’s Forests.

The following year, when Chinaexperienced its worst floods of theCentury, ERS radar imagery was used foroperational mapping of the flood events.The Beijing ground station was able toprocess and deliver ERS images to endusers just 24 hours after their acquisition.

This first cooperation was considered sosuccessful by ESA and NRSCC that it ledto discussions on how to consolidate andincrease it in the future. In a meeting withESA’s Director General, China’s Ministerof Science and Technology, Mr XuGuanhua, commented that spaceapplications were recognised in hiscountry as a key tool for the developmentof the Chinese economy and improvedliving conditions for its people.

In the light of the above progress, ESA’sEarth Observation Directorate and theirChinese counterparts at NRSCC began aconsultation process on how to reinforceand improve the cooperation to alsoinclude joint research. The result is ‘TheDragon Programme’, which was officiallylaunched in Xiamen, China in April 2004.

The Dragon Programme

ObjectivesThe Dragon Programme’s main objectiveis to establish joint Sino–European teamsfor the exploitation of data from ESA’sERS and Envisat satellites for science andapplications development. The teams, with lead scientific investigators fromEurope and China, will be addressing the following identified priority themes:Agricultural Monitoring, FloodMonitoring, Forest Mapping, RiceMonitoring, Forest-Fire Monitoring,Oceanography, Terrain Measurement,Seismic Activity, Landslide Monitoring,Air-Quality Monitoring and Forecasting,Chemistry/Climate Change in theAtmosphere, Deriving Forest Informationfrom POLInSAR Data, DroughtMonitoring, Water Resources andHydrology, and Climate and OceanSystems

First achievements Programme preparation began with specialbriefings for European scientists inSeptember 2003 in Rome, and for Chinesescientists in October 2003 in Beijing. Theresponse from both the European andChinese scientists who attended was verypositive. The Dragon Call for Proposalswas then jointly prepared by ESA andNRSCC and issued in November 2003.Some 25 responses were received and

Prof. Jose Achache (left), ESA’s Director of Earth Observation Programmes, and Prof. Zhang Guocheng (right), Deputy Director of China’s NRSCC, giving their opening addresses at the Dragon Symposium inXiamen, People’s Republic of China, on 27 April 2004


peer-reviewed from the scientific andtechnical feasibility viewpoints, resultingin the final selection of 15 integratedprojects covering the priority themesdefined by ESA and NRSCC.

In order to facilitate the preparations, anESA–NRSCC Dragon web site wasofficially launched in March 2004(http://earth.esa.int/dragon). It carriestechnical documentation on theProgramme and serves both as aninformation and reporting portal. Aprogramme brochure was also preparedand widely distributed in both Europe andChina.

As part of the Dragon Programme,training courses will be organised andexchanges of trainees working within theprojects are also anticipated. This willstrengthen both the cooperation and thetechnical exchanges. The first trainees

from the Chinese Academy of Forestryhave already spent three months at ESRINin preparation for the two projects relatedto forest monitoring using spaceborneSynthetic Aperture Radars (SARs). InOctober this year, a week-long trainingcourse entitled ‘ESA MOST DragonProgramme Advanced Training in OceanRemote Sensing’ will be organised inQingdao, where the three major Chineseoceanographic institutes are located.

The recent Dragon Symposium (27-29April 2004) was organised by ESA andNRSCC and hosted by the local authoritiesof Xiamen. It was attended by 130 scientistsrepresenting more than 60 institutes inEurope and China, and was effectively theformal kick-off for all 15 joint projects. Thejoint teams have now started their work,their data requests have been refined, anddetailed work plans have been established.

Research Areas within the DragonProgramme

The Dragon Programme includes projectsfocusing on monitoring natural landresources, on supporting natural-disastermanagement, and on studying theatmosphere and ocean in China. Thefollowing are just a small selection:

Rice production monitoringThe United Nations has declared 2004 the‘International Year of Rice’. China is theWorld’s largest rice producer, accountingfor 35% of global output. At the same time,harvest areas are declining and demand isforecast to increase by 70% over the next30 years.

The rice-monitoring project will useEnvisat’s Advanced SAR (ASAR)capability to observe rice-growing areasday and night, regardless of cloud cover.This is particularly important becausepersistent cloud cover in China’s rice-growing regions is currently limiting theamount of information that can begathered using optical satellite sensors.The anticipated outcome of the project isto improve rice-monitoring techniquesthrough better yield modelling and regular

Dragon Programme

The ESA–NRSCC Dragon web site http://earth.esa.int/dragon

The Dragon brochure

Participants in the Dragon Symposium

Earth Observation


and accurate rice-field mapping atprovincial level.

At the same time, rice fields producemethane, which is a major greenhouse gas,and both methane distribution andseasonal concentrations can be monitoredand better understood using theSCIAMACHY instrument carried byEnvisat. Improved water management canhelp to reduce methane emissions duringthe crop’s growth cycle. Some areas havetwo to three crop cycles per year and sochanging the water-management regimecould significantly reduce methaneemissions in the rice-growing regions.

Flood mapping and monitoringSevere floods are estimated to have costChina 32 billion US$ in 1998 and 20billion US$ in 2003. Improved floodforecasting and monitoring is thereforevery important for the country. In theDragon project titled ‘Flood Plain DisasterRapid Mapping and Monitoring’, Envisat’sASAR will be used to great advantage,thanks to its all-weather, day-and-nightimaging capability. The project will alsohave a flood-prevention element, byexploiting existing ERS SAR (since 1991)and optical data archives to assess thevulnerability of particular geographicalareas to inundation and reassessingparticular flooding events that haveoccurred over the years.

Rice fields in China imaged with Envisat’s ASAR instrument using alternating polarisations

NOAA AVHRR image of Dongting Lake taken on 7 July 1999. Flooded areas aredisplayed in red

Envisat ASAR image of Dongting Lake and the surrounding area taken in 2003


For disaster evaluation and recoveryactions, airborne and spaceborne SAR datawill provide such vital information asestimates of flooded areas per region,population numbers affected, arable landinundated, oil wells inundated, extent ofrailway lines submerged, and the locationsand extent of breaches in embankmentsand flood dykes.

The project will benefit from theimpressive rapid-alert system that has beenput in place in China. The response timefrom the taking of the satellite imagery tothe arrival of the relevant information onthe desk of the responsible authority hasbeen improved from a few days to just 5

hours. The model developed in China willalso be tested in Europe with a view tofurther improving response times here too.

For forecasting purposes, EO data willbe used in combination withmeteorological data in the modeling chain.The goal is to be able to provide floodforecasting maps on an hourly basis.

Air-quality monitoringThe ‘Air-Quality Monitoring andForecasting’ project will include thecompilation of historical time series ofatmospheric gas concentrations usingGOME observations (from 1995 to 2003from ERS-2), and the more recent data

from Envisat’s SCIAMACHY instrument(2003 to date). Maps showing the meanannual concentrations and distributions ofnitrogen dioxide in China have alreadybeen made using SCIAMACHY data.When they are compared with population-density maps, it is possible to see thecorrelation between areas with highpopulation densities and those with highconcentrations of atmospheric pollutants.It is due to the burning of fossil fuels andthe byproducts of industrial processes.

Such maps produced from temporalseries of satellite observations areimportant tools for governments, andpolicy makers in assessing trends inatmospheric pollutant concentrations andimplementing the necessary controls. Theeffectiveness of the pollution controlsintroduced can also be evaluated usinglong-time-series data sets.

Red-tide monitoringThe ‘Ocean, Environment and Climate’project is a multi-disciplinary effort aimedat studying ocean waves, currents andcolours, and ocean-bottom topographyusing a combination of SAR and opticalremote sensing.

One element is the monitoring usingMERIS data on ‘red tides’ in the ChinaSeas. These tides occur mainly in coastalareas around the World and can have adevastating impact on the local fishing andshellfish industries. Red tides, which arecaused by dense growths of bacteria andalgae, can even be toxic for humans. Theyare becoming increasingly common inChina (see accompanying table) due to theheavy sewage and industrial pollutionalong the country’s densely populated eastcoast and from the Yangtze River. One ofthe project’s goals, therefore, is to developtechniques and data sets using MERIS datato map the extents and durations of suchtides so that fisheries can be provided withaccurate and up-to-date information.

Dragon Programme

Tropospheric nitrogen-dioxide concentrations over the People’sRepublic of China

A so-called ‘red tide’ photographed from a ship off Fu Ding City,in China’s Fujian Province, on 6 May 2002. This particular redtide covered an area of more than 500 km2

Earth Observation


Future Outlook The Dragon Symposium in Xiamenbrought together top scientists fromEurope and China who are teaming uptogether with clear objectives and workplans to address serious environmentalissues. The excellence of the joint teams,the quality in-situ data available forvalidation, and the timely availability ofEnvisat multi-sensor data sets providesconfidence that the Dragon Programmewill result in innovative developments inthe Earth Observation science andapplications domains. Having beendemonstrated and validated in the Chinacontext, they can also be put to excellentuse in Europe and elsewhere in the World.

The second Dragon Symposium willtake place in Europe in Spring 2005 andwill be the opportunity to review andassess the achievements after the first yearof this joint cooperative programme withthe People’s Republic of China. r

Occurrences of red tides in the China Seas in 2002 and 2003

Times Area (km2)Site 2002 2003 2002 2003

Yellow 3 5 310 410Sea

Bohai 14 12 300 460Sea

EastChina 51 86 9 000 12 990Sea

SouthChina 11 16 540 690Sea

Total 79 119 10 150 14 550

MERIS image showing river-discharge and sediment loading in the East China Sea

What Happens to the Human Heart in Space?– Parabolic Flights Provide Some Answers


Parabolic Flights

Aircraft parabolic flights provide up to 20 seconds ofreduced gravity repeatedly during ballistic flightmanoeuvres. They are used to conduct short

microgravity investigations in the physical- and life-sciences,to test instrumentation and to train astronauts forforthcoming space flights. As the only Earth-based facility forconducting investigations on humans in real weightlessness,their use is complementary to simulated weightlessnesstechniques, such as bed rest and water immersion, andtherefore a valuable step in preparing for space missions. Thereal value of parabolic flights lies, however, in the verificationtests that can be conducted prior to taking experiments intospace, in order to improve their quality and success rate.

IntroductionESA has organised thirty-seven aircraft parabolic-flight campaigns for microgravity researchexperiments since 1984, and seven purely for student-proposed experiments. During these flights, 446experiments have been performed in the physical- andlife-sciences, and technology domains. A total of 3462parabolas have been flown, providing 19 hours 14minutes of microgravity in 20 second ‘slices’,equivalent to making twelve and a half orbits of theEarth.

André E. Aubert, Frank Beckers, Bart VerheydenLaboratory of Experimental Cardiology, GasthuisbergHospital, KU Leuven, Belgium

Vladimir PletserMicrogravity Payloads Division, ESA Directorate of HumanSpaceflight, Research and Applications, ESTEC, Noordwijk, The Netherlands

Human Spaceflight


Since 1997, the parabolas have beenflown with the Airbus A300 ‘Zero-G’, thelargest aircraft being used for this type ofresearch activity anywhere in the World.ESA has already organised 13 micro-gravity research campaigns on the Airbus,and 15 of the 160 experiments conductedhave involved study of the humancardiovascular system.

Why Parabolic Flights?The microgravity conditions that astronautsexperience during space flight can pose severechallenges for the human physiology ingeneral, and our cardiovascular system inparticular. Extensive physiology experimentsin space are needed to determine the long-term effects, but several practicalconsiderations limit the possibilities, not least:

• the high experiment costs (approx-imately 20 kEuro per kilogram),including uploading the necessaryequipment to the International SpaceStation (ISS);

• the limited access, especially now whenthe Space Shuttle fleet is still groundedand all manned travel to and from theISS depends on just two annual Soyuzflights;

• the small number of available testsubjects, with only two permanent crewmembers currently on the ISS;

• the limited crew time available, as theyare also responsible for operational andmaintenance tasks;

• no possibility of on-board interventionby the researchers themselves.

These limitations will persist as long asthe number of flight opportunities does notincrease, and until Europe’s ColumbusLaboratory, with its European PhysiologyModule, is launched and attached to theISS.

There are only three sources of short-duration weightless conditions accessibleon Earth: drop towers, providing about 5 seconds of free fall from a height of 110 m; sounding rockets, providing up to13 minutes of microgravity; and aircraftparabolic flights, providing repetitiveperiods of 20 - 25 seconds of low-gravityconditions. The first two are not an optionfor life-science experiments on humansubjects, leaving aircraft parabolic flightsas the only realistic sub-orbital possibility.

Aircraft parabolic flights also have twomajor scientific advantages for physiologystudies in that they make it possible both toinvestigate phenomena at different g-levelsduring successive repetitions of periods of1, 2 and 0 g, and to study transientphenomena occurring during thechangeover from high to low gravity andback again. On the technical side, theyallow the early testing of equipmenthardware in a microgravity environment,assessment of the safety aspects of aninstrument’s operation in microgravity, andthe training of astronauts in instrumentoperation and experiment procedures.

Other key advantages of parabolicflights include: short turn-around times,

How Does the Airbus Generate ‘Microgravity’ ?The microgravity environment is created by putting the aircraft through a series ofcarefully orchestrated flight manoeuvres (see figure):• From steady horizontal flight at 20 000 ft, the aircraft first climbs to an angle of 47°

(pull-up) over a period of about 20 seconds, generating acceleration forces ofbetween 1.8 and 2 g.

• At 25 000 ft, the engines are throttled back for about 20 to 25 seconds, generatingballistic free-fall, or ‘microgravity’ conditions inside the aircraft as it crests theparabola.

• The aircraft dives back down to an angle of 42° (pull-out), again generatingaccelerations of 1.8 to 2 g for approximately 20 seconds, before returning to steadyhorizontal flight at 20000 ft, and then repeating the whole manoeuvre.

Flight profile of the Airbus A300 ‘Zero-G’ during a parabola (in red) superposed on acceleration levels along the local vertical axis(Courtesy of Novespace)

The parabolas are flown over the Gulf of Biscay or the Mediterranean Sea. With atypical flight lasting about two and half hours, 30 parabolas are usually flown in setsof five, with two-minute intervals between parabolas and with four to five minutesbetween sets of parabolas. The intervals between parabolas can be arranged prior tothe flight to give investigators sufficient time to change an experiment set-up.


with typically just a few months betweenthe experiment being proposed andperformed; the low costs involved, as ESAprovides the flight opportunity free ofcharge to investigators; the flexibility inexperimental approach, as ground-laboratory instrumentation can often beused; the possibility of direct interventionby investigators onboard the aircraft duringand between parabolas; and the possibilityof modifying the experiment setupbetween flights.

Today, the Airbus A300 ‘Zero-G’parabolic flight programme is managed by the French company Novespace(commissioned to do so by CNES), withthe technical maintenance and flightoperations tasks being handled by theFrench company Sogerma and the ‘Centred'Essais en Vol’ (French Test FlightCentre). Novespace is contracted by ESAto provide the aircraft for its parabolicflights, and to provide some support to theinvestigator teams and integrate theirexperiments at Novespace’s facilities nearBordeaux-Mérignac airport.

Parabolic Flights and the HumanCardiovascular SystemThe human cardiovascular system consistsof a dual pump: a right part consisting ofan atrium and a ventricle whose purpose itis to circulate oxygen-depleted blood(venous blood) through the lungs to re-oxygenate it, and a left part consisting of

an atrium and a ventricle to circulate thatoxygen-enriched blood (arterial blood)around the body. Both ventricles have anentry valve (between atrium and ventricle)and an exit valve (between ventricle andcirculatory blood vessels). From anengineering point of view, the heart can belikened to an electronically driven (by thebrain) mechanical pump. It can be viewedas a closed-loop system, with a return loopproviding information obtained frompressure sensors – so-called ‘baro-receptors’ – located at different points inthe body, for instance in the carotid arteriesthat supply blood to the head and neck.

The human circulatory system is uniquein that in the standing position the heart islocated 130-160 cm above the ground,while the brain, which needs to beconstantly ‘irrigated’ by blood, is 30-40 cmhigher! Blood tends to accumulate in theorgans that lie below the heart, and needsto be transported back to the heart againstthe force of gravity. A normal individualhas five to six litres of blood, two thirds ofwhich are below the heart. Should fluidleak out of the blood vessels located belowthe heart, it would accumulate within thetissues of the legs, producing oedema. Thebody has therefore had to develop oedema-preventing mechanisms, which in effectcounteract gravity. Such considerations areof less importance when the human body isin the supine (lying down) position.

These physiological aspects have certainconsequences for parabolic flights, duringwhich the brief spell of microgravity ispreceded by a period of hypergravity, andthe body’s orientation with respect to thedirection of gravity will influence heartfunction and circulation. This is not thecase during extended periods ofmicrogravity, for instance during stays onthe Space Station.

Hydrostatic effects also play a role. In astanding position, the carotid sinuses are20-30 cm above the heart and thereforethey measure a lower pressure than at heartlevel. At the onset of microgravity, thiseffect disappears and the baroreceptorswill observe a higher pressure. In theabsence of gravity, venous blood will rushto the right atrium when it is no longerpulled down by gravity into the compliant

vessels of the legs and the abdomen,resulting in increased stroke volume. Thisin turn may lead to increased pressures inthe right side of the heart and a distensionof the right atrium (as shown by Norsk andcollaborators). The return loop through the baroreceptors will lead to furtherautonomic nervous influences on the leftheart, including the systemic bloodpressure and heart rate.

The heart’s pumping rate is adapted toprevailing physiological needs mostlythrough modulation by the body’sautonomic nervous system (ANS). Manyquestions were originally asked about therole of the ANS on cardiovascularregulation during the short periods ofmicrogravity on parabolic flights: Wouldthere be any influence at all because oftheir short duration? What would be theinfluence of gravity transitions? Wouldbody position matter? Would gravitytransitions influence heart dimensions?Would equilibrium set in during such shorttime periods? What might be the optimalmeasuring techniques?

