Space Science at the EGS Assembly in Nice. Geophysicists who attended the General Assembly of the European Geophysical Society in Nice, 25-31 March 2001, didn't just discuss the latest scientific research about the Earth. They also turned their attention to the other planets and bodies within our solar system and the missions Europe is sending to explore them.

Here are some of the conference highlights featuring ESA's space science programme: Mars Express, ESA's mission to Mars in 2003, will be the subject of a whole day of talks. Each principal Investigator on the orbiter and lander will talk about the science his or her instrument will perform and how it will contribute to an increase in knowledge about Mars. Europe's other involvement in the international Mars exploration programme will also be discussed, including plans for a Mars micromission and a Marskite. Some of the latest results from NASA's Mars Global Surveryor will be presented, as will the latest controversial findings about fossilised life on Mars meteorites.
Most of the data collected during the recent Jupiter observation campaign by the Cassini and Galileo spacecraft will be presented for the first time. During last autumn and early this year, the two spacecraft have been simultaneously observing the environment inside and outside the Jovian magnetosphere. Europe has considerable involvement in