The Convention establishing the European Space Agency was approved by a Conference of Plenipotentiaries held in Paris on 30 May 1975. The new entity - ESA - thus came into being from the merging of two existing organisations: the European Space Research Organisation (ESRO) and the European Organisation for the Development and Construction of Space Vehicle Launchers (ELDO). On 31 May 1975, the ESA Convention was signed by representatives of 11 European governments.
It was to celebrate this 20th anniversary - and also to prepare for the forthcoming Meeting of the ESA Council at Ministerial Level in Toulouse - that ESA's Executive organised an International Symposium in Munich, Germany, from 4 to 6 September. Hosted on the first day by the European Patent Office (EPO) and on the next two days by the Deutsches Museum, the Symposium gathered some one hundred participants representing different facets of the European space community, ranging from political decision-makers to scientists of international repute and major industrialists. The meeting offered a rare occasion for those pioneers of the European space ventures of the early 1960s to meet with their successors of the late 1990s. Two generations of personalities on the European space scene could thus exchange views on their past experiences and new ideas for getting ESA ready for the next century.
The main issues addressed during the Symposium were:
The final Round Table discussions were prefaced by a keynote address on the Long-Term Space Policy Committee (LSPC) report, titled 'Rendezvous with the New Millennium', which triggered a lively and fruitful debate on the question: 'After 20 years of successes and some failures..., what next?'
Many interesting ideas were exchanged during the debate, of which the following are but a sample:
The Proceedings containing all of the papers presented at the Symposium are in preparation (ESA SP-387) and will be available at the end of November from ESA Publications Division.
Edmund Stoiber, Minister-President of Bavaria
From left to right: Harry C. Holloway (Director of Life and Microgravity Sciences, NASA), Kerstin Fredga (Director General of the Swedish National Space Board), Jan-Baldem Mennicken (Director General of DARA), Silvano Casini (Administrator, ASI), and Fran ois Fillon (French Minister of Postal
and Information Technologies)
Ludwig Baumgarten (left), Ministerial Director, German Federal Ministry for Education and Research
Yvan Ylieff (right), Belgian Minister for Scientific Policy
From left to right: George van Reeth (former ESA Director of Administration), Sir Hermann Bondi (former ESRO Director General) and Peter Creola (Swiss Adviser for European Space Cooperation)
David Southwood (Chairman, ESA Science Programme Committee) on left, and Gerhard Haerendel (Director, Max Planck Institute, Garching)
Left to right: The Reception's host, Otto Wiesheu (Bavarian Minister for the Economy, Transportation and Technology), with Karl-Egon Reuter (Head of ESA Cabinet and Chairman of the Symposium Organising Committee) and Jean-Marie Luton (ESA Director General)
The Space Agency Forum (SAF), a group of heads of 35 space agencies and representatives from international space organisations, met in Oslo, Norway, in October to discuss space issues of common interest.
This meeting, the group's third, was held in conjunction with the 46th Congress of the International Astronautical Federation (IAF). It was organised and chaired by ESA. The first two meetings of SAF were hosted by the Italian Space Agency (ASI) in April 1993 and by the Canadian Space Agency (CSA) in November 1993.
A total of 56 participants representing 26 countries attended the Oslo meeting. Bulgaria, Indonesia and Korea were represented at the forum for the first time. The International Space University and the Brazilian Space Agency (AEB) were admitted as new members.
The organisational aspects related to SAF meetings, such as responsibility for the secretariat, could not be settled definitively. It was felt, however, that some linkage between the host organisation responsible for the IAF Congress and the agency managing the SAF secretariat would be beneficial. That issue will have to be refined in further consultations.
The Committee on Earth Observation Satellites (CEOS) reported on some of its achievements, including the CEOS Yearbook, published in July, which describes all spaceborne Earth-observation missions and their applications. The International Academy of Astronautics (IAA) also announced the completion of a multilingual dictionary, containing 2500 terms in 14 languages, which will also be available on CD-ROM in six months.