Speculative answers can be given tosome of these questions, but others neededto be investigated experimentally.Cardiovascular variability can be expectedduring parabolic flights as the ANS cancontrol the cardiovascular system within afew heart beats. However, since differentphases of the parabolic flight profile lastfor no longer than 20-25 seconds, it is to beexpected that ANS activity will also beinfluenced by conditions during previousphases, i.e. hypergravity. This activity willelicit changes directly in the cardiovascularsystem in terms of heart rate and bloodpressure, and indirectly in the strokevolume (SV, volume of blood pumped witheach heart beat) and cardiac output (CO,total blood volume pumped by the heart in1 minute). The system can therefore becharacterised by two easily measurableparameters: the electrocardiogram (ECG)to determine heart rate (HR), and bloodpressure. Sometimes the breathing rate, ormore general respiratory function, is alsodetermined. Haemodynamic parameters(SV and CO) can be computed indirectlyfrom the blood pressure, and the cardiacoutput is the product of the stroke volume

Parabolic Flights

An early parabolic-flight cardiology experiment onboard NASA’sKC-135 aircraft in which a free-floating bed was used to record aballistocardiogram for the test subject and measure the expulsionof blood from the heart into the bodily circulation under differentg-forces (photo NASA)

Human Spaceflight


Cardiovascular Experiments Flown on the Airbus A300 ‘Zero-G’ Aircraft

Investigation of cardiovascular haemodynamics during changing gravitational stresses and parabolic flightJ. Watkins, Univ. of Wales, UK; 24th ESA Campaign, October 1997

Arterial pressure in microgravityB. Pump, DAMEC, Copenhagen, DK; 25th ESA Campaign, October 1998

Effect of Lower Body Negative Pressure (LBNP) on vectocardiography, electrocardiography, and haemodynamic parameters in humansP. Vaïda, Univ. Bordeaux 2, F; G. Miserocchi, Univ. Milan, I; 26th ESA Campaign, June 1999

Advanced Respiratory Monitoring System (ARMS): does weightlessness induce peripheral vasodilatation?P. Norsk & R. Videbaek, DAMEC, Copenhagen, DK, CNES Camp., part of 27th ESA Campaign, November 1999

Otolithic control of the cardiovascular system during parabolic flightsP. Denise & H. Normand, Fac. Médecine Caen, F; P. Arbeille, CHU Trousseau, Tours, F; 27th ESA Campaign, October 1999

An assessment of the feasibility and effectiveness of a method of performing cardiopulmonary resuscitation during microgravityS. Evetts, School Biomedical Sciences, London, UK; T. Russomano, Univ. do Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, Brazil; 29th ESA Campaign, November 2000

Acute heart rate response to weightlessness conditions during parabolic flightA. Aubert, F. Beckers & D. Ramaekers, Univ. Leuven, B; 29th ESA Campaign, November 2000

Pulse transit time for the non-invasive determination of arterial wall propertiesT. Dominique & P.F. Migeotte, Univ. Bruxelles, B.; 29th ESA Campaign, November 2000

Effect of the Lower Body Negative Pressure (LBNP) on the cardiac electrical activity and the hemodynamical parametersP. Vaïda , Univ. Bordeaux 2, F; 30th ESA Campaign, May 2001

Does weightlessness induce peripheral vasodilatation?P. Norsk, DAMEC, Copenhagen, DK; 30th ESA Campaign, May 2001; 31st ESA Campaign, October 2001

Imaging autonomic regulation during parabolic flightM. Moser & D.M. Voica, Univ. Graz, Austria; A. Noordergraaf, Univ. Pennsylvania, USA; 31st ESA Campaign, October 2001

Acute cardiovascular response to weightlessness conditions during parabolic flights: parallelism with long-term microgravity in spaceA. Aubert, B. Verheyden, F. Beckers & D. Ramaekers, Univ. Leuven, B; 32nd ESA Campaign, March 2002 ; 34th ESA Campaign, March 2003

Cardiovascular autonomic responsiveness to hemodynamic changes during parabolic flight: influence of respirationA.E. Aubert, F. Beckers & B. Verheyden, Univ. Leuven, B; 36th ESA Campaign, March 2004


and heart rate. As an alternative to theseindirect determinations, Doppler echo-soundings can be used to measure heartdimensions and ventricular and circulatoryflow.

The Cardiovascular and CardiopulmonaryExperiments ConductedSome of the most interesting experimentsconducted during the early campaigns onthe Airbus A300 ‘Zero-G’ were those usingthe Advanced Respiratory Monitoring

System (ARMS) (see photo). It providesthe subject’s breathing gas concentrationand respiratory flow, blood pressure and anelectrocardiogram (ECG). ARMS wasflown in space for the first time on theSpacehab/STS-107 mission in January2003, and was therefore lost in the tragicColumbia accident. Preparatory experi-ments for this mission had been conductedduring several parabolic-flight campaignsin 1999. They provided us with a betterunderstanding of the mechanisms of

respiratory gas exchange and themechanics of human breathing on Earth by measuring specific parameters inweightlessness, as well as providingvaluable data on cardiovascular adaptationto microgravity.

One of the ARMS experiments, fromDenmark, titled Does weightlessnessproduce peripheral vasodilatation?, testeda hypothesis that dilatation of the heart andthe peripheral vascular system could becaused by weightlessness. Severalphysiological parameters were measured,including arterial pressure by photo-plethysmography, and cardiac output byrebreathing tracer gases (Freon 22 andSF6). The same group also showed thatmean arterial pressure decreases duringshort-term weightlessness to below thatwhen lying down in normal gravity,simultaneously with an increase in leftatrial diameter (as measured by echo-cardiography) and an increase intransmural central venous pressure(determined with a catheter with a pressuresensor at the tip). They concluded thatdistension of the heart and associatedcentral vessels during 0-g might induce thehypotensive effects through peripheralvasodilatation. It was also concluded thatthe supine position mimics better theeffects of weightlessness on mean arterialpressure, heart rate and left atrial diameter.

The Franco-Italian experimentRespiratory mechanics under 0g studiedpulmonary mechanics. Respiratoryvolumes and pressures were measured forsubjects sitting in a whole-body pressure-

Parabolic Flights

Dr P. Norsk monitors Dr B. Pump acting as the test subject for themeasurement of arterial blood pressure during the 25th ESAParabolic-Flight Campaign in October 1998

Measurement of various psychological parameters on aninstrumented test subject in a supine position for the experimentof P. Denise and P. Arbeille during the 27th ESA Parabolic-FlightCampaign in October 1999

Human Spaceflight


tight caisson and breathing through amouth-piece connected to externalmeasuring equipment. Oesophagealpressures were also measured using apressure balloon inserted through the noseinto the subject's oesophagus. The dataobtained complemented those fromprevious ground-based (anti-g suit, dryimmersion, etc.) and space (ESA andCNES campaigns, and Spacelab D2 andEuroMir-95 missions) studies. It wasshown that microgravity causes a decreasein lung and chest-wall recoil pressures as it

removes most of the lung parenchyma andthorax distortion induced by gravitytransitions and/or posture. Hypergravitydoes not greatly affect respiratorymechanics, suggesting that mechanicaldistortion of the organs involved is alreadyclose to a maximum in Earth’s gravity.

In an initial flight campaign, Aubert etal. studied the influence of position onheart-rate variability, determined from theECG. They found a higher vagalmodulation of the ANS in microgravitycompared to 1g and hypergravity, for

subjects in a standing position, and nosignificant differences in supine subjects,between different g-phases. These resultswere also confirmed by time-frequencyanalysis, which showed a higher vagal(high-frequency) component in a standingsubject compared with a supine one. Inlater campaigns, they added blood-pressure and breathing measurements andalso tested ISS astronauts during parabolicflights to compare results from ultra-shortperiods of weightlessness with those froma longer duration mission to the ISS. Thehigh-frequency component (correspondingto vagal activity) and the low-frequencycomponent (corresponding mostly tosympathetic activity) during microgravityon parabolic flights are comparable to thevalues seen during a ten-day mission to theISS.

In order to stimulate cardiovascularresponses, the test subjects often have toperform special exercises. One of theeasiest consists of a voluntary elevation of intra-thoracic and intra-abdominalpressures provoked by blowing againstpneumatic resistance (i.e. trying to blowwith the mouth closed and nose pinched).During the manoeuvre, venous bloodreturn to the heart is impeded, setting off awell-characterised sequence of positiveand negative arterial pressure changesheavily influenced by the autonomicnervous system. As the duration ofsustained pressure can be as short as 10 s,it is well-suited for use during weight-lessness on parabolic flights.

Neck flexion (an anterior flexion of theneck by 70º, maintained by a solid support)

The ARMS equipment was used onboard the Airbus A300 ‘Zero-G’for several respiratory experiments in 1999. Here Prof. G.K.Prisk (Univ. California, San Diego, USA) is monitoring ESAastronaut Andre Kuipers acting as the test subject

A test subject standing in the LBNP caisson while his heart rateand blood pressure are monitored for the experiment of Prof. P. Vaida during the 30th ESA Parabolic-Flight Campaign in May 2001


was used in the French experiment Otolithiccontrol of the cardiovascular system duringparabolic flights, to test the hypothesis thatthe otolithic receptors (part of the inner-earbalance system) affect the cardiovascularsystem during parabolic flights. Severalphysiological parameters - cerebral andfemoral blood flow, vascular resistance,mean arterial pressure and heart rate - weremeasured for several subjects in a supineposition and for two head positions (flexionand in line with the trunk). This could leadto a better understanding of the orthostaticintolerance and modifications of theperipheral blood flow and resistanceresponse suffered by astronauts on theirreturn to Earth. The experimenters

concluded that in microgravity neck flexion,which stimulates only the neck muscle,induces larger vasoconstriction of the lowerlimbs and flow changes than in 1 g, whereboth the neck muscle and the otholiths arestimulated by the flexion. The peripheralvascular response associated with neckflexion could be mediated by thesympathetic nervous system.

Prof. Watkins’ experiment used colour-Doppler echocardiography for directimaging of the heart and major bloodvessels in the seated, standing, and supinepositions, in order to determine cardiacoutput and measure lower limb perfusion.

Lower Body Negative Pressure (LBNP)was exploited by Prof. P. Vaïda and his

team, using tight-fitting ‘trousers’ aroundthe lower body to create a negativepressure (compared to the surroundingpressure). In these experiments, LBNP wasregulated at a pressure of -50 mmHgduring the period of weightlessness. It wasfound that parasympathetic modulation ofthe heart by the ANS increased duringmicrogravity, but was reversed whileapplying LBNP.

A Belgian team (T. Dominique and P.F.Migeotte) measured ECG, continuousfinger blood pressure and respiration withan imposed breathing rate. Duringmicrogravity they found a slower heartrate, an increase in left ventricular ejectiontime (time between opening and closing ofthe aortic valve), a decrease in pre-ejectiontime (time delay between the contractionof the heart and the opening of the aorticvalve), and a similar pulse transit time(time delay between the opening of theaortic valve and arrival of the pulse at thefinger tip) compared to 1 g. They concludedthat the heart’s pre-load volume isincreased in microgravity.

The likelihood of cardiopulmonaryresuscitation (CPR) being performedsuccessfully in space is seemingly verylow, but not non-existent, as one reportedincident has shown. During the secondmonth of a four-month tour of duty on theMir station, a cosmonaut was shownduring Holter monitoring to haveexperienced an episode, lasting 14 beats,of non-sustained ventricular tachycardia.An ergonomic investigation wasperformed by Evetts et al. on the 29th ESAParabolic Flight Campaign in November2000 to study the effectiveness of different

Parabolic Flights

A typical instrumented rack for cardiovascular measurements asused by A.E. Aubert et al. during the 36th ESA Parabolic-FlightCampaign in March 2004 (photo A.E. Aubert)

From top to bottom: ECG, blood pressure and gravity level asrecorded during a complete parabolic flight manoeuvre:hypergravity at 1.8 g. transition to microgravity andhypergravity at 1.6 g. A decrease in heart rate is apparentalmost at the onset of microgravity (lengthening in distancebetween the successive peaks). This corresponds to increasedvagal modulation of the heart rate. In the blood-pressure signal,there is a sudden increase in pulse pressure (difference betweenmaximum and minimum pressure) at the onset of microgravity,indicating an immediate increase in stroke volume

Human Spaceflight


resuscitation methods in microgravity, andtwo-rescuer CPR was deemed the mosteffective.

The Lessons LearnedThe ESA parabolic-flight campaigns haveprovided a wealth of valuable resultsregarding the human cardiovascularresponse to space flight, including manythat were totally unexpected beforehand. Ithas been shown, for example, thatvariations in heart size occur even duringshort periods of microgravity, and someresults concerning heart rate and certainaspects of ANS modulation of thecardiovascular function are comparable tothose seen during longer duration spaceflights.

The accompanying table, which is acompilation of results from several

experiments, shows how the human heartbehaves when it experiences changes in thegravitational conditions under which it iscalled upon to function. The results shownare a mean for 36 standing subjects, withan average control heart rate of 83beats/minute, in five different experiments.

A general finding was that there was aninitial increase in the heart rate of astanding subject at the beginning of theparabola, and decrease at the top. Thedifferences were much less pronounced insupine subjects. Gender- and age-relatedstudies have not been performed so far.

ConclusionThe unique and valuable experience ac-quired by ESA with the Airbus A300‘Zero-G’ flights and the many earlier oneson NASA’s KC-135, the Russian Ilyushin,

and CNES’s Caravelle aircraft, is reflectedin the large number of physical- and life-sciences experiments successfully con-ducted in space since their inception, andthe many peer-reviewed articles that havebeen published as result of these studies.ESA will continue to organise parabolic-flight campaigns for the Europeanscientific and technical microgravitycommunities at a rate of two to three peryear, with mixed payloads of physical- andlife-sciences and technology experiments.Their frequency has recently beenincreased to compensate somewhat for thefurther reduced space-based possibilitiessince the grounding of the Shuttle.

ESA maintains a permanently openinvitation to investigators to submitmicrogravity experiment proposals for itsfuture parabolic-flight campaigns. In July,within the framework of its OutreachProgramme, the Agency conducted itsseventh parabolic-flight campaign forexperiments proposed by students fromEuropean universities and researchinstitutions, to promote awareness among‘tomorrow's scientists’ of the attractionsand benefits of conducting scientificresearch in a reduced-gravity environment.In addition, ESA has also decided to fly oneto two experiments proposed by students as part of its regular parabolic-flightcampaigns.

The flexibility of the experimentprogramming for the five to six campaignsthat are flown with the Airbus A300 ‘Zero-G’ aircraft every year is enhanced by anexperiment-exchange agreement betweenESA, CNES and DLR. The wideexperience of Novespace, the companyproviding the preparation and logisticssupport for the Airbus campaigns, is an-other positive factor in the high success ratein terms of the technical preparation of theexperiments proposed and flown. r

Behaviour of the Human Heart Rate for Different Gravity Transitions

Gravitational transition (g) Change in heart rate (beats/minute)

1→ 1.8 +131.8 → 0 -230 → 1.6 +19

A team from the School of Biomedical Services (London, UK) andthe University do Rio Grande do Sul (Porto Alegre, Brazil) assessthe best method of performing cardiopulmonary resuscitation(CPR) in weightlessness during the 29th ESA Parabolic-FlightCampaign in November 2000

EGNOS NavigationApplications

– A Chance for Europe


EGNOS

W hen the Global Positioning System (GPS) was firstconceived in the United States in the late 1970s, itwas intended for institutional use only. The US

Navy needed a system that could provide it with accuratepositioning information anywhere in the World. Nobody atthat time could have imagined the huge growth in civilapplications of global positioning that has occurred since then.The same was true when Europe embarked on thedevelopment of the European Global Navigation OverlaySystem (EGNOS) in the early 1990s with the primaryobjective of providing Civil Aviation Authorities with theaccuracy and integrity needed for safe air-traffic control overEuropean countries. It eventually transpired that in theimproved performances brought by EGNOS lay thefoundations for a wide range of new navigation applicationsin Europe for its roads, railways, inland and coastalwaterways, and even its pedestrians. In 2008, when theGalileo system is fully deployed and offers an even higherlevel of service, yet another raft of as yet unforeseenapplications for both professionals and the public can beexpected to be triggered, based to a large extent on theprecursor activities initiated with EGNOS.

Alberto Garcia, Michel Tossaint, Jaron Samson, Gonzalo Seco, Juan De Mateo & Jean-Luc GernerESA Directorate of Technical and Quality Management,ESTEC, Noordwijk, The Netherlands

* The development of navigation applications is managed within ESA bythe Navigation Applications Office in the Navigation Department. Thetechnical support is provided by the Radio Navigation Section in theTechnical Directorate. In recent years, the latter has developed numerousinnovative EGNOS navigation applications in order to stimulate Europeanindustry and help the EGNOS system penetrate the navigation market.

Applications


The GPS and EGNOS SystemsThe original GPS system is made up ofthree distinct elements, namely the space,

the control and the user segments. Thespace segment consists of 24 satellitesorbiting the Earth at approximately 20 200 km altitude every 12 hours.The constellation is designed in sucha way that at any given time there willbe at least four satellites visible (theminimum required for positional

computation for most applications)above a 15° cut-off angle from any point

on the Earth's surface. EGNOS is a joint undertaking by ESA,

the European Commission and theEuropean Organization for the Safety ofAir Navigation. It has been designed toprovide a civil and safe complement to theGPS system over the European continentby transmitting, via geostationarysatellites, GPS-like ranging signalscontaining differential corrections and

integrity information that supplements thebasic GPS positioning solution. At thesame time, the ranging signals from thegeostationary satellites themselves canalso be used in the position determination.

The EGNOS Enabling TechnologiesThe widespread application of EGNOS isfacilitated by recent advances intechnology in several key areas, includinginertial sensors, receiver technology andcommunications systems.

The latest inertial sensors (odometers,gyroscopes, accelerometers, etc.) are theideal complement to EGNOS forimproving the availability, accuracy andsafety of the overall hybrid system. The availability of EGNOS dependsunavoidably on the operationalenvironment, in that the signal transmittedby the satellite can be temporarily blockedout, especially at high latitudes, by trees,mountains, buildings, tunnels, etc.,whereas the inertial-sensor information isalways available and can easily fill-in forshort-term outages in the satellite-baseddata. On the other hand, inertial sensorsprovide good relative accuracy over shortperiods of time, but can ‘drift’ overextended periods and thereby fail inproviding an absolute reference. EGNOS,however, provides superb long-termstability, which can be used to calibrate theinertial sensors. An integral part of thedevelopment of the positioning terminalsfor some of the applications has thereforebeen the design of an appropriate ‘fusionalgorithm’ that combines the bestproperties of both types of information.

The advance in inertial-sensor technologydue, for example, to MEMS (Micro-Electro-Mechanical Systems), has madecheap, small, high-performance devices areality, leading to competitive hybridpositioning systems. Other types of sensors,such as high-speed digital cameras, havealso progressed significantly of late and arealso useful in combination with EGNOSreceivers. Thanks to the wider availability ofaccurate digital maps, more and moreapplications will combine satellitenavigation with map-matching algorithms.

The continuous advance in ASIC(Application Specific Integrated Circuit)

The EGNOS concept, with three geostationary satellites

How EGNOS WorksThe data-processing cycle starts at the Receiver Integrity Monitoring Stations(RIMS) which make pseudo-range measurements to the American GPS - and infuture possibly also Russian GLONASS - satellites. These measurements aresent through the European Wide Area Network (EWAN) to the active MasterControl Centres (MCC), where the corrections and integrity information arecomputed and uploaded to the geostationary (GEO) satellites by the NavigationLand Earth Stations (NLES). These GEO satellites broadcast GPS-like signalson which this information is modulated. The user can then combine the GPSpseudo-ranges with the EGNOS corrections, and compute the integrity of thecomputed positions. The differential corrections for the GPS signals consist oforbit and clock corrections and precise ionospheric corrections. The integrityinformation consists of estimated variances in these corrections, including someintegrity margin. The foreseen European constellation is shown in the figureabove, with three geostationary satellites covering the European service area.


technology directly translates into animprovement in GPS/EGNOS receivertechnology. Nowadays, there are a largevariety of receivers to meet all applicationneeds, from the cost-sensitive and less-demanding solutions to dual-frequencyhigh-performance implementations. Forexample, the reduction of powerconsumption and size are key aspects inapplications using handhelds. Technologyis also facilitating the integration ofreceiver components into a smaller numberof chips, bringing further benefits in termsof cost, size, power and reliability. EGNOSreceivers are present in the market in avariety of forms, including single chips,OEM boards and application-specificreceivers, so that each assembler ofpositioning terminals can easily find thesolution that best fits their needs.

For most service applications, thenavigation terminal must include somecommunication functionality, in order tobe able to:

• transmit or receive raw measurements sothat it can support, for instance, realtime kinematic positioning

• receive EGNOS corrections viaalternative means other than thegeostationary satellite

• transmit information (position, alarms,etc.) to a control centre and receivecommands from it.

There are a variety of communicationsystems that may be used together with thenavigation terminal, some of the mostcommon being: GSM, GPRS, UMTS,LW/MW radio, FM RDS, FM Darc, IEEE802.11x and satellite communications(Inmarsat, Orbcom, Globalstar, etc.).Others are application-specific systems,such as GSM-R for trains, AIS, Loran-Cand IALA for maritime applications, andVDL-4 for aircraft. The communicationand navigation functionalities can beintegrated on the same board, and in somecases even on the same chip. It has been estimated that, for mass-marketapplications, adding mobile-phonefunctionality (GSM) to a GPS receiverwould increase the cost of the unit by lessthan 10 Euros. It is just this combination ofcommunications and positioning that isleading to a host of new applications forEGNOS.

Categories of EGNOS ServiceEGNOS will benefit Europe’s citizens byproviding four particular categories ofservice:

The first driver for developing EGNOSwas ‘Safety-of-life applications’. EGNOShas been designed to comply with the strictrequirements of civil aviation, but will alsoreduce the need for expensive ground-based equipment. EGNOS will also offerthe possibility of performing curved rather

than straight landing approaches atairports, which should result in bothincreased landing capacity and reducednoise pollution. Other examples of ‘safety-of-life applications’ are railways andparticular maritime operations, whereEGNOS can also lead to greater safetymargins and reduced costs.

‘Law-enforcement applications’ are asecond category of EGNOS services,whereby vehicle-position information canbe used by authorities to monitor thecompliance of vehicles with legalrestrictions on their locations and speeds.By knowing a car’s position, for example,an authority could charge the driveraccording to the type of road being usedand the period spent on it (‘road tolling’).Another example of ‘law enforcementapplications’ could be an authoritychecking that fishing boats do not enterpre-defined exclusion zones at sea.Because GPS anomalies, which occurfrom time to time (e.g. satellite clockjumps), may not be detected by the user, aGPS-only solution is not sufficientlyreliable for such applications. Since basicGPS does not provide integrityinformation, an anomaly could result, forinstance, in a large number of road usersbeing incorrectly billed. With the real-timeintegrity information broadcast byEGNOS, such anomalies cannot occur.

‘Commercial services’ are the thirdcategory. For the majority of commercialservices, availability and accuracy are themost important navigation parameters. Theuse of EGNOS instead of GPS-only willimprove both accuracy and availability,thereby creating the potential for newcommercial services. For example, ESAhas recently been contacted about usingEGNOS for the ‘Tour de France’ cyclerace, to provide accurate real-timeinformation on the positions and speeds ofthe individual riders, as well as theirrelative positions.

The fourth category are ‘Specialservices’. Some applications require a

EGNOS

Expected EGNOS coverage for a high-accuracy European servicewith 1 to 3 metres horizontal accuracy

Applications


certain level of integrity, but cannot beclassified under the first three categories.One such example is the use of EGNOSfor guiding blind people, where theimproved accuracy and integrity of thesystem compared with a GPS-onlysolution can dramatically improve thequality of the service being offered.

Selected ApplicationsThe following are just a small selection ofthe twenty or more satellite-navigationapplications that the Radio NavigationSection at ESTEC has helped to investigateand develop over the last few years,ranging from individual-user to system-level (EGNOS, Galileo) applications:

Winter road servicesA major concern for public-serviceproviders is the growing demand forlegally sound documentation of theiroperations, to protect themselves againstlawsuits after accidents caused by icy orotherwise treacherous winter roadconditions. The integrity protectioninherent in the EGNOS system allows this

goal to be achieved without the need forexpensive local augmentation systems.

Another concern is the operation ofsnowplough services under poor-visibilityconditions, be they caused by falling snowor fog, or simply because the limits ofsnow-covered roads are no longer visible.Thanks to the EGNOS system’s superiorprecision, accurate driver guidance can beoffered by equipping the vehicle with adetailed moving-map display.

In most cases, local authorities converttheir snowplough vehicles outside thewinter season to provide other services likestreet cleaning or the mowing of grassverges. Here again, the integrity provided

by EGNOS can provide reliable operatingrecords for legal and billing purposes.

One example is the operationalsupervision and management of the winterservice vehicles at Munich Airport inSouthern Germany. As these services areoperating on the entire airport premises –specifically on the taxiways and runways –an extension of the current system is beingprepared with Euro Telematik (Germany)to provide a steering aid to the driver and toimplement additional safety and warningfunctions.

Electronic road tollingIn the road sector, several IntelligentTransport Systems (ITS) are currentlybeing designed, many of which will makeuse of satellite-navigation equipment. Thelatter will be used to provide new servicesthat require particular levels of safety andreliability. EGNOS is ideal for thatpurpose and so ESA, together with thePortuguese firm SKYSOFT, initiated the‘Active Road Management Assisted by Satellite’ (ARMAS) demonstrationproject. Its aim is to show how to transformthe transport infrastructure (roads, bridges,urban roads) into a safer and more user-friendly environment, by improving safety,increasing dynamic traffic-managementcapabilities, and providing Electronic Fee-Collection (EFC) mechanisms through the

EGNOS application developments will significantly improveoperational safety and efficiency for many types of vehicles,including airport service units like snowploughs (Photo courtesyof Flughafen München GmbH)

A generic Electronic Fee-Collection (EFC) system for road tolls


use of satellite positioning. Otherfunctionalities foreseen include ‘warningmessages’ and ‘SOS requests’.

A recently approved Directive calls forthe creation of a European Electronic RoadToll System based, in the longer term,primarily on the use of satellite-basedsystems. The proposal advocates the use of satellite positioning and mobilecommunications technologies, namelyGPS/EGNOS and Galileo, for thedeployment of the European toll service aswell as for all new national systems, thesetechnologies being more flexible and bettersuited to the new Community chargingpolicies. Moreover, they are already acomponent of many of the active safety

systems that manufacturers are starting toinstall in their vehicles.

The ARMAS architecture has beeninfluenced by the existing Traffic ControlCentres (TCCs). The Regional NavigationControl Centre (RNCC) is seen as anevolution of the TCC, with greaterfunctionality. Existing Road-SideEquipment (RSE) does not need to bereplaced, but can be integrated intoARMAS (see figure).

Low-density railway trafficThe train command and control systems inuse today are too expensive for cost-effective application on lines with lowtraffic densities, for instance just one train

per hour. Consequently, many such linesall over the World are still equipped withoutdated or human-based safety systems.The new ERTMS/ETCS system (EuropeanRail Traffic Management System/European Train Control System) willprovide a unified safety standard atEuropean level, but it will be used mainlyon high-speed and trans-European lines.Although this new common standard willprovide clear safety benefits, the very highinstallation and maintenance costs are notviable for lines with low traffic densities.

There is therefore a clear need for aninnovative and cost-effective system forlow-density routes based on new availabletechnologies, including satellite-basedpositioning. Just such a system, known asLOCOPROL/LOCOLOC, is currentlybeing developed in cooperation withAlstom BSI (B). This GNSS-based systemwill provide the same level of safety as onhigh-density lines, whilst greatly reducingdeployment, operating and maintenancecosts. The LOCOPROL project, supportedby the European Commission as part of the 5th Framework Programme, essentiallyaddresses the location, control centre, andcommunications elements, while thecomplementary LOCOLOC project,supported by ESA, is focussing on thesafe-speed measurement element and theservice centre for future users.

The greater cost-effectiveness of theLOCOPROL/LOCOLOC solution isachieved mainly by relocating the safetyfunctions from the ground (ERTMSstandard) to the train, removing the needfor such expensive elements as trackpoints, balises, and many other sensorsrequired today. A successful live demonstration of the

system has already been conducted usingan SNCB train on 15 kilometres of track inBelgium.

EGNOS

The INTEGRAIL system architecture (Courtesy of Kayser-ThredeGmbH)

The INTEGRAIL unit installed in a locomotive for test purposes(Courtesy of Bombardier GmbH)

Applications


Advanced rail-traffic management andsafetyINTEGRAIL is a prototype demonstrationsystem that uses EGNOS for theautonomous and reliable determination ofa train’s position, direction and speedunder practically all weather conditions. Itis an advanced train and signalling controlapplication that imposes much morestringent safety requirements than thecurrent fleet-management informationapplications. It also promises significantimprovements for the rail-traffic operatorin terms of cost, redundancy, andreliability by adding satellite-navigationinformation and, even more importantly,the integrity information provided byEGNOS.

INTEGRAIL has been developed byKayser-Threde, Munich (D), as primecontractor, in partnership with BombardierTransportation/Rail Control Solutions,Ulm (D) and ifEN (D). The completesystem consists of mobile units to bemounted in the locomotives and a ControlCentre.

A necessary prerequisite for theadoption by the rail operators of EGNOS-based systems for train control andmanagement is to conduct extensive fieldtrials and to characterise their performanceunder representative conditions. Two suchdemonstrations have been conducted over

a period of 8 months; the first took place inAustria using trains from LogServ, and thesecond in Belgium with trains belonging toSNCB. The extensive data that werecollected showed that the INTEGRAILsystem delivers a mean accuracy of betterthan 5 metres.

Guiding and monitoring maritime vesselsThe accuracy of the EGNOS system makesit extremely suitable for guiding shipping,including coastal navigation, dredgingoperations and manoeuvering withinharbours. It is also very economical as itmeans that the expensive deployment ofthe local reference stations required forsystems like Differential-GPS can bedispensed with.

For vessel-monitoring applications, it is EGNOS’s integrity that is key. EECRegulation 2847/93 requires, since 1 January 2000, that all Communityfishing vessels more than 24 metres longcarry a ‘blue box’ for a satellite-basedVessel Monitoring System (VMS). Thisbox provides automatic reporting of thevessel’s position at all times, as well ascommunication with the FisheriesMonitoring Centre (FMC) of the State inwhich the vessel is registered. EECRegulation 489/97 stipulates that thetracking application must provide reliableposition reporting for effective control bythe authorities. EGNOS’s integrity makesits positioning information usable in acourt-of-law, which GPS-only-based VMSwould not be.

VMS was developed in Portugal and isbeing upgraded by INOV under ESAcontract.

Vessel monitoring in narrow watersAs a result of Regulation V/19, paragraph2.4, of the International Convention for theSafety of Life at Sea (SOLAS), introducedin 1974, it is mandatory for all ships largerthan 300 gross tonnage engaged ininternational voyages, all cargo ships ofmore than 500 tons, and all passengerships irrespective of size, to be fitted withan Automatic Identification System (AIS).The EGNOS TRAN project has beenexploring the benefits of integrating theEGNOS technology with a VHF link like

AIS, which is normally used forcommunication between vessels and withthe shore. A system was set up in the fjordsof Trondheim (Norway). The AIS stationswere equipped with EGNOS signalreceivers and its differential correctionsand integrity information were thenspecially formatted and transmittedthrough AIS to the vessel, in order toensure compatibility with the localDifferential-GPS equipment onboard.Field trials were conducted during thewinter of 2002/3 with the EGNOS TestBed signals using the coastal vessel MSNordlys, which plies continuously betweenBergen on the Norwegian west coast andKirkeness close to the northern borderwith Russia. These trials based on the useof only two AIS stations demonstratedgood complementarity in terms of EGNOScoverage and continuity of service,meeting the accuracy and integrityrequirements laid down by InternationalMaritime Organisation (IMO) regulationsfor coastal and harbour navigation.

ConclusionEuropean expertise in the development ofsatellite navigation systems has beeninitiated with EGNOS and is now beingsuccessfully applied to Galileo. Similarly,the applications being developed with EGNOS are the forerunners ofGalileo applications. ESA has beencomplementing the efforts of the EuropeanCommission and the Galileo JointUndertaking in this direction in order tostimulate institutional and commercialinterest in a wide range of safety-relatedand other essential services that can beprovided across a broad range of Europeanbusiness sectors. This has boosted interestin the development of navigationapplications by companies throughoutEurope, ranging in size from the large tothe very small. It is ESA’s intention tomaintain its effort in this domain to ensurethat European companies achieve a strongposition in this new and very promisingmarket. r

Challenging navigation in narrow waters (Photo courtesy ofSeatex-Konsberg)

The ESA History ProjectKarl-Egon ReuterChairman of the ESA History Advisory Committee

Johann OberlechnerDirector General’s Cabinet, ESA, Paris

At the end of the eighties, the space age was stillrelatively young and had largely been ignored interms of academic historical research. This was

especially true in Europe, which was not a competitor in thehigh-profile space race that took place in the 1960s. TheEuropean Space Agency, and its Director General Prof. ReimarLüst, therefore responded enthusiastically when, in 1989,three historians came forward with a proposal to write anindependent authoritative history of ESA and its precursororganisations ESRO and ELDO, which have been coordinatingEurope’s space endeavours for more than forty years.

Following the initial contact made during a scientificsymposium in Palermo, a feasibility study was undertaken inthe first half of 1990. The positive outcome of that studyprompted ESA to give its full support to the proposed HistoryProject. After the ESA Council had formally given its approvalfor the Project, work got under way with the signing of astudy contract on 27 November 1990.

The ApproachA preparatory task of decisive importance whenassessing the feasibility of undertaking the ESAHistory Project was the transfer of the Agency’sarchives to the European University Institute inFlorence (I). This had already started in 1989, whichmeant that professionally prepared documentcollections were available for consultation right fromthe outset. The catalogue for this collection of texts,which contains a complete set of internal ESA recordsup to the end of the 1980s, plus correspondence andsome personal archives, can be consulted at theInstitute's web site (http://www.arc.iue.it/).


The ESA History Project

To ensure a successful outcome to theProject, and in line with the proposals setout in the feasibility study, it was decidedto base the project planning on thefollowing three cornerstones:

• Firstly, the research was to be the workof three independent professionalhistorians. Dr John Krige, who hadalready been the driving force behind theCERN history project over a number ofyears, agreed to lead the project.Professor Arturo Russo from theUniversity of Palermo (I) and ProfessorMichelangelo de Maria from theUniversity of Rome (I) were appointed

project researchers and made asignificant contribution to the work.Prof. De Maria later withdrew forpersonal reasons and was replaced in1993 by Dr Lorenza Sebesta from theUniversity of Bologna (I).

• Secondly, the Project was to be based atan independent academic institution.With ESA's archives having been sitedsince 1989 at the European UniversityInstitute in Florence, it seemed the mostappropriate place at which to carry outthe work, with Dr Krige being appointedto a research post there. The Rector ofthe Institute accepted this proposal andstated his willingness to oversee theProject in collaboration with ESA.

• Thirdly, an ESA History AdvisoryCommittee was to be set up to overseethe progress of the research work andto advise ESA on administrative andacademic questions. The membershipincluded a number of ESA pioneers(Michel Bignier, Peter Creola, Georgevan Reeth) and distinguished Europeanhistorians (Prof. Paolo Galuzzi fromFlorence, Prof. Guido Gambetta fromBologna, Prof. Svante Lindqvist fromStockholm, Prof. Dominique Pestrefrom Paris, and Dr Walter Rathjen fromMunich). Former ESA Director GeneralReimar Lüst, having been activelyinvolved in European space activitiesfrom the very beginning and havingbeen the initial driving force behind the

Project, was appointed to chair theAdvisory Committee.

The ResultsThe ambitious project to write up ESA’shistory was completed in 1999. The results,which are most visibly measurable in termsof the range and quality of the resultingpublications, are impressive in their scope.Because of the very large amount ofmaterial available, from 1992 onwards ESAbegan publishing a series of History StudyReports, 24 of which have been issued in all(see accompanying panel). The completehistory itself was published in two volumes(462 and 703 pages, resp.) as an ESASpecial Publication (SP-1235). The firstvolume covers the history of ESRO andELDO, and the second the history of ESAup to 1987. Supplementing this two-volume history, a smaller work has beenpublished on the history of European spaceactivities from 1960 to 1973 (ESA SP-1172), as well as numerous articles in therelevant specialist journals. A series ofSymposia and Seminars on Europeanspace-history topics have also beenorganised as part of the History Project.

The culminating highlight of the Projectwas an International Symposium, jointlyhosted by ESA and the Science Museum inLondon from 11 to 13 November 1998.This attracted leading figures from

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ESA History Study Reports

HSR-# Date Title Author

1 July 1992 The Prehistory of ESRO 1959/60 J. Krige

2 October 1992 ESRO's First Scientific Satellite Programme 1961-1966 A. Russo

3 November 1992 Choosing ESRO's First Scientific Satellites A. Russo

4 January 1993 The Early Activities of COPERS and the Drafting of the ESRO Convention J. Krige(1961/62)

5 March 1993 Europe in Space: Edoardo Amaldi and the Inception of ESRO M. de Maria

6 March 1993 The Definition of a Scientific Policy: ESRO's Satellite Programme in 1969 - 1973 A. Russo

7 March 1993 The Launch of ELDO J. Krige

8 May 1993 Europe into Space: The Auger Years (1959 - 1967) J. Krige

9 May 1993 The Early Development of the Telecommunications Satellite Programme in ESRO A. Russo(1965 - 1971)

10 September 1993 The History of ELDO Part 1: 1961 - 1964 M. de Maria

11 January 1994 Reflections on Europe in Space J. Krige & A. Russo

12 January 1994 The Origins of the Federal Republic of Germany's Space Policy P. Fischer1959 - 1965: European and National Dimensions

13 February 1994 ESRO's Telecommunications Programme and the OTS Project (1970 - 1974) A. Russo

14 July 1994 United States - European Cooperation in Space During the Sixties L. Sebesta

15 February 1995 United States - European Cooperation in the Post-Apollo Programme L. Sebesta

16 February 1995 The Scientific Programme Between ESRO and ESA: A. RussoChoosing New Projects (1973 - 1977)

17 February 1996 The Aeronautical Satellite System: An Example of International Bargaining L. Sebesta

18 September 1996 The Availability of European Launchers and Europe's Decision 'To Go It Alone' L. Sebesta

19 August 1997 Big Technology, Little Science: The European Use of Spacelab A. Russo

20 September 1997 The Definition of ESA's Scientific Programme for the 1980's A. Russo

21 October 1997 Spacelab in Context L. Sebesta

22 March 1998 The European Meteorological Satellite Programme J. Krige

23 September 1998 The Third Phase of the Telecommunications Programme: ECS, Marecs and Olympus A. Russo

24 May 1999 ESA’s Scientific Programme Towards the Turn of the Century A. Russo



European government, industry andresearch, all of which have made importantcontributions to the development ofEuropean space activities. Speakersincluded the former Chairman of the ESACouncil at Ministerial Level LordSainsbury (UK), and former Ministerssuch as Michael Heseltine (UK), HubertCurien (France) and Antonio Ruberti(Italy). The Proceedings were also issuedas an ESA Special Publication (SP-436).