Some of the SAF 3 participants. From left to right: K.-U. Schrogl and J.-B. Mennicken (DARA), M.H. Farrow (Australian Space Office), and G. Thomas and D. Leadbeater (British National Space Centre)
Following a number of disruptions and taking into account the outstanding qualification tests, the schedule leading up to the first flight of Ariane-5, the new Ariane launcher, has been modified: the start of the launch campaign is now planned for early February 1996, with the first demonstration flight (called 501) expected to take place in late April and the 502 flight in September.
The launcher's main cryotechnic system has been undergoing testing in Kourou, French Guiana, for the past year. The tests were to have been completed in the third quarter of 1995 with the qualification of the sub-assembly. Although there have been many positive results, it has not been possible to achieve some of the objectives set and a number of malfunctions have disrupted the tests, mainly as a result of problems encountered with the operation of the ground facilities.
Another incident on 1 September affected the actuator system of the Vulcain cryotechnic engine. An investigation showed that the fault lies in the high-pressure oil distribution system, which was subject to a 'water-hammer effect'. Measures were taken to reinforce the circuit. Repair work on the Vulcain has been completed. Leaks identified in liquid hydrogen and hydrogen pipes on the cryotechnic stage have also been repaired.
An overall verification test without firing was successfully carried out in October to validate the repairs made to the stage and to verify the proper operation of the ground facilities and associated software. That test was followed by a long-duration firing test of the main cryotechnic stage. The test was flawless; the firing duration was 613 seconds.
Four further firing tests, leading to the formal qualification of the main cryotechnic stage, are planned. The next one, a night test, is scheduled for 7 November.
The protoflight unit of SAX, the X-ray Astronomy Satellite being built for the Italian space agency ASI arrived at ESTEC's Test Centre in Noordwijk, The Netherlands, in August. It is undergoing its final series of tests before shipment to Cape Canaveral. It is planned to be launched on an Atlas Centaur launcher in April 1996.
The scientific spacecraft will study galactic and extragalactic X-ray sources. It will act as a bridge between the second generation of X-ray satellites, which includes ESA's earlier Exosat, and the third- generation, which includes NASA's Advanced X-ray Astrophysics Facility (AXAF) and ESA's X-ray Multi-Mirror (XMM) missions. SAX has a minimum lifetime of 26 months, but it is expected to be active for two years longer.
This Italian satellite is being developed by ASI in collaboration with NIVR, the Dutch Agency for Aerospace Programmes. The main contractor is Alenia Spazio.
The protoflight model of SAX, the Italian space agency ASI's X-ray Astronomy Satellite, undergoing final testing in ESTEC's Test Centre, in The Netherlands
The International Space University (ISU) held its eighth summer session this past summer at the Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm, Sweden. A total of 106 students from 27 countries participated in the intensive 10-week programme. Each year, ESA sponsors a group of young professionals or graduate students to attend. This year, the group included three ESA staff members: Cessi Blacker and Maria Del Mar Lopez from ESTEC, and Johann Oberlechner from ESA headquarters.
The curriculum has three components: core lectures, which give all students a common base of knowledge of space policies, activities and technologies; specialised lectures, which provide current information on major research issues in a participant's field of study; and design projects, which provide participants with the opportunity to exercise the skills and knowledge acquired at ISU.
This year, two design projects were undertaken: 'Vision 2020' and 'Earth's Polar Regions'.
Participants in the 'Vision 2020' project produced a vision of world space activities in the year 2020. A different 'planning' technique was used: the desired future was first defined and then, working backwards in time, the sequence of events needed to reach this future was established. The study looked at four main areas: quality of life, access to space, global cooperation and human expansion into the solar system. The vision that developed focussed strongly on the benefits of space activities to humanity, and may indicate that the new generation of space professionals brings a different outlook to the field of space.
The 'Earth's Polar Regions' project focussed on the observation, protection and use of these important but less used parts of the planet. Solutions to improve measurements of ozone, ice thickness, phytoplankton, and solar-terrestrial interactions ( space weather ) using satellites and other space technology were proposed. The potential for shipping in the Northern Sea Route was investigated, and the establishment of an Antarctic observatory was recommended.
The next ISU summer session will be held in Vienna during the summer of 1996.