Without this rich harvest of publicationsresulting from the painstaking scientificapproach on the part of the team ofprofessional historians, many key but oftenlittle-known facets of European spaceactivities over the years would otherwisehave remained part of a forgotten past.

Extension of the ProjectThe ESA History Project concentratedmainly on the intergovernmental col-laborative effort in space made under thepatronage of ESRO, ELDO and ESA. Thenational space programmes of the MemberStates were not included as topics forresearch. However, the success of the ESAProject and the resources that it had madeavailable for further research aroused stronginterest in several Member States. As aresult, there are now a growing number ofnational-level archival and history projects,which should help safeguard this importantpart of the national heritage and promotewider appreciation of national spaceachievements.

At the London Symposium, the DirectorGeneral had indicated the Agency’swillingness to support such initiatives. Theidea was subsequently put to the ESACouncil that December (1998), and alsoreceived strong backing from the AdvisoryCommittee, chaired by Prof. Lüst, at itsfinal meeting in March 1999.

An informal gathering of Member Staterepresentatives on 20 April 1999 tookstock of any ongoing projects for writingup national space histories. Also discussedwas an extension of the History Project,with a view to covering national activitiesin a second phase. That meeting wasattended by delegates from the UnitedKingdom, France, Germany and Italy, andstrong interest was also expressed by four

“A sense of history is important for any organisation: it both binds members togetherand helps to identify where we are heading…….. The key role that ESA has playedsince its inception in 1975, and above all its ability to adapt to changingcircumstances, stand the Agency in good stead to play a key role in this future”.Lord Sainsbury, UK Science Minister, speaking at the London Symposium

ESA HISTORY COMMITTEE

Status: July 2004

Chairman: Karl-Egon Reuter

Austria Johannes OrtnerBruno Besser

Belgium George van ReethDawinka LaureysRober Halleux

Canada Florian Guertin

Denmark Preben Gudmandsen

Finland Risto PellinenHanna Lappalainen

France Louis LaidetMichel BignierHervé Moulin

Germany Helmut Trischler

Italy Lorenza SebestaMichelangelo de Maria

Netherlands Daniel de Hoop

Norway Per Torbo

Spain Manuel Serrano

Sweden Jan Stiernstedt

Switzerland Peter Creola

United Kingdom Douglas Millard

Consulting Scientist John Krige

ESA Bruce BattrickRoger ElaertsJohann OberlechnerNathalie Tinjod

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first to available resources and competingproposals. Dr John Krige also sits in anadvisory capacity on this Committee,which usually meets twice per year, withESA providing the Secretariat.

The Results of Phase 2In contrast to the original History Project,which was only concerned with ESA'smultinational space activities, the secondphase, which is still ongoing, is progressingmuch more slowly. This is due firstly to thevery different structures of the groupsconcerned with space history in the variousMember States. In many countries it wasnecessary first to apply to appropriateacademic groups or institutes before theactual historical research could be started.A second obstacle to a prompt start was theincreasingly apparent lack of suitablearchives for the historians to draw upon. Itwas not therefore uncommon for the startof work to involve laborious searching andrecording of the necessary documents priorto beginning the actual writing-up process.

When it transpired that the preparatoryactivities in most Member States wouldrequire more time than had originally beenallowed, the Advisory Committeerecommended applying a step-by-stepapproach. Before a complete nationalspace history was drafted, each ESAMember State was first to produce aconcise overview of the historicaldevelopment of its space policy, describingthe milestones and turning points in thathistory. This was supplemented by somesmaller project tasks, which either servedto identify and compile archive material orto describe specific areas of national spaceprogrammes.

Despite the initial difficulties, Phase 2 ofthe ESA History Project has alreadyyielded a rich harvest, with the overviewreports on the national space activities often Member States and Canada. Thesehave also been published in the ESAHistory Study Reports series (seeaccompanying panel). The reports fromfive other Member States are nearingcompletion, with publication expected inthe second half of 2004.

The state of preparation of the longerspace histories of each of the ESA Member

other countries whose delegates wereunable to attend that day (Belgium,Finland, Norway and Sweden).

Those present discussed a variety ofdocumentation and research projects, someplanned and some already under way,designed to place on record and highlightthe histories of national space programmes.They were insistent that ESA should play akey role in coordinating the variousactivities, so as to capitalise on the results ofthe original History Project, make the mosteffective use of the limited resourcesavailable, and foster synergy betweenindividual projects.

With this prior clarification, the ESAExecutive was able to put to Council aproposal for continuing the History Projectinto a second phase, to be devotedexclusively to the history of national spaceactivities. Council unanimously approvedthis proposal at its 23/24 June 1999meeting. Since then, of course, Portugalhas joined the ESA family, and theaccession of Greece and Luxembourg wasgiven the go-ahead at the March 2004Council meeting. Their space histories aretherefore now just beginning!

Even before the Project extension wasapproved, it was already clear that work insuch a second phase needed to beorganised differently from the writing upof the purely ESA history. It is, therefore,headed by an ESA project leader, whoannounces opportunities for nationalhistory projects and acts as interlocutorwithin ESA. In support, an academicproject scientist was appointed – and herewe were able to persuade Dr John Krige,who led the original Project, to come backand supervise the scientific progress ofnational projects and be responsible fortheir coordination. ESA is providing thenecessary administrative support.

As decided by Council, an ESA HistoryAdvisory Committee was again set up toserve as a consultative body, itsmembership being drawn from theMember States participating in the Project(see accompanying panel). ThisCommittee has examined all projectproposals submitted by the Member States,assessed their quality, and estimated thefinancial support required, having regard

States still varies greatly from country tocountry, and will place a considerable strainon the Project as it moves towards itsconclusion, given that Phase 2 has to becompleted no later than the end of 2005.The accompanying panel summarizing theprogress of the individual national projectsshows what still remains to be done to bringthe project to a successful conclusion.While the work in Germany and Finland inthe respective national languages has beencompleted, the final versions are notexpected until some time in 2005 or 2006.Five countries are missing from the table.For Denmark, Ireland and the Netherlands,the Advisory Committee has agreed thatthe ‘shorter’ space histories alreadycompleted provide an extensive overviewof these countries' space activities, makinga second longer work unnecessary. Thesame applies to the report on ESA'scooperation with Canada. Of all the ESAMember States, France has by far the mostextensive national space programme,dating back beyond the founding of ESROand ELDO, and often involving a militarycomponent. This means that the existingarchives may well be scattered or eveninaccessible. Our French colleagues, whohave teamed up at the Institut Françaisd'histoire de l'espace, are therefore facedwith a Herculean task of archive searching,verification and processing, ruling out anyhope of producing a national space historywithin the time frame of Phase 2 of theESA History Project.

ConclusionThe Latin American philosopher GeorgeSantayana urged his readers to bear in mindthat “those who do not learn the lessons ofhistory will be forced to repeat them". Thismaxim is particularly relevant to the fast-changing space domain, in whichexperience already gained can all too oftenbe quickly forgotten. We certainly cannotafford to reinvent the wheel every few yearsin such high-cost multinational projects.Writing up of the academic histories ofcooperation on technology – especially forendeavours in space – is therefore especiallyimportant for Europe and should definitelybe seen as an ongoing task.



SHORT HISTORIES

Status: 7 July 2004

Country Title Author Status

PUBLISHED:

Austria Austria’s History in Space Bruno Besser HSR-34, January 2004

Belgium Belgium’s Participation in the Dawinka Laureys HSR-29, February 2003European Space Adventure

Canada Canada and ESA - Three Decades Lydia Dotto HSR-25, May 2002of Cooperation

Denmark ESRO/ESA and Denmark - Preben Gudmandsen HSR-33, September 2003Participation by Research and Industry

Finland Finland and the Space Era Ilkka Seppinen HSR-32, April 2003

Germany The ‘Triple Helix’ of Space - Helmuth Trischler HSR-28, December 2002German Space Activities in a European Perspective

Italy Italy in Space Michelangelo de Maria HSR-30, February 2003Luca OrlandoFilippo Pigliacelli

Netherlands An Overview of Space Activities Joost van Kasteren HSR-27, November 2002in the Netherlands

Norway Norwegian Space Activities 1958-2003 Ole Anders Røberg HSR-35 (in preparation)- An Historical Overview John Peter Collett

Spain Spain in Space José M. Dorado et al. HSR-26, August 2002

Switzerland Switzerland in Space - A Brief History Peter Creola HSR-31, March 2003

TO BE COMPLETED:

Ireland TBC Leo Enright Expected delivery: October 2004

United Kingdom UK and Space Doug Millard Expected delivery:September 2004

Sweden Sweden in Space Jan Stiernstedt Expected deliverySecond half 2004

France La France dans l’Europe spatiale TBC First draft expected:Autumn 2004

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LONGER HISTORIES

Status: 7 July 2004

Country Project Historian(s)/Author(s) Due for completion

Austria The Austrian History in Space Bruno Besser December 2004

Belgium La Belgique et l’Espace Dawinka Laureys December 2004

Finland The History of Finnish Space Activities Ilkka Seppinen Finnish version published May 2004English version October 2004

Germany Deutsche Raumfahrtpolitik 1923-2002 Niklas Reinke German version published by Oldenbourg May 2004English translation tobe completed by May 2005

Italy Italy in Space, 1957-1975 Michelangelo de Maria (leader) end July 2004Maria Pia BumbacaGiovanni PaoloniFilippo PigliacelliLucia OrlandoLorenza SebestaAlberto Traballesi

Norway Participation in the Joint Swedish- John Peter Collett See under SwedenNorwegian Project on Nordic Space Ole Anders RøbergCooperation

Spain Spain in Space José Manuel Sànches-RonFive essays for Phase 2 José M. Dorado Phase 2 completedFive essays for Phase 3 Pedro Sanz-Arànguez Phase 3 to be completed

José Rivacoba December 2004Miguel Angel Sabadell

Sweden The Nordic Dimension of Nina Wormbs 2nd quarter 2004?Space CooperationFour essays Jan Stiernstedt

Switzerland A Place in Space – The History of Swiss Stephan Zellmeyer September 2006Participation in European Space Programmes 1960-2000

United Kingdom British Sounding Rocketry: Skylark and Matthew Godwin September 2004ESRO 1957-71

r

ESA Portal BringsEurope’s Mars Adventureto Millions


ESA Portal

C urrently read by more than 1.5 million external visitorsa month, the ESA Portal is now the leading source ofEuropean space news and information. Mars Express,

Europe’s first mission to Mars, brought unprecedented trafficto the ESA Portal, presenting the team that run it with thechallenge of dealing with a fourfold increase in visitors. Anew system put in place in time for the great Mars adventureguarantees fast round-the-clock access to the Portal fromaround the World.

About the PortalAn independent marketing study carried out in 1999showed that the public image of ESA was weak andfragmented. At that time NASA was better knownamong the European public than ESA. The Internet wasa logical choice as one of the key elements to boostESA’s visibility and strengthen the Agency’s image.Although ESA had already had a web presence sinceNovember 1993, a new project was started to create aEuropean online space magazine. The new ESACommunication Portal, www.esa.int, was launched on18 October 2000. In line with the recommendations ofthe study, its main objective is to increase awareness ofthe importance of space for Europe and its citizensamong the general public and the media.

With a coherent graphical ‘look and feel’, the Portalconveys a consistent image of ESA. The site is a dynamiconline magazine, with a news desk model, publishing at

Fulvio DriganiCommunication Department, ESA Directorate of ExternalRelations, ESRIN, Frascati, Italy

Jurgen ScholzInformation Systems Department, ESA Operations andInfrastructure Directorate, ESRIN, Frascati, Italy

Communication


least one new article every day, with moreand more emphasis on multimedia elementssuch as graphics, video clips andanimations. The backbone of the ESA Portalis its ContentServer publishing system,allowing editors to concentrate on news,

What is Caching?

‘Caching’ basically means that a copy of the ESA Portal’s content is stored onthousands of other servers worldwide. These servers are close to the ‘edge of theInternet’, i.e. very well connected to the backbone network infrastructure. A userrequesting to see an ESA web page thereby no longer downloads this from thePortal’s server at ESRIN in Frascati (I), but from the closest and best availableserver. This is made possible with the support of a commercially availableContent Delivery Network and sophisticated worldwide Internet trafficmonitoring and management applications. As soon as any change is made on anypage of the Portal, it is almost instantly replicated on the network of servers.

This ‘whole-site-delivery’ technology relieves the load on the Agencyinfrastructure, helps to bypass common Internet bottlenecks, and at the sametime boosts the performance of the Portal experienced by the visitor in terms ofavailability and responsiveness.

As well as supporting peaks in traffic due to special events, this service solutionoffers a number of distinct advantages for the Agency’s website year round:- guaranteed worldwide fast delivery of the web pages even during peaks in

traffic, 24 hours a day, seven days a week- reduced infrastructure costs, since there is no need to upgrade servers,

hardware or the network- increased resilience against security threats- real-time on-demand reporting on network utilisation, total bandwidth, and

server response times- 24/7 availability of technical support staff at a network operations centre.

The ESA Communication Portal

The network infrastructure

ESA Portal access statistics, December 2000 to June 2003 – External visitors

content, and images, while guaranteeing aconsistent graphical house style.

In the three years since its launch, thenumber of visitors to the Portal has grownsteadily. From 140 000 visitors in Dec-ember 2000, by the end of 2001 the Portal


VideoTalk, an exciting new multimedia feature that discusses thequestions that we hope will be answered by ESA’s pioneeringspace exploration

The web-cam image from ESOC was downloaded more than 1.6 million times in December 2003

was already attracting about 250 000visitors per month. This figure doubledagain in 2002, reaching 600 000 visitorsessions a month by summer 2003.

An active news promotion policy, as wellas partnerships with other media or webplayers, has played an important role in thesteady increase. Visitors are attracted bythe reliable flow of news and accuratebackground information, presented in aneasily understandable and coherent way.

The Launch of Mars ExpressOne of the biggest challenges that the ESAPortal team faces are the ‘special events’ –launches of spacecraft or astronauts orother high-profile events resulting in peaktraffic on the site. With the web beingincreasingly perceived as the ideal mediumfor communicating ‘space’ to the public,the launch of Mars Express in June 2003boosted the visitor sessions to a then-record of 70 000 visitors on a single day.

Monitoring the statistics, it was obviousthat contingency plans to handle suchpeaks in traffic were needed. On the day ofthe launch of Mars Express, the interestfrom the general public was so enormousthat the infrastructure hosting and servingthe web pages became overloaded andusers began to report problemsdownloading material from the Marspages. The available Internet bandwidthwas simply not sufficient to deal with thismassive interest.

It was clear that with the arrival of MarsExpress at the Red Planet, together withthe landings of the NASA rovers,worldwide interest in Mars was going toreach unprecedented levels. An immediatesolution was necessary. A straightforwardincrease in network bandwidth had to bediscarded for technical and cost reasons,because the real need was neither preciselyknown nor possible to estimate. Was it 10 Mbit/s, 100 Mbit/s, or even more? Byworking closely together, the Agency’sOnline Communication Section andInformation Systems Department identi-fied ‘caching’ of the content of the Portalworldwide as the best solution (seeaccompanying panel). After evaluation ofthe vendors available, one of the marketleaders was selected to provide this serviceunder contract to ESA.

Arriving at Mars!An additional challenge for the Portal teamwas that while there would not be hardnews every single day, this huge newaudience had to be kept ‘online’. To thisend, special Mars Express pages werecreated in close cooperation with the ESAScience Communication Service. The goalwas to have one ‘new(s) item’ every day,from 1 December until the arrival at Marson 25 December. These included images,graphics, animations, video clips,background information, news and pressreleases, interviews with lead scientists, aweb-cam image from the Control Room inESOC refreshed once per minute and, for

ESA Portal

Communication


the first time, an exciting new multimediafeature called ‘VideoTalk’. For thecountdown to Christmas, these elementswere presented in the form of an adventcalendar – something new each day behindevery window.

The first peak in traffic was expected on19 December, with the separation of theBritish Beagle 2 lander from the motherspacecraft Mars Express, and so theintention was to activate the new cachingservice before that date. However, the firstblurry image of Mars taken by MarsExpress while still 5 million kilometresfrom its target, published late on 3December, brought such a big surge intraffic that activation of the caching servicehad to be brought forward by a week.

To verify the efficiency of the newcaching service an independent monitoringsystem was set up. The results werestartling – while on 4 December from earlymorning on, the average time required todownload the ESA Portal’s home pageincreased steadily from some 20 secondsto more than 40 seconds (against abenchmark value of not more than 8seconds), in the late afternoon, once thecache servers had taken over at 5 pm, thedownload time dropped to a ‘dream value’of very close to 1 second. At the sametime, the website’s availability (measuredfor 35 cities worldwide) increased from alow of 45% in, for example, Shanghai,Hong Kong, San Diego and Kansas City, to100% everywhere.

Coverage of the separation of Beaglefrom Mars Express on 19 December,including a live webcast from the ESOCControl Room, attracted another recordnumber for a single day with some 118 000external visitors. This record was soon tobe broken again by the arrival of MarsExpress at Mars on Christmas morning2003, with the added drama of waiting fornews about the Beagle lander. In all, 280 000 external visitors participated inlive web events and streaming – four timesthe number that had looked at the site onlaunch day! Traffic remained very highduring the period up to New Year’s Eve.

In total, the ESA Communication Portalhad served almost 3.4 million visitorsduring the month of December – almost

Average time in seconds taken to download the ESA Communication Portal Home Page between 6 pm on 3 December and 5 pm on 4 December 2003, prior to activation of the caching service

Average time in seconds taken to download the ESA Communication Portal Home Page between 9 am on 4 December and 8 am on 5 December 2003. Note the drop in download time after 5 pm when the caching service was activated

The traffic surge after the publication of the first Mars Express images


ten times more than during the same periodthe year before.

Let the Flash Crowds In!In ‘Flash Crowd’, a science fiction story ofthe 1970s, the author describes theconsequences of instantaneous (and free)teleportation, which allowed tens ofthousands of people worldwide to flockalmost instantaneously to the scene ofanything interesting that was happening. Inweb terms, a similar phenomenon occurswhen a site catches the attention of many‘surfers’ and attracts sudden surges oftraffic, often leading to an overload of thesite’s Internet bandwidth or servers.

Several such ‘flash crowds’ hit theAgency’s Communication Portal at the endof January 2004. The first came with thepublication of the first image of Marstaken by Mars Express on 19 January – anall-time high of 310 000 visitor sessions ona single day, on 20 January.

The discovery of water on Mars,officially announced during a PressConference at ESOC on 23 January, alsoattracted some 240 000 visitors, with peaktraffic continuing all weekend. This eventwas particularly ‘bandwidth heavy’, due tothe availability of multimedia material,which led to traffic peaks exceeding 200Mbit/s immediately following theannouncement, almost a hundred times theconsumption only a few weeks earlier.Although more than 1.1 Terabytes of datawere provided to users during this ‘hot’weekend, no service interruptions ordecreases in performance were reported.

‘Brilliant!’Today the ESA Communication Portal, as anonline magazine for the general public andmedia, has become the leading source ofEuropean space information. In the pastyears, both the number and the variety ofsites picking up ESA’s news have steadilyincreased. While in the early years onlyspecialist sites such as Space.com referred tothe ESA Portal, today the BBC, CNN, Yahoo,Reuters, USA Today, National Geographic,and the Discovery Channel regularly pick upstories from the ESA Portal.

ESA Portal

Network bandwidth utilisation after the discovery of water on Mars

Average worldwide site performance and availability during the weekend of 23/26 January 2004

ESA Portal access statistics, June 2003 to January 2004 – External visitors

Communication


The Sunday Times (UK) on 4 January2004 "reached out to the brilliant MarsExpress website", calling it "enthralling…,rich in contributions from many sources,… and an object lesson in how scientistscan harness the web to involve the generalpublic, while also reaching those whoseinterest is more serious."

Even after the Mars storm died down,traffic to the ESA Portal has consistentlyremained above 1.5 million externalvisitors a month, with smooth delivery ofweb pages continuing to be guaranteed bythe new caching system. Next Christmaspromises to be no less exciting, with thearrival at Saturn of Cassini/Huygens, andthe release of ESA’s Huygens probe toparachute down to explore the surface ofthe planet’s mysterious moon Titan.

r

Useful Internet links:

ESA Communication Portal http://www.esa.intMars Express pages http://www.esa.int/marsexpressCassini-Huygens pages http://saturn.esa.int

CNN, Heute Journal, Le Monde and La Repubblica are regular customers of the ESA Portal

Keeping Track ofGeostationary Satellites– A novel and less costly approach

One of the two interferometer antennas at Hispasat’s tracking station inArganda, Spain

Rosengren 10/7/04 2:09 PM Page 64


Tracking Geostationary Satellites

The Nature of the ProblemThe usual way to establish a satellite’s orbit is based onmeasuring the distances between it and so-called‘ranging antennas’ on the Earth at different times.These distances are determined by measuring the timeneeded for a radio signal to make the round tripbetween the ranging antenna and the spacecraft. If thisdistance is measured at several different times, andpossibly also using several antennas at differentgeographical locations on the Earth’s surface, thespacecraft’s orbit can be uniquely identified.Parameters affecting the spacecraft’s motion, such asthe solar radiation pressure or imperfectly knownequipment parameters like delays in the spacecraft’stransponders and/or in the ranging equipment on theground, can be identified/determined as part of thisprocess. Determining these additional parametersmakes the mathematical modelling more precise andtherefore also increases the accuracy with which thespacecraft’s true orbit can be established.

Mats RosengrenFlight Dynamics Division, ESA Directorate of Operations andInfrastructure, ESOC, Darmstadt, Germany

Javier De Vicente-OlmedoGround Station Systems Division, ESA Directorate ofOperations and Infrastructure, ESOC, Darmstadt, Germany

Flemming PedersenEADS Astrium CRISA, Tres Cantos, Spain


Operations & Infrastructure


Accurate orbit determination forgeostationary spacecraft poses particularproblems for the very same reason thatthese orbits are used, namely the geometryof the spacecraft relative to Earth-fixedobjects does not change and so the orbitcannot be determined by making rangingmeasurements from a single ground stationat different times. The most common wayto overcome this conundrum is to combinethe ranging measurements with pointingdata from a high-gain antenna. Thisantenna must then be controlled such thatit automatically finds the pointingdirection for which the strength of thesignal from the satellite is a maximum (thisis known as the ‘auto track’ mode). This‘best’ pointing direction (azimuth and

elevation) is then used as additional datafor the orbit determination.

However, the pointing data obtained inthis way only has an accuracy in the orderof ± 0.01 deg – the larger the antenna, thenarrower the beam and the better theaccuracy. This accuracy is certainly goodenough for the basic orbit-maintenancestrategy for a single spacecraft, but withmany ‘co-located’ spacecraft occupyingthe same nominal position on thegeostationary ring, more accurate orbitdetermination is needed for theimplementation of an additional ‘collision-avoidance’ strategy. Most operators withseveral spacecraft at the samegeostationary position therefore have asecond ranging antenna at a remote

location. Hispasat, for example, which is aSpanish commercial satellite operator, hasits control centre in Arganda close toMadrid and an additional ranging stationon the Canary Islands.

The Novel ESA SolutionThe problem of orbit determination forgeostationary spacecraft was analysed atESOC in considerable detail about 10years ago by the late Mattias Soop. Hefound that, provided that the longitudes ofthe spacecraft and the ground station weresignificantly different, it is not necessaryto have both azimuth and elevation datafrom an antenna to be able to determine thesatellite’s orbit accurately; it is sufficient to have only one of these parameters

The Geostationary OrbitMost telecommunications and many weather satellites are operated in what is known as a ‘geostationary orbit’. This is a circularorbit high above the Earth’s equator with a radius of 42 164 km (about 6.6 Earth radii). This is the radius for which the time takenby the satellite to complete one orbit is the same as that taken by the Earth to rotate once around its axis, namely one day. This isconsequently the altitude at which the ‘centrifugal force’ caused by the rotation of the Earth is equal to its gravitational attraction.As the satellite in geostationary orbit always appears to be at the same point in the sky when viewed from a given point on the Earth’ssurface, it means that a fixed antenna on the ground can be used to communicate with it. Millions of private households all over theWorld use such a fixed (dish) antenna to receive TV and radio programmes broadcast via satellite.

In practice, the gravitational attractions of Sun and Moon, the solar radiation pressure and the slight misalignment between thecentrifugal force and the Earth’s gravitational force disturb the sought-after ‘equilibrium’. To compensate for these disturbingeffects, an orbit-maintenance strategy has to be worked out, consisting of ‘tangential burns’ and ‘out-of-plane burns’ of the satellite’sonboard thrusters to continuously adjust the actual orbit and keep it as ideal as possible. In order to design the necessary correctionburns optimally, the satellite’s real orbit has to be determined very accurately.

The geostationary orbit and the concept of tangential and out-of-plane burns



determined as a function of time. He calledthis a ‘One-and-a-Half Tracking System’(presented at the Conference on SpaceFlight Dynamics in Toulouse in June1995). Furthermore, it is not evennecessary to ascertain the parameterdirectly, but it is enough to know thevariation in the parameter over asufficiently long time interval. This ledhim to propose the novel solution of usingan interferometer for the orbit deter-mination of geostationary spacecraft.

The interferometer technique relies onmeasuring the interference between theradio signals from the spacecraft asreceived by two antennas (see figure). Thedirect output of such an interferometerwould only be the phase difference as afraction of a wavelength. If, for example,this difference were 0.3 of a wavelength,one cannot know a priori if the differencein distance to the spacecraft for the twoantennas is -1.7, -0.7, 0.3, 1.3, 2.3, etc. It istherefore not possible to determine theazimuth directly. But as this shift changesonly slowly (the basic cycle has a period ofone day), and as this shift can be monitoredcontinuously, the change in azimuth can bedetermined unambiguously and with avery high accuracy – in fact orders ofmagnitude better than the pointingaccuracy obtained from an antenna in‘auto-track mode’. The resulting orbitdetermination is even accurate enough forco-located clusters of spacecraft thatrequire a collision-avoidance orbit-controlstrategy, making a second, costly, andremotely located ranging terminalunnecessary.

Now, 10 years later, such aninterferometer has been built and tested atHispasat’s tracking station in Arganda,Spain. Developed by the Spanish companyCRISA under an ESA contract, it consistsof two identical parabolic antennas sitedjust 250 metres apart. Signals received atboth antennas are transmitted to a centralelectronics rack by means of wide-bandphase-stable optical fibres that can handlefrequencies of up to 20 GHz (seeaccompanying panel).

The accompanying figure illustrates thebasic output of the interferometer. It showsthe difference in ‘linear phase’, which is

Tracking Geostationary Satellites

Why Use Optical Fibres?The use of these fibres is a key element in the interferometer’s performance for tworeasons. Firstly, the excellent stability of the fibres as a function of temperature keepsthe relative phase error between both antenna chains and the central rack withinacceptable limits. Secondly, the wide-band characteristic of the fibres allows thesignal transmission to the central rack to be made at spacecraft received frequencies.This removes the need for distributed down-conversion equipment, which wouldotherwise be a major source of phase errors in the system, and enables a centraliseddual down-converter design, in which intermediate frequencies are generated directlyat the central rack, thereby minimising phase errors due to local oscillator frequenciesand their transmission to remote equipment.

Following the dual down-converter, both intermediate frequencies are digitised, suchthat their Fourier transform can be computed. This allows the relative phase differencebetween the two signal chains to be measured accurately over time and stored forfurther processing. This process is not limited to a single spacecraft and can besimultaneously performed for all satellites within view and within the receiver’sfrequency band.

The principle of the interferometer technique

Typical output from the interferometer


Operations & Infrastructure


essentially the difference in distance to thespacecraft from the left and right antennas.Because this phase shift is permanentlymonitored and its rate of change is slowcompared with the sampling frequency, the change in this ‘linear phase’ can be computed without ambiguity (positive/negative and number of wavelengths). Inthe example shown, the daily variation hasan amplitude of 513 mm, whichcorresponds to about 22 wavelengths. Thisvariation is due to the fact that thespacecraft’s orbit is neither perfectlycircular nor perfectly equatorial.

The basic accuracy obtained with one setof measurements used for one FourierTransform is about 5% of a wavelength.With a frequency of 13 GHz this is about1.2 mm. The corresponding directional

accuracy with 250 m between the antennasis then 1.2/250000 radians, or about0.0003 deg. This compares with theapproximately 0.01 deg pointing accuracyof an auto-track-mode antenna. It must, of course, be remembered that theinterferometer does not directly measureazimuth direction, but only the change ofthis azimuth with time. However, providedthe longitude of the spacecraft issignificantly different from the longitudeof the tracking station, the high accuracy ofthe interferometer more than compensatesfor any accuracy dilution due to having todetermine this additional parameter.

The SoftwareThe orbit-determination programs that

make up the ESOC ‘export package’ for

geostationary orbit control have beenextended to accept the interferometer data.This upgraded software package hasalready been applied to accuratelydetermine the orbit of the Hispasat-1Asatellite, using data from a ranging antennain Arganda (close to Madrid) provided bythe Hispasat organisation, and from theCRISA interferometer also installed onthis site. Used in combination withinterferometer ranging, this ESOCsoftware package (PEPSOC - PortableESOC Package for Synchronous OrbitControl) is the ideal system for optimaland cost-efficient orbit control for either asingle spacecraft, or a cluster of severalspacecraft sharing a common position inthe geostationary ring. r


Programmes


Programmes

in Progress

Status end-June 2004

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In Progress

ROSETTA

ARTEMIS

GNSS-1/EGNOS

ALPHABUS

GAIA

JWST

BEPICOLOMBO

GALILEOSAT

PROBA-2

SLOSHSAT

EOPP

ENVISAT

ADM-AEOLUS

METOP-2

MSG-1

COLUMBUS

ATV

NODE-2 & -3

CUPOLA

ERA

DMS (R)

ISS SUPPORT & UTIL.

EMIR/ELIPS

MFC

ARIANE-5 DEVELOP.

ARIANE-5 PLUS

FIRST LAUNCH OCT. 2005

LAUNCH JANUARY 2009

LAUNCH OCTOBER 2006

LAUNCHES JUN. 2006 & JUN. 2008

LAUNCH UNDER REVIEW

LAUNCHED JULY 2000

BIO, FSL, EPM with COLUMBUS

OPERATIONAL

AR5-ECA QUALIF. LAUNCHSEPTEMBER 2004

APCF-6/BIOBOX-5/ARMS/BIOPACK/FAST-2/ERISTO

MATROSHKA

VEGA FIRST LAUNCH END 2006

FOTON-MI

PCDF

EML-2

MARES/PEMS

MSG MELFI EDR/EUTEF/SOLAR

HERSCHEL/PLANCK

CRYOSAT

MSG-2/3/4

VENUS EXPRESS

LISA PATHFINDER

GOCE

SMOS

GNSS-1/EGNOSGNSS-1/EGNOS

DOUBLE STARTC-1

MAXUS-6

EMCSFOTON-M2

EML-1

FOTON-M3TEXUS-42 MAXUS-7

MSL

MASER-10

PROJECT 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007J FMAM J J A SOND J FMAM J J A SOND J FMAM J J A SOND J FMAM J J A SOND J FMAM J J A SOND J FMAM J J A SOND J FMAM J J A SOND

In Orbit

Under DevelopmentPROJECT 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007

J FMAM J J A SOND J FMAM J J A SOND J FMAM J J A SOND J FMAM J J A SOND J FMAM J J A SOND J FMAM J J A SOND J FMAM J J A SOND

COMMENTS

COMMENTS

SC

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NO

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SC

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DEFINITION PHASE

OPERATIONS

MAIN DEVELOPMENT PHASE

ADDITIONAL LIFE POSSIBLELAUNCH/READY FOR LAUNCH

STORAGE

SPACE TELESCOPE

ULYSSES

SOHO

HUYGENS

XMM-NEWTON

ERS-2

CLUSTER

INTEGRAL

LAUNCHED APRIL1990

LAUNCHED OCTOBER 1990

LAUNCHED DECEMBER 1995


LAUNCHED DECEMBER 1999

PROBA-1 LAUNCHED OCTOBER 2001

LAUNCHED APRIL 1995

RE-LAUNCHED MID 2000


LAUNCHED MARCH 2004

LAUNCHED JULY 2001

OPERATIONS START 2004

LAUNCH MID-2011

FIRST LAUNCH 2005

LAUNCH 2ND HALF 2006

LAUNCH SEPTEMBER 2004

LAUNCH NOV. 2004

LAUNCH AUG. 2006

LAUNCH FEB. 2007

LAUNCH OCT. 2007

LAUNCHED MARCH 2002

LAUNCH OCT. – DEC. 2005

LAUNCH 2008

LAUNCHED AUGUST 2002

LAUNCH FEBRUARY 2007

LAUNCH MSG-2 JAN. 2005LAUNCH MSG-3 2008 MSG-4 STOR. 2007

LAUNCH NOVEMBER 2005

LAUNCH MID-2008

LAUNCH AUGUST 2011

LAUNCH MID-2012

TC-1 LAUNCHED DEC. 2003,TC-2 LAUNCHED JULY 2004

TC-2

MARS EXPRESS LAUNCHED JUNE 2003

SMART-1 LAUNCHED SEPTEMBER 2003

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Programmes


XMM-Newton X-ray spectral-colour-composite image of theSubaru/XMM-Newton Deep Field. It covers a roughly squarepatch in the sky, measuring about 1.3 degrees on a side, orabout seven times the area of the full Moon. This view gives anX-ray pseudo-colour representation of all of the sources, codedaccording to their X-ray energies

ISO

The ISO Active Archive Phase Mid-TermReview was held on 14-15 June at theEuropean Space Astronomy Centre (ESAC) inVillafranca (E). The Board, composed ofexternal data providers and users, wasimpressed with the achievements of the pasttwo and a half years. Their recommendationsfocused on making ISO data and results aswidely available as possible, by (i) concentra-ting the activities during the remaining 30months on maximising the content andvisibility of the Highly Processed Data Products(HPDP), the result of dedicated projectsfocused on cleaning the pipeline products ofresidual instrument artifacts, (ii) continuingwith the integration of the ISO Archive into theVirtual Observatories, (iii) ensuring promptpublication of the planned special issue of ISOSpace Science Reviews, a 400 pages bookreviewing the results of ISO, based on the1120 refereed papers published to date andembracing all areas of astronomy.

A new, major version of the ISO Data Archive(Version 7) was released on 8 June. Thisrelease includes enhanced quality information(important in the Virtual Observatory context),a link to ISO catalogues based at the Centrede Données Astronomique, Strasbourg (F),and an improved postcard server. Additionally,ISOPHOT catalogues and an atlas ofcombined SWS and LWS observations ofgalactic HII regions have been added asHPDPs.

Ulysses

Ulysses operations continue to run smoothly.Experiment power sharing has resumedfollowing the end of the Jupiter DistantEncounter (JDE) campaign earlier this year.On 1 September, the position of the spacecraftwill be such that Ulysses will be almost directlybehind the Sun as seen from the Earth. Thisline-up is known as a ‘conjunction’. Duringperiods of close conjunction, the radio pathbetween the spacecraft and Earth travels

through the solar corona, introducing noiseinto both the uplink and downlink that canpotentially disrupt commanding and degradedata. In addition, the angle between the Sun,the spacecraft, and Earth decreases almost tozero, making it necessary to perform so-called‘Sun avoidance manoeuvres’ in order tomaintain the functionality of the onboard Sunsensors. These manoeuvres in turn increasethe off-pointing of the high-gain antenna fromthe Earth, further degrading the telemetryreception. All in all, this will be the mostoperationally challenging conjunction for theUlysses team since August 1991.

After the excitement of last year’s upsurge insolar activity and the recent Jupiter campaign,the science teams are turning their attentiononce again to studying the evolution of theglobal structure of the heliosphere. The Sun isapparently settling down as solar minimumapproaches, and this is reflected in therelatively stable recurrent solar-wind patternsthat are observed at Ulysses as the Sunrotates beneath it.

XMM-Newton

XMM-Newton operations are continuingsmoothly. Radiation levels around the beltsand during the remainder of the orbit havestarted to decrease again, which is a well-known seasonal effect. Data processing anddata shipment is proceeding according to plan;over 3400 observation sequences have beenexecuted, and the data for over 3250 havebeen shipped.

The work on upgrading the overall groundsegment (to SCOS-2000) is progressingaccording to plan, and should see initialoperations towards the end of 2004 and fulloperations by early 2005.

The programme-completion status is currentlyas follows:– AO-2 programme: 99.0%– AO-3 programme: 50.2%.

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In Progress

The National Astronomical Observatory ofJapan (NAOJ) has made the X-ray, optical andradio data of the XMM-Newton/Subaru DeepSurvey available to researchers worldwide.Over a thousand X-ray sources are found inthe XMM-Newton images. The first resultsconcerning the history and evolution ofgalaxies based on this multi-wavelength viewhave been published in MNRAS (350, p.1005).The data show an apparent age gradient,which provides an interesting challenge formodern galaxy-formation theories.

By the end of June 2004, some 580 papersbased on XMM-Newton data had beenpublished in, or submitted to the refereedliterature.