For more information on ISU activities, contact:
International Space University
Parc d Innovation
Boulevard Gonthier d Andernach
67400 Illkirch
France
Tel: (31) 88.65.54.30
Participants in this summer's ISU session in Stockholm
Thirty undergraduate students from all over Europe gathered recently at a workshop organised by Euroavia, the European Association of Aerospace Students, and ESA's ESTEC. During the intensive 2 -week meeting, the students undertook a feasibility study for a fictional lunar satellite.
'Working together on an international level requires tolerance and mutual understanding', stated Euroavia's Aron Lentsch, 'those are skills that can be learned - especially as a student'.
This was thus the purpose of the workshop. It reflects Euroavia's major objective: to look beyond corporate and national interests and provide a forum for international exchange and educational opportunities that cannot be found at universities.
Although the technical solution proposed at the end of the workshop was interesting, the students' approach to the project was also notable - the students successfully put into practice some aspects of a new and promising organisational concept known as the 'virtual company'. Using this method, a team of system engineers from different organisations is assembled for a limited period to define a project. Each engineer represents a separate interest and is supported by specialists at their home site through electronic means - computer networks, telephone and fax. The students also each represented a specific system and were able to draw upon the knowledge and experience of ESTEC staff, members of the European space industry and former workshop participants.
Students at work during the recent Euroavia workshop
Given that task, the students were then left to structure themselves and their time as they wished in order to complete the work. They found the cooperation offered by the space professionals particularly beneficial, and the process of making trade-offs between the sub-systems of the satellite to achieve the common aims of the mission, difficult but educational.
Aron Lentsch (Euroavia)
E-mail: alentsch@ecx.tuwien.ac.at
Dieter Kassing (ESA/ESTEC)
E-mail: dkassing@estec.esa.nl
"Greetings from 400 km above the Earth ... The view is magnificent ...."
Those were the words of ESA astronaut Thomas Reiter as he began his first Extra Vehicular Activity (EVA) or 'spacewalk' on 20 October. Although it is not a first for Europe, it was the first EVA made by an ESA astronaut (a French astronaut took the first European spacewalk outside Mir in 1988).
During the six-hour session, Thomas Reiter and Russian cosmonaut Sergei Avdeev successfully installed experiments in the European Science Exposure Facility, the astrophysics and space environment payload mounted on the exterior of the Spektr module, and changed cartridges on a nearby Russian experiment.
A second EVA is now scheduled for the beginning of February.
The EuroMir crew, going onboard. Thomas Reiter is second from bottom
ESA astronaut, Thomas Reiter, soon to become the non-Russian astronaut to have spent the longest time in space (135 days), will be staying even longer. ESA and RSC Energia have agreed to prolong the EuroMir 95 mission, which is currently underway with the ESA astronaut on board, by 45 days. Reiter will now return on 29 February 1996. The extension will allow RSC Energia to make full use of the six-month lifetime of its transport vehicle, the Soyuz TM, rather than sending it after 4.5 months as the EuroMir mission called for, while ESA will be able to carry out additional scientific research. Thomas Reiter and one of his fellow Russian astronauts, will also make a second spacewalk during the mission extension.
The mission extension had been discussed with the crew before the launch. The astronauts reacted positively when they received the confirmation.
The crew is now preparing to receive house guests: the five-man crew of the Space Shuttle Atlantis is due to dock with Mir in mid-November. It will be the first contact that the Mir crew has had with others since they bade farewell to the previous Mir crew on 11 September.
The two crews will work together for three days. This will be a preview of the new space station era: for the first time, American, Canadian (one of the Atlantis crew members is a Canadian), European and Russian astronauts will be working together aboard the same spacecraft. They represent the partners which, along with Japan, are building the International Space Station.
The main goal of the Shuttle docking is to attach a special adapter for docking with Mir's Kristall module, which will be used by all visiting Shuttles in the future. The astronauts will also be bringing fresh food for the Mir crew - including steak, vegetables and even ice cream - and will be returning to Earth with 20 kilos of EuroMir experiment results.
RSC Energia has agreed to provide an additional 'upload' of consumables that are required to allow ESA's scientific programme to continue during the mission extension. They will be carried aboard a Progress M cargo vehicle scheduled to be launched in mid-December.
ESA Bulletin Nr. 84.