IntegralIntegral continues to operate smoothly, withthe spacecraft, instruments and scienceground segment all performing nominally. Thefourth in-flight annealing of the Spectrometer’s(SPI) Ge detectors was completed on 30 June.This baking is necessary to maintain theiroutstanding spectral resolution, which isdegraded by the intense cosmic particlebackground. Recently performed observationsinclude deep looks at the Carina and Cygnus-X star-formation regions, designed to searchfor gamma-ray line emission from radioactivealuminum, iron and titanium. Taking advantageof the large fields of view of the high-energyinstruments, observations of the Sagittarius-arm tangent region were performed to furtherinvestigate it and its numerous high-energysources. The extragalactic sky had goodvisibility conditions during the last quarter andIntegral observed the Seyfert galaxies NGC5548 and Mkn 590 (together with XMM-Newton), as well as making a Target ofOpportunity observation of the Blazar 3C 273when it entered an unusual state. In addition,the distant cluster of galaxies Abell 2256 wasstudied to investigate where in the cluster theintense hard X-ray emission, discovered by thenon-imaging BeppoSAX high-energy detector,originates.

Preparations are under way at the IntegralScience Operations Centre (ISOC) for releaseof the 3rd Announcement of Opportunity (AO),covering observations between 18 February2005 and 17 August 2006. The AO is expected

to open on 13 September, with proposals dueby 29 October 2004. The planning for themove of the ISOC from ESTEC to ESAC inVillafranca (E) is continuing. Full ISOCoperations at ESAC will start with the AO-3observations. During the transfer, the ISOC willcontinue to fully support Integral operationsand ensure that the 8-hour Target ofOpportunity response time is met.

Hubble SpaceTelescope

On 1 June, at the meeting of the AmericanAstronomical Society, Administrator ShawnO’Keefe announced NASA’s decision topursue the feasibility of a robotic servicingmission to HST. Although the primary goal ofsuch a robotic mission is to install a de-orbitmodule on HST, NASA is studying thefeasibility of also performing other tasks.These could include installing new batteries,gyroscopes and possibly science instrumentsthat would enhance the observatory’s sciencecapabilities as originally planned.

On 13 July, the Lanzerotti Committeepublished its Interim Report. It states that HSTis "arguably the most important telescope inhistory", and recommends that "NASA committo a servicing mission that accomplishes theobjectives of the originally planned SM4mission", including the new instruments andthe life-extending engineering components. Italso urges NASA to "take no actions thatwould preclude a Space Shuttle servicingmission" to HST while vigorously pursuing thedevelopment of a robotic servicing capability.

These developments may pave the way for aservicing mission to HST, either by Shuttle orrobotically, in late 2007 or early 2008, whichcould accomplish virtually all of the goals ofthe original SM4, including the installation ofboth new instruments. In this case, Hubbleoperations until 2012 or later should still bepossible, providing overlap with JWSToperations.

In the meantime, Hubble scientists andengineers have begun to study every option toprolong Hubble’s life. An operational modeusing only two gyroscopes instead of thenormally required three is in development and

will be tested on the spacecraft later this year.All of HST’s science instruments and theobservatory itself continue to operatenominally, delivering data that will continue toadvance our knowledge of the Universe.

SMART-1During the second quarter of 2004, SMART-1has continued to make great progress on itsjourney towards the Moon.

The new thrusting strategy is working well,with thrusting taking place around perigee forabout one third of every revolution, presentlyrepresenting about 27 hours of operation per 81 hour orbit. The thrust duration willprogressively increase to a maximum of 41.5hours starting on 10 August, when the orbitalperiod will be about 120 hours (5 days). Theelectric-propulsion system has accumulatedsome 2700 hours of operation, has impartedto the spacecraft a velocity increment of about2000 m/s (equivalent to 7200 km per hour),but has consumed a mere 42 kg of xenon.A series of lunar-resonance gravity assists willtake place on 20 August, 16 September and14 October.

In the meantime, all of the scientific instru-ments have been commissioned and areperforming above expectations.

The ground-control teams at ESTEC (NL) andESOC (D) are conducting ‘routine spacecraftoperations’, as well as actively preparing forthe lunar resonance, lunar capture and lunar-science phases.

Detailed trajectory optimisation based onactual electric-propulsion performance hasbeen pursued and SMART-1’s arrival at andcapture by the Moon is now expected on 19 November. The lunar orbit itself will then beoptimised to match scientific observationalneeds. The main lunar-science phase willbegin in January 2005.

Double Star The launch campaign for the second DoubleStar satellite (TC-2) began on 28 June. Allfunctional tests and preparation activities were

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Programmes


completed with the support of a small ESAand Astrium team. The satellite was launchedsuccessfully on 25 July at 07:05 UTC by anLM-2C/SM from the Taiyuan launch site,located in Shanxi Province, west of Beijing.

The launch took place a day earlier thanoriginally scheduled in order to avoid adverseweather conditions predicted for the followingdays. About 31 minutes after lift-off, TC-2 wasreleased into its nominal polar orbit, withperigee at 682 km, apogee at 38 280 km andan inclination of 90.1 degrees. This successmarks the latest important milestone in thescientific collaboration between China andESA.

Following the release of both rigid booms onthe spacecraft, the commissioning of theChinese and European scientific instrumentshas started and is expected to be completedby mid-September.

Meanwhile operations with the first DoubleStar satellite (TC-1) coordinated by the

Launch of the Double Star TC-2 satellite on 25 July from China’sTaiyuan launch site

Venus Express spacecraft integration nearing completion at AleniaSpazio (I)

DSP/Cluster scientific community are pro-ceeding smoothly, as too is the routine dataanalysis. TC-2 is expected to enter its routineoperational phase after the CommissioningReview planned for early October, and onemonth later the first results of the DSP missionwill be discussed at a Joint DSP/ ClusterScientific Workshop in Beijing.

RosettaThe first part of Rosetta’s commissioning wassuccessfully completed at the beginning ofJune. A preliminary Mission CommissioningResults Review found no major problems withthe spacecraft or payload. Due to the sharingof the New Norcia ground station with the MarsExpress mission, the Rosetta commissioning is taking place in two phases, with the secondpart scheduled for September/October. Allelements of the ground segment have so farworked according to plan.

During the commissioning, some of theimaging instruments took the opportunity toobserve Comet Linear, which is close to itsperihelion. This was a good opportunity for the‘comet chaser’ to fine-tune its instrumentsusing a real comet! The latest version of thesoftware was successfully uploaded to thespacecraft at the end of July.

Having made its first deep-space manoeuvreat the end of May, the spacecraft is now oncourse to return to Earth for its first gravity-assist in March 2005, which will complete thefirst part of the ‘grand tour’ designed to allowRosetta to rendezvous with CometChuryumov-Gerasimenko in 2014.

Venus Express The project continues to progress according toplan, with the spacecraft taking shape in theintegration facilities at Alenia Spazio in Turin(I). A successful Critical Design Reviewprocess, which began in March, wascompleted at the prime contractor’s site duringan intensive week-long meeting at Astrium inToulouse (F) in the first week of April.Deliveries of flight-model experiments are inprogress, and the first experiment to bedelivered – the Magnetometer (MAG) from theInstitute for Space Research in Graz (A) –has already been successfully integrated andtested with the flight spacecraft.

The environmental test campaign for VenusExpress is following the normal pattern for anyspacecraft, except for the need to simulate the substantially stronger solar flux it willexperience when orbiting Venus. For this, thesolar-simulation facility at Intespace (F) will be

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have been finalised as part of the reviewprocess and have been passed to industry forthe preparation of the CDR.

The qualification models of the scientificinstruments have completed a good part oftheir test sequence and are due for delivery toindustry in early autumn.

The grinding of the Herschel telescopeprimary mirror has been successfullycompleted, as well as the mechanical prooftest. The mirror has been shipped to Finlandfor the final surface polishing. The cryogenicoptical testing of the complete Plancktelescope secondary-reflector qualificationmodel proved to be extremely difficult;however, the central part could be measureddown to the operational orbital temperature ofabout 40 K. The primary reflector of thequalification-model telescope has successfullypassed the mechanical test phase and isawaiting cryogenic optical testing.

In Progress

Flight model of the giant 3.5 metre silicon-carbide telescope forthe Herschel spacecraft. When launched in 2007, it will be thelargest telescope ever placed in space

FEEP-8, an 8mm slit field-emission thruster for the LISAPathfinder mission

modified to concentrate the solar beam.The necessary design studies have beencompleted and a new lens for the facility hasbeen manufactured.

The Venus Express ground segment isprogressing well due to its effective heritagefrom the Mars Express mission controlsystem. A basic command and telemetrycompatibility test has already beensuccessfully performed between the missioncontrol system and the satellite. The primaryground station for Venus Express will be thenew ESA station at Cebreros in Spain, whichhas a 35 metre antenna with X-bandtransmission and reception.

Negotiations with Starsem (F), the launch-service provider, are proceeding well andagreement on the details of the final launch-window opportunities is imminent. VenusExpress will be launched on 26 October 2005from the Baikonur Cosmodrome inKazakhstan.

Herschel/Planck/Eddington

Several engineering models of electronic unitsfor the Service Module have been deliveredand are being integrated into the avionicsmodel. The manufacturing of structural-thermal/qualification model structural andcryostat hardware is nearly complete, withmost of the units having already beendelivered. The two main subassemblies of thequalification model of the Planck PayloadModule have completed all of theirqualification tests (mechanical and optical) andhave been formally delivered to Alcatel.Manufacture of the flight-model hardware forthe Herschel cryostat, including the heliumtanks and the cryostat vacuum vessel, is nowfully complete. Assembly and early testing ofthese items is underway. In preparation for theSystem and Service Module Critical DesignReview (CDR) that will start in mid-August, thePayload Module CDRs for Herschel andPlanck have already successfully concluded.

The Preliminary Design Review process forthe launcher with Arianespace has also beencompleted successfully. The details of theinjection strategy and the mission analyses

The parallel Eddington system-definitionstudies have been completed with a well-defined technical baseline. The first CCDs forthe Eddington cameras have been tested andwork according to the requirements. Thesecond hardware set is in the final stages ofcompletion.

SMART-2/LISAPathfinder

LISA Pathfinder implementation-phaseactivities have started for the spacecraft, withAstrium UK as industrial prime contractor.The first major event has been the SystemRequirements Review (SRR), which took placefrom 24 May to 25 June. The Board requestedthat the scientific and mission requirements be fully incorporated into the SystemRequirements Document before the Reviewcould be successfully closed. The mass andpower budgets also need to be consolidated.A delta SRR close-out review will thereforeaddress these and other spacecraftarchitectural-level requirements, including theEuropean instrument LISA TechnologyPackage (LTP) and the US instrumentDisturbance Reduction System (DRS), and isdue to be completed at the beginning ofNovember.

For the European instrument development,following the positive recommendation forCouncil approval of the LTP Multi-LateralAgreement, the LTP procurement action atnational level has started.

Signature of the Technical AssistanceAgreements between ESA and the USauthorities is imminent. This is essential topermit the flow of technical-interface databetween Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) and

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ESA, and to allow European participation in the Critical Design Review for the Americaninstrument, which will take place in October atJPL.

The technological development of the micro-propulsion technology, which is essential forthe LISA Pathfinder mission, is in a decisivephase. Long-duration testing of one the field-emission electrical propulsion (FEEP) micro-thrusters has started, as well as direct thrustand thrust noise measurements. Performanceverification for the cold-gas micro-thrusters isproceeding in parallel.

James Webb SpaceTelescope (JWST)

The JWST project has successfully passedseveral NASA lower-level System RequirementReviews (SRR), including those for the OpticalTelescope, the Integrated Science InstrumentModule (ISIM) and NIRCam, as well as thedelta-SRR for MIRI.

ESA’s participation in JWST includes provisionof the Near-Infrared Spectrograph (NIRSpec),a major part of the Mid Infra-Red Instrument(MIRI), consisting of an imager and aspectrograph developed by a consortium ofEuropean Institutes, and an Ariane-5 launchvehicle to put JWST into orbit in 2011.

NIRSpecFollowing approval by ESA’s Industrial Policy Committee (IPC), the NIRSpecImplementation-Phase Contract wassuccessfully negotiated on 2 July with EADSAstrium GmbH (D). Subcontractors for all‘complementary activities’ will be selected via open competitive tenders in the periodbetween September 2004 and July 2005.In parallel, agreements with NASA oninterfaces and delivery dates are beingfinalised. NIRSpec activities will now focus onpreparations for the forthcoming SRR, with afinal Board meeting currently scheduled for thebeginning of November.

Work on the NASA-provided Detector and MicroShutter Systems is ongoing, with new testresults expected in the September timeframe.The SRRs for both systems are currentlyplanned for the second week of September.

At its June session, the ESA ScienceProgramme Committee (SPC) approved thecomposition of the NIRSpec InstrumentScience Team.

MIRIFirst units for the MIRI structural-thermalmodel (STM) programme are being deliveredfor system integration. A successful Test-Facility Critical Design Review was recentlyheld at RAL (UK), paving the way for the STM test campaign. The MIRI EuropeanConsortium is now preparing for the OpticalBench Assembly (OBA) Preliminary DesignReview, with the final Board meeting currentlyplanned for end-November.

On the US side, JPL has ultimately selectedLockheed Martin (US) as prime contractor forthe MIRI dewar cryostat. This should enable aMIRI System Preliminary Design Review totake place in January 2005.

GaiaThe demonstrator model for the Gaia primarymirror was successfully sintered at theBoostec facilities in France in May. The GaiaLarge Size SiC Mirror study, led by EADSAstrium, aims to demonstrate the feasibility ofthe current primary mirror design by buildingand testing a replica mirror (including polishingand coating). The study is expected to becompleted by mid-2005.

Under contract to ESA, EADS Astrium inToulouse (F) is designing, building and testingtwo engineering models of the Gaia astrometricfocal plane. The Thermal MechanicalDemonstrator Model (TMDM) is a mock-up ofthe focal-plane structure that will be used forintegration and alignment verification, andthermal-vacuum testing. The Electro-OpticalDemonstrator Model (EODM) is designed to beelectronically representative of the flight focalplane. It contains four fully-functional CCDs andwill be used to assess their performance undernominal operating conditions in the variousGaia TDI modes and for a variety of simulatedstar magnitudes. The Critical Design Review(CDR), held in June, marked the end of thedesign phase for both of these demonstratorunits. Astrium now has formal approval for itsdesigns from ESA and will proceed to integratethe focal-plane demonstrators.

A core project team has been established atESTEC in Noordwijk (NL) with the immediatepriority of reviewing the status of all of thecritical technologies needed, before issuingthe industrial Invitation to Tender (ITT) in 2005.

A major Symposium devoted to Gaia, ‘TheThree-Dimensional Universe', will be held atthe Observatoire de Paris-Meudon on 4-7October and more than 200 participants havealready registered. This Symposium will be afocus for the presentation of the scientific andtechnical progress made by the project overthe past two years, in advance of enteringPhase-B2. Details are available on the Gaiaweb site.

AlphaBusAlphaBus is a cooperative undertaking by ESAand CNES for the development of a new multi-mission platform for satellite telecom-munications. Both Agencies have agreed toproceed with the preparation of a commonRequest for Quotation (RFQ) for the AlphaBusmain development phase (Phase-C/D) with theprime contractors Alcatel Space (F) and EADSAstrium (F). The AlphaBus Phase-C/D RFQanticipates the development of the Alphabusproduct line and the procurement of the proto-flight model.

AlphaBus is a unique product to complementthe upper range of existing Eurostar andSpacebus lines, both of which accommodatepayloads requiring up to 12 kW of power.AlphaBus targets payloads with power needsfrom 12 to 18 kW, and the design is flexibleenough to handle a very wide range of futuremulti-band telecommunication missions.

AlphaBus benefits from several noveltechnologies being developed as part of thepreparatory programme running under theESA ARTES-8 element. To date more thantwenty contracts have been awarded by theAgency to support equipment providers in pre-developing the necessary enablingtechnologies.

The overall tendering and selection processfor building up the Phase-C/D industrialconsortium is also part of ESA’s preparatoryprogramme and the evaluation of first bids isnow well underway.

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requirements. This gives good confidence thatthe scientific objectives of the CryoSat missionwill be met.

The activities related to the CryoSat groundsegment are progressing according to plan.A new Satellite Validation Test (SVT 1-a) wassuccessfully performed by ESOC in mid-July,to check the overall operability of the satellite.An internal workshop has also taken place toconsolidate the consistency of the algorithmsdeveloped within the Instrument ProcessingFacility to generate the Level-1b and Level-2products.

On the launcher side, a visit to the Plesetskcosmodrome has been organised to finalisethe preparatory activities for the launchcampaign.

In Progress

3D model of the Mechanically Pumped Fluid-Loop Pump packagedeveloped by Bradford Engineering (NL), NLR (NL) andRealtechnologie AG (CH) for the high-power AlphaBus satellites

The CryoSat spacecraft at EADS-Astrium’s premises, prior toshipment to IABG for further testing

In parallel, the core Phase-B system activitiesat prime-contractor level funded by CNES arealmost completed and will be finalised with thePreliminary Design Review starting in October.

CryoSatSignificant progress has been made in theassembly and integration of the proto-flightmodel of CryoSat: the nadir plate has beenpopulated with the electronic equipmentpreviously tested on the ‘Satellite Test Bed’,and the three star trackers are now installedclose to the large double antenna of theSIRAL radar altimeter. With the integration ofthe Sun-Earth sensors, the Attitude OrbitControl System (AOCS) is now fullyoperational. Finally, in early July, the two largesolar panels have been put into position.Before shipment to IABG (D) for environmentaltests, the CryoSat spacecraft has successfullyundergone a large number of electrical andsoftware tests.

On the payload side, the start of the final testson the SIRAL altimeter has been postponeddue to unexpected activities on the DigitalProcessing Unit: a critical electronic modulehas been exchanged, as a precautionarymeasure, to avoid potential problems in orbit.

A Critical Design Review of the spacesegment has also been performed and itpositively concluded that the performancepredictions for both the spacecraft and itspayload are well within the specified

Finally the first part of the pre-validationcampaign (CryoVex 2004) has beensuccessfully conducted in-situ with the supportof scientific experts stationed in Greenland.

Due to the various delays encountered, theCryoSat launch is now planned to take placefrom Plesetsk in March 2005.

GOCE The main emphasis in the space-segmentdevelopment activities continues to be on theunit-level testing and on the execution of theequipment-level Critical Design Reviews. Thesatellite structural-model (SM) mechanicalqualification test programme has beensuccessfully completed. Sine, acoustic-noise,and clamp-band release shock tests and therelated alignment checks have all beenperformed according to schedule in theESTEC test facilities in Noordwijk (NL). Thenext activity will be the transportation of theSM primary structure back to CASA (E) for itsrefurbishment to become the flight model.

Good progress has also been made in thedevelopment of the satellite’s main instrument.

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Alcatel Space has started the electricalintegration of the engineering model of theGradiometer, while ONERA has completed the mechanical integration of the firstAccelerometer Sensor Head flight model.

In the platform area, Astrium GmbH hasbegun the integration of the EngineeringModel Test Bench that will be used to verifythe functional and electrical performance ofthe platform, including real-time closed-looptests with the pre-validated flight software.

The Eurockot launch-services procurementactivities are proceeding according to plan,

GOCE structural-model separation shock test, simulating the firing of the pyrotechnic devices that will release the satellite from thelauncher adapter

with the related preliminary mission analysisconsolidation phase having been successfullycompleted.

Concerning the ground segment, theEuropean GOCE Gravity Consortium proposalfor the Level-1 to Level-2 data-processingfacility has been successfully negotiated andthe related work kick-off has been sanctioned.The Invitation to Tender (ITT) for theprocurement of the Calibration MonitoringFacility and the Reference Planning Facilityhas been finalised and released.

The European Geophysical Union Congress

and Exhibition in Nice at the end of Aprilprovided an excellent opportunity to promotethe GOCE mission during specific Geodesysessions, in which GOCE was the focus of anumber of scientific presentations.

SMOSThe payload Phase-C/D contract with EADSCASA (E) was signed on 11 June, and work is under way at all subcontractors.Manufacturing Design Reviews have beencompleted for most subsystems andengineering-model production is also underway. The first (and most schedule-critical)subsystem, the LICEF receivers, have alreadybeen completed and are undergoingenvironmental testing.

The Implementation Agreement with CNESwas endorsed at the June meeting of the ESACouncil and is now ready for signature by theDirector Generals of ESA and CNES.

The satellite Phase-B/C/D contract with Alcatelis in preparation, with the Phase-B startscheduled for October.

The Mission Preliminary Design Review (PDR)was held in May/June, and emphasised theschedule criticality of the Data ProcessingGround Segment. Its Phase-B was released in July, with the aim of starting Phase-C/D inJanuary 2005.

ADM-AeolusDesign and manufacture of all the spacecraftand instrument subsystems is well underway.Almost all subsystem Preliminary DesignReviews have been held. Several subsystemCritical Design Reviews have also beencompleted.

All parts of the optical structural/thermal model (OSTM) of the instrument are beingmanufactured. A large crack in the primarysilicon-carbide mirror of the OSTM has beensuccessfully repaired. The structural model ofthe optical bench, which forms the heart of the instrument, has been successsfullymechanically tested. Assembly and testing ofthe OSTM, which includes critical alignment of

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the telescope, will take place towards the endof the year. The structural model (STM) of thespacecraft platform will be delivered in August.Mating of the OSTM and the platform to formthe satellte STM will take place in early 2005,to be followed by a satellite mechanical testingcampaign.

The flight models of the primary andsecondary mirrors have been accepted, andthe primary mirror has been sent for polishing.A flight-spare primary mirror has also beenaccepted. Elsewhere in the instrument, smallchanges have been made to reflect lessonslearnt from the instrument pre-developmentmodel test programme.

There have been difficulties with the deliveryof an adequate number of pump diode stacksfor the laser. The main problem has beentraced to a small change in the manufacturingprocesss for the semiconductor wafers used tofabricate the stacks. The original process hasbeen reverted to and the problem solved.Changes to the model philosophy for the laserare being studied in order to minimise theschedule impact of this problem.

In Progress

The MetOp-2 satellite during coupling of the Payload and ServiceModules at EADS Astrium in Toulouse (F)

MSG-3 on the Compact Antenna Test Range (CATR) at Alcatel Space in Cannes (F) (Courtesy of Alcatel Space)

There is no engineering model of the satellite,but rather a test configuration based aroundonboard software, EGSE and simulations,known as the Model-based Development andVerification Environment (MDVE). The basicEGSE has been delivered, as has abreadboard onboard computer and its basicsoftware. The software models needed for theconfiguration are also nearing completion.Work on building the MDVE itself is nowstarting.

The flight-model satellite is due to be launchedin October 2007.

MetOpA major milestone has been achieved with thecompletion of the MetOp-1 satellite integrationprogramme and the successful execution ofthe MetOp-1 Flight Acceptance Review (Part1) (FAR-1). The latter marks the completion ofthe design and qualification phase. Due to therestructured programme, MetOp-1 does notyet have a full flightworthy set of instrumentsand will now be stored during the preparationof MetOp-2, the first MetOp to be launched atthe end of 2005. The final instrumentcomplement will be integrated on MetOp-1

before its launch, planned in the 2010 time,and Part-2 of the FAR-1 will be held at thattime.

Following the post-environmental-test checks,which confirmed the excellent health of thesatellite, the final MetOp-1 assembly,integration and test (AIT) activitiesconcentrated on the execution of the satelliteonboard software testing, the AOCS sign testsand the second Satellite System VerificationTest (SSVT) with the Eumetsat mission-controlsystem.

The MetOp-1 satellite will be now de-integrated into its three constituent modules:Service Module (SVM), Payload Module (PLM)and Solar Array (SA). A number of open tasks mainly related to the retrofitting ofunits/instruments following the correction ofanomalies will be performed before their entryinto storage, which is now predicted for thelate autumn.

On MetOp-2, the Payload Module (PLM-2)completed the standalone preparatoryactivities following the thermal-vacuum test inFebruary. These included the updating ofsome software at instrument (A-DCS) andPLM level, and the re-integration of a newAMSU-A1 instrument, following the failure that

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occurred on the previous instrument modelduring thermal-vacuum testing. The finalmission timeline test (SFT-3) including somemodified operations has also beensuccessfully completed. Following an antenna-deployment check and the completion of thealignment and dimensional measurements,PLM 2 was shipped to Toulouse (F) for thestart of the satellite activities.

With respect to the Service Module (SVM-2), a number of open work items resulting fromprevious AIT activities have been completed inthe past months, including repair of the EPRM,EDR and EIU and replacement of a fewdefective thermostats. The only critical, still-ongoing issue at the moment is theinvestigation of a leak in the Reaction ControlSubsystem (RCS) which occurred during thethermal-vacuum test at low temperature. Aninvestigation plan has been agreed withindustry and a dedicated test set-up is beingprepared to identify the leaking element beforethe start of the FM2 satellite integrationactivities.

The MetOp-2 satellite is well on track for alaunch in the fourth quarter of 2005, within thelaunch period agreed between Eumetsat andthe launch service provider Starsem.

Meteosat SecondGeneration (MSG)

MSG-1The Routine Operations of the first of theMeteosat Second Generation satellites, nowdesignated Meteosat-8 by Eumetsat, whichstarted on 29 January, are nominal.

MSG-2MSG-2 was taken out of storage in the secondweek of April for the completion of open workitems and de-storage health tests. SomeMSG-2 units have been be replaced by MSG-3 units. After the System Validation Test (SVT)and fine balancing, the spacecraft will beready for shipment to the Ariane-5 launch sitein Kourou, French Guiana, in early November,for a planned launch on 15 February 2005.

MSG-3 All nominal assembly, integration and testactivities have been completed. Some units

had to be dismounted for retrofitting ormounting on MSG-2. The Pre-Storage Review,which started at the end of April, wascompleted by the beginning of July. Thespacecraft remains stored in the clean room atAlcatel Space in Cannes (F).

MSG-4 The MSG-4 System Baseline Status Reviewwas successfully completed on 11 May. Theparts procurement schedule, mainly for theMCP units, remains critical.

VegaThe Vega System Design Review took placeduring April and May and also involvedindependent reviewers from ASI, CNES, DGAand EADS, as well as ESA. The conclusionswere submitted on 8 June to a Board of seniorrepresentatives of ESA and the other agenciesinvolved in Vega. A number of technical andprogrammatic difficulties that need timelyresolution have been identified and an actionplan has been agreed with industry for thecompletion of critical actions.

Live acoustic tests with a scaled model ofVega and its launch pad have been completedat the Avio plant in Colleferro (I).

The mechanical tests on the first model of theZefiro-9 motor case have been successfullycompleted. Manufacture of the next model (DM 0) is in progress. The first Zefiro-23 motorcase has undergone its hydroproof test.

In April, a working group involving ESA,Arianespace and ELV staff analysed a numberof organisational and programmatic elementsthat need to be defined before the start of theVega production and exploitation phase. Theresults of these analyses will serve as input for an overall approach to the organisation oflauncher production and exploitation (Ariane,Vega and Soyuz).

The P80 Inert Loading Model activities havebeen successfully concluded in Kourou (Fr. Guiana) with the validation of the castingprocess and its tooling, which differsubstantially from Ariane. Manufacture of thefirst model of the P80 motor case (shortenedTM) is in progress at the dedicated Avio facilityin Colleferro (I). The Ariane and P80-induced

modifications to the BEAP firing test range inKourou have been completed as planned,ready for the ARTA tests this autumn.

In its June session, the Industrial PolicyCommittee (IPC) endorsed the Agency’sproposal to allocate overall industrialresponsibility for the Vega Ground Segment toVitrociset (I) as Prime Contractor, leading aconsortium of European companies. Thisproposal offered an optimised solution toseveral programmatic issues and itsendorsement by the IPC allows work to start onthe launch facilities for Vega in French Guiana.

International SpaceStation

HighlightsThe very successful Dutch Soyuz mission,DELTA, with André Kuipers took place from 19to 30 April. Most of the experiments conductedproduced good scientific results (more than an 80% success rate) and some are beingcontinued into Increment 9. This Soyuzmission (flight 8S) marked the 40th successfulflight to the ISS. Progress flight 14P has sinceflown successfully to the Station, arriving on27 May.

Planning for an Italian Soyuz flight to the ISSin April 2005 with ESA astronaut RobertoVittori is underway, and negotiations have alsobeen initiated with the Russian parties for apossible long-duration flight to the ISS inOctober 2005 with an ESA astronaut.

Negotiations on the ISS Initial Exploitationcontract have been completed and signatureof the contract, which involves a total of 1.046BEuro and includes the production of sixATVs, logistics and sustaining engineering,ATV crew training and operations-preparationactivities, took place on 13 July.

Space infrastructure developmentAll Columbus payload facility racks (Biolab,European Physiology Module, Fluid ScienceLaboratory, and European Drawer Rack) havebeen integrated into the Columbus proto-flightmodel, and the first round of individual-payloadintegrated functional testing has beensuccessfully completed. The External PayloadFacility has been attached to the end-cone of

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the module. The first end-to-end test involvingthe Electrical Test Model and ground segment(the so-called System Validation Test 10) hasstarted, and preparation for the QualificationReview Part 2, due to start in September, iswell underway.

The ATV ‘Jules Verne’ Spacecraft StructureQualification Review has been successfullycompleted and System Validation Tests,including end-to-end tests with the Trackingand Data-Relay Satellite System (TDRSS),also involving the ATV Control Centre, havebeen completed successfully. Integration inBremen (D) has been completed and deliveryto ESTEC in Noordwijk (NL) for environmentaltesting has been brought forward to mid-July.The integrated launch-readiness date hasbeen agreed by all parties to be mid-October2005; both NASA and the Russian SpaceAgency have been informed in order to planfor the launch and mission scheduling.

Discussions are ongoing with NASA on thetechnical and programmatic baseline for theNodes programme.

The Preliminary Design Review for theCryogenic Freezer (CryoSystem) has beencompleted and negotiations with NASA onsome rack-configuration changes have beenconcluded.

The Cupola harness and secondary structurehave been installed and crew inspection,including crew fit checks, performed. TheQualification and Acceptance Review hasstarted in readiness for the Cupola’s deliveryto NASA in September 2004 and the processfor transfer of ownership has been initiated.

The Data Management System (DMS-R) on-board the ISS is continuing to performflawlessly.

The Acceptance Review closeout datapackage for the European Robotic Arm (ERA)is under review.

Operations and related ground segments The Columbus Control Centre System DesignReview was successfully completed. TheQualification and Acceptance Review hasbeen postponed to Spring 2005, but will nowcover the entire scope of the qualification.

Work is continuing to prepare for the first

System Validation Tests, currently planned forend-July, of Columbus with the ColumbusControl Centre (COL-CC) and the UserSupport and Operations Centres (USOCs).

Utilisation planning, payload developmentand preparatory missionsA new Announcement of Opportunity (AO) inLife and Physical Sciences, including a part fornew Microgravity Application Promotion (MAP)proposals, was approved and has beenreleased on 2 July.

As a result of the International Life ScienceResearch Announcement (ILSRA 2004), thereare 80 ESA proposals, 70 of which are beingreviewed by international Peer Boards inWashington DC, to which ESA has contributed50% of the members.

Instrument acceptance for the externalpayloads EuTEF (an infrastructure to provideaccommodation for up to seven experiments)and SOLAR (for investigating solar phenomena)is in progress and interface testing on theColumbus Rack Level Test Facility is planned to take place in October 2004.

Issues relating to the operability of the AtomicClock external payload (ACES) on the ISShave now been clarified.

Delivery of the European Drawer Rack (EDR)training model to the European AstronautCentre (EAC) in Cologne (D) has taken place,thereby completing the deliveries of trainingmodels of all Columbus payloads.

Interim Utilisation activities, covering theperiod 2004-2006, have been approved andinclude a European Soyuz Mission. Thesubstantial experiment package includes:– increased parabolic flights and drop-tower

experiments– an Electromagnetic Levitator precursor for

material science on a MiniTexus sounding rocket

– EXPOSE-R for exobiology research on the Russian Module of the ISS

– biology experiments with KUBIK on Soyuz Taxi Flights

– various human-physiology experiments on the ISS (FlyWheel, Respiratory, Cardio/Neuro), and

– various physical-science experiments in theMicrogravity Science Glovebox (MSG) on the ISS.

The Pulmonary Function System Flight Model-2 has been delivered to JSC for integrationinto NASA’s Human Research Facility, forlaunch in March 2005.

The first flight model of the –80 degC Freezer(MELFI) is being prepared at Kennedy SpaceCenter (KSC) for launch in May 2005 and thesecond flight model has been delivered toKSC for ISS interface testing.

The European Modular Cultivation System(EMCS) flight-model system integration/verification is in its final stage before deliveryto KSC for EXPRESS rack integration andlaunch in May 2005.

ISS educationEducation Kits have been completed in otherlanguages and distributed, and two videolessons (DVDs) are being prepared. Threeuniversity student experiments were performedduring the Dutch Soyuz Mission, DELTA, andfurther student experiments are being plannedfor FOTON and future Soyuz missions.

Commercial activitiesA commercial agent for Biotechnology hasbeen selected and an independent review ofthe commercialisation programme is close tocompletion.

Astronaut activitiesFrom 10 to14 May, the European AstronautCentre (EAC) in Cologne (D) hosted a meetingof the International Training Control Board(ITCB).

The Multilateral Medical Operations Panel,meeting at Johnson Space Center in June,has updated the Crew Scheduling Constraintsfor Short Duration Missions on the ISS (Soyuzand Shuttle) in order to maintain the balancebetween crew operations and scientific return.

At the Multilateral Crew Operations Panelmeeting held at EAC on 28-30 June, the mainpoints of discussion were the Space Shuttle’sreturn-to-flight in 2005 and crew-rotationoptions with two crew members on Soyuz andone on the Shuttle.

The third one-week session of ColumbusSystem User Level Training has beenperformed for payload engineers, Facility-Responsible Centre personnel, and Columbusflight controllers. r

In Progress

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www.esa.intesa bulletin 119 - august 200482

News

In BriefESA’s Mars Express has relayed pictures from one of NASA's Mars rovers for the first time, as part ofa set of interplanetary networking demonstrations. These demonstrations pave the way for future Marsmissions to draw on joint interplanetary networking capabilities. ESA and NASA planned thesedemonstrations as part of continuing efforts to cooperate in space exploration.

On 4 August, as Mars Express flew over NASA’s Mars exploration rover Opportunity, it successfullyreceived data previously collected and stored by the rover. The data, including 15 science imagesfrom the rover's nine cameras, were then downlinked to ESA’s European Space Operations Centre(ESOC) in Darmstadt (Germany) and immediately relayed to the Mars Exploration Rovers team basedat the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, USA.

NASA’s Mars Odyssey and Mars Global Surveyor orbiters have so far relayed most of the dataproduced by the rovers since they landed in January. Communication compatibility between MarsExpress and the rovers had already been demonstrated in February, although at a low data rate.The 4 August session, at a transmit rate of 42.6 megabits in about six minutes, set a new mark forinternational networking around another planet.

“We're delighted how well this has been working, and thankful to have Mars Express in orbit,” saidRichard Horttor of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, California, project manager forNASA's role in Mars Express. JPL engineer Gary Noreen of the Mars Network Office said: “thecapabilities that our international teamwork is advancing this month could be important in the futureexploration of Mars.”

“Establishing a reliable communication network around Mars or other planets is crucial for futureexploration missions, as it will allow improved coverage and also an increase in the amount of datathat can be brought back to Earth,” said Con McCarthy, from ESA’s Mars Express project, “thetracking mode will enable ESA and NASA to pinpoint a spacecraft’s position more accurately duringcritical mission phases.” r

Snapshots from a planetary holiday –international interplanetary networking

works!

This false-colour image of the interior of ‘Endurance Crater’ on Mars wascollected on 4 August 2004 by NASA’s Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity andrelayed to Earth by ESA’s Mars Express together with other scientific data. Threeseparate frames, taken through red, green and blue filters, were combined toproduce this colour image. (NASA/JPL/Cornell)

This view of the interior slope and rim of ‘Endurance Crater’ comes from thenavigation camera on NASA’s Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity with an assistfrom the ESA’s Mars Express. Rover wheel tracks are visible in the foreground.(NASA/JPL)

IN BRIEF 10/7/04 2:32 PM Page 82

On the way to its final destination Titan, ESA's Huygens atmosphericprobe has undergone an important health check-up.

The NASA/ESA/ASI Cassini-Huygens spacecraft entered orbit aroundSaturn on 1 July, crossing the planet's rings. The data collected at ESA'sEuropean Space Operations Centre (ESOC) in Darmstadt (D) show thatthis delicate and risky manoeuvre proved harmless for all instruments onboard and mission-control specialists gave Huygens a perfect bill of health.

During its long journey with Cassini, starting on 15 October 1997, theproper working of the Huygens probe and of its scientific instruments hasbeen regularly verified. This check-out, however, was special, since ittook place after Cassini-Huygens transited twice through the rings ofSaturn. Although the rings appear solid from a distance, they are formedby millions of tiny frozen dust particles and ice blocks, some the size of agrain of sand and others as big as a house.

To minimise any risk that some of these fragments would hit criticalsubsystems or on-board instruments, mission specialists sent Cassini-Huygens through a 'gap' in the rings. The gap was known to be safe asother earlier deep-space probes, such as NASA's Pioneer 11, hadalready passed through it unharmed.

The excellent performances of Cassini and its instruments immediatelyafter the ring-plane crossings already indicated that the spacecraft hadsurvived this extreme environment. The next probe check-outs,scheduled for 14 September and 23 November, are two major steps inpreparation for the release from Cassini on 25 December this year. Thecruising phase to Titan will then last 21 days, followed on 14 January2005 by the descent through its dense atmosphere.

In the meantime, Cassini-Huygens has taken its first pictures of Saturn’smoon Titan, which can be seen encircled in a purple stratospheric haze.The image shows two thin haze layers. The outer haze layer is detachedand appears to float high in the atmosphere. Because of its thinness, thehigh haze layer is best seen at the moon's limb.

Images like this one reveal some of the key steps in the formation andevolution of Titan's haze. The process is thought to begin in the highatmosphere, at altitudes above 400 kilometres, where ultraviolet lightbreaks down methane and nitrogen molecules. The products arebelieved to react to form more complex organic molecules containingcarbon, hydrogen and nitrogen that can combine to form the very smallparticles seen as haze. The bottom of the detached haze layer is a fewhundred kilometres above the surface and is about 120 kilometres thick.

The image has been falsely coloured, the globe of Titan retains the paleorange hue our eyes would usually see, but both the main atmospherichaze and the thin detached layer have been brightened and given apurple colour to enhance their visibility.

A full article on the scientific discoveries of the mission so far will appearin the next issue of ESA Bulletin. r


In Brief

Huygens probe in perfect health

The Huygens probe (right) mounted on Cassini

Titan’s purple haze


On 13 July ESA and EADS Space Transportation signed a 1-billion-Eurocontract that will allow Europe to start the initial exploitation of theInternational Space Station.

The contract covers preparations for the operation of Columbus, ESA’slaboratory on the International Space Station, and the production of sixEuropean multifunctional cargo ships, called Automated Transfer Vehicles(ATVs). On behalf of the ESA Director General, the Director of HumanSpaceflight, Jörg Feustel-Büechl, signed this ‘Initial ExploitationContract’; on the industrial side the signatures were Josef Kind andHervé Guillou, President and CEO of EADS Space Transportation,respectively.

The ATVs are essential in the supply of the ISS with spare parts, food,air and water for its permanent crew. They will also carry experimentequipment to the Station and remove waste and material that is nolonger needed onboard. Their flights represent Europe’s contribution inkind to the operating cost of the ISS and help make ESA a key partner inthe ISS programme. The procurement of the six new ATVs, via a newphased contract, starts with the purchase of equipment for the secondATV flight model in 2004, followed by purchase of equipment for the thirdATV and the integration of the second ATV. The first vehicle, named after

Jules Verne, has been developed and produced under a previouscontract and is due for launch on an Ariane-5 from Kourou in the secondhalf of 2005. The purchase of equipment for the next ATV flight modelsand their assembly will follow in 2006.

The new contract allows for a flexible approach that takes into accountthe evolving needs of the ISS programme. The activities covered by thecontract deal with the European experiment facilities for the InternationalSpace Station and the experiment programme. The contract also coversactivities in the fields of the European flight control team and crewtraining, ground facility maintenance and engineering support forColumbus.

“This contract is a big step forward for Europe in the exploitation of theInternational Space Station”, said ESA Director Jörg Feustel-Büechl.“I am very pleased to see this happen, because it demonstrates thatEurope is an important and reliable partner in the ISS programme and isable to deliver state-of-the-art space technology, in this case forrendezvous and docking – which is a European first.” r


News

Contract signed with EADS Space Transportation for European ISS elements

‘Project: Zero Gravity’ – Free ISS DVD lesson for teachers

We all know that space is a subject that fascinates children of all ages.To help capture the interest of youngsters in science, and to supportteachers looking for ways to teach the basics of physics, ESA hasproduced a comprehensive ISS DVD Lesson (the first in a series entitled‘Project: Zero Gravity’) about Newton’s three Laws of Motion. Experts,teachers and their pupils from across Europe gave their input andsupport during the production.

Pupils from schools in Germany, Spain and Ireland joined with ESAastronauts to create a series of filmed space and comparable Earth-based science experiments that take science out of the classroom andinto real life. The space footage was shot on board the ISS – a novelclassroom environment – during the ‘Cervantes’ Soyuz Mission lastOctober by Spanish ESA astronaut Pedro Duque and RussianCommander Alexander Kaleri. The ground-based experiments show howNewton’s Laws of Motion affect everyday objects and even the pupilsthemselves.

Pedro Duque tests Newton’s Laws on the ISS


Of relevance to pupils aged 12-18 years, the DVD has been designed foruse in the classroom and to encourage group exercises. It includes 11European languages and comes in a handy DVD case that contains aTeacher’s Guide with an explanation of how to use the DVD, a briefintroduction to the ISS, inter-disciplinary classroom activities related toEuropean curricula, a glossary, further web and reading references andan evaluation form. Chapters from the Teacher’s Guide (classroomexercises, glossary, etc.) can also be copied and distributed to pupils.

Over 10,000 copies will be distributed to secondary schools across ESAMember States. So we’re calling all secondary-school teachers: get yourfree copy of the DVD by signing up at

"http://www.esa.int/spaceflight/education" r


In Brief

Jules Verne at ESTEC

Filming the DVD on the Space Station

After a long and complicated journey by air, land and sea, the firstAutomated Transfer Vehicle (ATV) called ‘Jules Verne’ arrived at ESA’sEuropean Space Research and Technology Centre (ESTEC) inNoordwijk, the Netherlands, on 15 July. Jules Verne is the first of sevenEuropean supply ships for the International Space Station. It will undergoextensive testing at ESTEC over the next six months.

The ATV's instrumentation and payload bay were flown in two AirbusTransporters from Bremen in Germany to Amsterdam’s Schiphol airport.The two shipments continued their journey by boat to Katwijk, finallyarriving at the gates of ESTEC on 15 July.

The first tests in ESTEC's new Maxwell electromagnetic radiation chamberwill take place in September, followed in October by acoustic testing in theLarge European Acoustic Facility (LEAF). The ATV will be subjected to anoise level of 145 decibels (several hundred times louder than a popconcert) in order to see whether the vibration resulting from the massivenoise of the Ariane-5 rockets could cause any damage during the launch.

After the tank leakage tests and extending the solar panels, temperaturetesting will take place in the new year in the Large Space Simulator. Thissimulator will give Jules Verne a taste of what it will be like outside theEarth's atmosphere by providing extremely high and extremely lowtemperatures in a vacuum.

If the ATV comes through all these tests unscathed, the space carrier willbe shipped to French Guiana and launched a few months later. Thislaunch will be the first independent delivery by Europe of food, water,oxygen and scientific experiments to the ISS. New provisions will becarried into space at least six times over the next 10 years in the newfleet of ATVs. Each of these craft can transport as much as 7500kilogrammes, three times more than the capacity of today's supply ship,the Russian Progress.

Once the ATV has made the three-day journey to the International SpaceStation, it can remain there for up to six months and serve as extra workspace for the permanent crew. Its motors can also be used to boost theSpace Station to a higher orbit. But there's one more job for Jules Verne:it will bring waste material from the ISS back towards Earth to becompletely and harmlessly incinerated high up in the atmosphere. r

Jules Verne’s avionics/propulsionmodule at the test centre in ESTEC

Jules Verne’s integrated cargo carrier


The heads of space agencies from the United States, Russia, Japan,Europe and Canada met on 23 July at ESTEC in Noordwijk, theNetherlands, to discuss International Space Station (ISS) cooperationactivities.

At this meeting, the ISS Partnership unanimously endorsed the ISStechnical configuration and reviewed the status of ISS in-orbit operations and plans.The new ISS configuration is planned for completion by the end ofthe decade and will accommodate in-orbit elements from each of the ISSPartners.The configuration will enable increased utilisation and will provideearly opportunities for an enhanced crew of more than three people.

The ISS Partnership’s endorsement of this configuration provides a clearbasis for the completion of programmatic and financial evaluation andsubsequent agreement on a transportation and logistics framework thatwill support assembly and operation of the ISS.

This framework will be supported by Russian Soyuz vehicles, the USSpace Shuttle, the automated logistics re-supply and re-boostcapabilities provided by Russian Progress vehicles, and the ATV andHTV transfer vehicles to be provided by Europe and Japan.

The Partnership also agreed that additional assessments would beconducted to confirm the ISS flight programme in a nominal mode and toevaluate further opportunities to accelerate the launch of the Japaneseand European research modules JEM (Kibo) and Columbus, as well asestablishing a specific schedule to enhance the permanent crew.

NASA and ESA once again reconfirmed their commitment to supportindividually and cooperatively, in 2005, uninterrupted human presence onthe ISS of the integrated crew, and provide for its rotation and rescue ona parity basis. For that they agree to complete agreements on mutualresponsibilities for the ISS as soon as possible. The results of theseassessments will be reviewed at the next ISS Heads of Agency meetingin early 2005, leading to the Partnership’s final endorsement of the ISSconfiguration.

During their discussions, the space agency leaders reaffirmed theirenduring commitment to the unprecedented international cooperationthat has characterised the ISS Programme. They also expressed theirappreciation for NASA’s continuing efforts to safely return the SpaceShuttle to flight in the March 2005 timeframe as a significant step forcontinuing ISS assembly and operations. r


News

International Space Station Heads of Agency Meeting

The ISS recommended configuration, as approved on 23 July 2004



In Brief

Envisat marks two and a half years of operations

From 6 to 10 September 2004, more than 700 scientists from 50countries will meet in Salzburg, Austria, to review the impressive resultsalready obtained from ESA’s Envisat environmental satellite mission.Launched in March 2002, Envisat is the most powerful means evercreated for monitoring the state of our planet and the impact that humanactivities are having on it. It carries ten sophisticated optical and radarinstruments to observe and monitor the Earth’s land surfaces,atmosphere, oceans and ice caps, maintaining continuity with theAgency’s ERS remote-sensing missions which began in 1991.

The main objective of the Symposium is to provide a forum forinvestigators to present the results from their ongoing research-projectactivities and to discuss and assess the development of added-valueapplications and services. Scientists and operational users of Envisat

data working in the framework of international, ESA and national projectswill present the early results from the Envisat mission and also thescientific benefits of the 13 years of ESA’s two predecessor ERSmissions. Envisat data contains a wealth of information on the workingsof the Earth system, including insights into factors contributing to climatechange. The satellite is supporting research activities and governmentprogrammes in the fields of global change, pollution and disastermonitoring, and commercial applications.

The Salzburg Symposium will address almost all fields of Earth science,including the Earth’s atmosphere, coastal studies, radar andinterferometry, winds and waves, vegetation and agriculture, naturaldisasters, gas mapping, ocean colour, oil spills and ice. Over 650 papers,selected by peer review, will be presented. The presentations will include

Envisat data on: the ‘Prestige’ oil spill, the majorfires in Portugal in 2003, the Elbe flooding in2002, the evolution of the Antarctic ozone holesince the launch of Envisat, the Bamearthquake, and pollution in Europe. There willalso be numerous demonstrations during theweek in the ESA Exhibition area. An industrialconsortium exhibit on GMES (Global Monitoringfor Environment and Security) is also planned.

The event will be opened by Mr EduardMainoni, Secretary of State at the AustrianFederal Ministry of Transport, Innovation andTechnology. The complete Proceedings of theSymposium will be available on CD-ROM (asESA SP- 572) from ESA Publications Divisionbefore the end of the year. r


Publications


ESA Annual ReportANNUAL REPORT 2002 (JULY 2003)BATTRICK B. (ED.)ESA ANNUAL REPORT // 116 PAGESNO CHARGE

ESA NewslettersECSL NEWS NO. 27 (JUNE 2004)BULLETIN OF THE EUROPEAN CENTRE FOR SPACE LAWMARCHINI A. & DANESY D. (EDS.)NO CHARGE

PublicationsThe documents listed here have

been issued since the last

publications announcement in the

ESA Bulletin. Requests for copies

should be made in accordance

with the Table and Order Form

inside the back cover

EDU NEWS NO. 6 (JULY 2004)NEWSLETTER OF ESA’S EDUCATION OFFICEWARMBEIN B. (ED.)NO CHARGE

ON STATION NO. 17 (AUGUST 2004)NEWSLETTER OF THE DIRECTORATE OFHUMAN SPACEFLIGHT WILSON A. (ED.)NO CHARGE

ESA BrochuresTHE EUROPEAN ASTRONAUTS – A CASE FORHUMANS IN SPACE (JULY 2004)EUROPEAN ASTRONAUTS (ED. B. WARMBEIN)ESA BR-221 // 36 PAGESPRICE: 10 EURO

LIFT-OFF – EUROPEAN SPACE AGENCYPHYSICS AND CHEMISTRY EXERCISES FORSECONDARY SCHOOLS BASED ON REALSPACE DATA (MAY 2004)BUISÁN S.T. (ED. B. WARMBEIN)ESA BR-223 // 66 PAGESPRICE: 10 EURO

SMOS – ESA’S WATER MISSION (JUNE 2004)BERGER M., BOCK R., DRINKWATER M. &REBHAN H.(EDS. H. RIDER, M. RAST & B. BATTRICK) ESA BR-224 // 18 PAGESPRICE: 10 EURO


CASSINI-HUYGENS – UNIQUE INSIGHTS INTO ARINGED WORLD (JUNE 2004)ESA SCIENCE PROGRAMME COMMUNICATIONSERVICE (EDS. B. BATTRICK & M. TALEVI)ESA BR-225 // 24 PAGESPRICE: 7 EURO

AMERHIS – A NEW GENERATION OFSATELLITE COMMUNICATIONS SYSTEMS (JUNE2004)AMERHIS TEAM & N. MENNING (ED. B. BATTRICK)ESA BR-226 // 26 PAGESPRICE: 7 EURO

EGNOS – THE EUROPEAN GEOSTATIONARYNAVIGATION OVERLAY SERVICE (JUNE 2004)EGNOS TEAM (ED. B. BATTRICK)ESA BR-227 // 8 PAGESNO CHARGE

TELEMEDICINE 2010: VISIONS FOR APERSONAL MEDICAL NETWORK (AUGUST2004)TELEMEDICINE ALLIANCE TEAM (ED. B. BATTRICK)ESA BR-229 // 42 PAGESPRICE: 7 EURO

ESA SpecialPublicationsMARS EXPRESS:THE SCIENTIFIC PAYLOAD(AUGUST 2004)WILSON A. & CHICARRO A. (EDS.)ESA SP-1240 // 230 PAGESPRICE: 50 EURO

PROCEEDINGS OF THE 37TH ESLABSYMPOSIUM – TOOLS AND TECHNOLOGIESFOR FUTURE PLANETARY EXPLORATION,

New issues

Publications


2-4 DECEMBER 2004, ESTEC, NOORDWIJK,THE NETHERLANDS (APRIL 2004)BATTRICK B. (ED.)ESA SP-543 // CD-ROMPRICE: 30 EURO

PROCEEDINGS OF THE MERIS USERWORKSHOP, 10-13 NOVEMBER 2003,ESA/ESRIN, FRASCATI, ITALY (MAY 2004)LACOSTE H. (ED.)ESA SP-549 // CD-ROMPRICE: 40 EURO

PROCEEDINGS OF THE FRINGE 2003WORKSHOP, 1-5 DECEMBER 2003, ESA/ESRIN,FRASCATI, ITALY (JUNE 2004)LACOSTE H. (ED.)ESA SP-550 // CD-ROMPRICE: 40 EURO

PROCEEDINGS OF THE 22ND INTERNATIONALLASER RADAR CONFERENCE (ILRC 2004),12-16 JULY 2004, MATERA, ITALY (JUNE 2004)PAPPALARDO G., AMODEO A. & WARMBEIN B.(EDS.)ESA SP-561 // 552 PAGES (VOL. 1), 492 PAGES(VOL. 2) & CD-ROMPRICE: 70 EURO

PROCEEDINGS OF THE SECOND WORKSHOPON COASTAL AND MARINE APPLICATIONS OFSAR, 8-12 SEPTEMBER 2003, SVALBARD,NORWAY (JUNE 2004)LACOSTE H. (ED.)ESA SP-565 // CD-ROMPRICE: 40 EURO

PROCEEDINGS OF THE SECOND WORKSHOPON THE ATMOSPHERIC CHEMISTRYVALIDATION OF ENVISAT (ACVE-2), 3-7 MAY2004, ESA/ESRIN, FRASCATI, ITALY (AUGUST2004)DANESY D. (ED.)ESA SP-562 // CD-ROMPRICE: 50 EURO

PROCEEDINGS OF THE SECONDINTERNATIONAL GOCE USER WORKSHOP –GOCE,THE GEOID AND OCEANOGRAPHY, 8-10MARCH 2004, FRASCATI, ITALY (JUNE 2004)LACOSTE H. (ED.)ESA SP-569 // CD-ROMPRICE: 40 EURO

ESA Procedures,Standards &SpecificationsSPACE PRODUCT ASSURANCE:REQUIREMENTS FOR MANUFACTURING ANDPROCUREMENT OF THREADED FASTENERS(FEBRUARY 2004)

ECSS SECRETARIATESA ECSS-Q-70-46A // 36 PAGESPRICE: 10 EURO

SPACE ENGINEERING: SYSTEM ENGINEERING– PART 6: FUNCTIONAL AND TECHNICALSPECIFICATIONS (JANUARY 2004)ECSS SECRETARIATECSS-E-10 PART 6A // 40 PAGESPRICE: 10 EURO

ESA ContractorReportsIMPLEMENTATION OF TECHNOLOGYTRANSFER PROGRAMME – FINAL REPORT(FEBRUARY 2003)MST AEROSPACE, GERMANYESA CR(P)-4385 // 20 PAGESPRICE: 10 EURO

IP SECURITY DEMONSTRATOR – FINALREPORT & EXECUTIVE SUMMARY (2003)IABG, GERMANY ESA CR(P)-4392 // CD-ROMPRICE: 25 EURO

FEASIBILITY STUDY INTO LINKING VEHICLEPOSITIONING SYSTEMS TO VIRTUAL TOLLAREAS – FINAL REPORT (DECEMBER 2003)MAPFLOW, IRELANDESA CR(P)-4393 // CD-ROMPRICE: 25 EURO

CONCEPTS AND TECHNOLOGY FOR FUTUREATMOSPHERIC CHEMISTRY SENSORS –EXECUTIVE SUMMARY (NOVEMBER 2003)EADS ASTRIUM, UNITED KINGDOMESA CR(P)-4394 // CD-ROMPRICE: 25 EURO

WEATHER RADAR ANTENNA TECHNOLOGY(WRAT) – FINAL REPORT (NOVEMBER 2003)OERLIKON CONTRAVES, ITALY ESA CR(P)-4395 // CD-ROMPRICE: 25 EURO

ALIOPE MANAGING MEDIA CONTENT –EXECUTIVE SUMMARY (JANUARY 2004)ALIOPE LTD, IRELAND ESA CR(P)-4396 // 6 PAGESPRICE: 7 EURO

ADAMMO – ADVANCED MATERIAL DAMAGEMODELS FOR NUMERICAL SIMULATION CODES– FINAL REPORT (OCTOBER 2003)FRAUNHOFER INSTITUTE, GERMANYESA CR(P0-4397 // CD-ROMPRICE: 25 EURO

FEASIBILITY STUDY OF A MOBILE KU-BANDTERMINAL – FINAL REPORT (FEBRUARY 2003)ALCATEL SPACE, FRANCEESA CR(P)-4399 // CD-ROMPRICE: 25 EURO

FEASIBILITY STUDY OF A MOBILE KU-BANDTERMINAL – FINAL REPORT (NOVEMBER 2002)ND SATCOM, GERMANY ESA CR(P)-4400 // CD-ROMPRICE: 25 EURO

THE SYSTEM DESIGN OF FUTURECOMMUNICATION SATELLITES USING HIGH-TEMPERATURE SUPERCONDUCTORS – FINALREPORT (2004)EADS ASTRIUM, UNITED KINGDOMESA CR(P)-4401 // CD-ROMPRICE: 25 EURO r

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