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PD0RDD > NASA 10.11.98 00:09l 73 Lines 3948 Bytes #-9813 (0) @ WW
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From: PD0RDD@PI8WNO.#UTR.NLD.EU
To : NASA@WW
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Mars Express wins unanimous support
-----------------------------------
All fourteen national delegations in the European Space Agency's Science
Programme Committee have backed the project to send a spacecraft to Mars
in 2003. Support for Mars Express, as this exciting mission is called,
is qualified by concern about the long-term budget of ESA's science
programme. At its meeting in Paris on 2 and 3 November, the Science
Programme Committee made its approval of the implementation of Mars
Express conditional on sufficient funding for the science programme and
no impact on previously approved projects.
"The green light for Mars Express shows that Europe is perfectly capable
of seizing special chances in exploring space," said Roger Bonnet, ESA's
director of science. "At a cost to ESA of 150 million ECU, Mars Express
is the cheapest Mars mission ever, yet its importance and originality
are far greater than the price tag suggests."
Bonnet continued: "Mars Express has been advertised by the Science
Programme Committee as a test case for new approaches in procuring and
managing future science projects, with a view to achieving major
savings. In the international arena, Mars Express will confirm Europe's
interest in a major target for space research in the new century, when
we make our forceful debut at the Red Planet. In fact, Mars Express is
designed to be a pivotal element of an international multi-mission,
global effort for the exploration of Mars."
Development of the spacecraft will now proceed swiftly, to meet the
deadline of an exceptionally favourable launch window early in June
2003. Mars Express will go into orbit around Mars at Christmas 2003.
Seven scientific instruments on board will include a high-resolution
camera, a range of spectrometers, and a radar to penetrate below the
surface. For the first time in the history of the exploration of the Red
Planet, scientists can hope to detect sub-surface water, whether it
exists in the form of undergound rivers, pools, glaciers or permafrost.
Signs of life on Mars, whether extinct or continuing today, may reveal
themselves to a lander carried by Mars Express. This is Beagle 2, a
project led by the Open University in the United Kingdom, with
contributions from many other European countries. The lander also
promises invaluable information about the chemistry of the Martian
surface and atmosphere. Beagle 2 is to be independently funded. Some of
the necessary funds have already been raised and ESA has agreed with the
principal investigator to keep a place for Beagle 2 aboard Mars Express.
The financial situation will be verified at a date to be agreed with the
mission's prime contractor.
For more details about the mission visit the Mars Express web site on:
http://sci.esa.int/marsexpress/
For further information, please contact : ESA Public Relations Division
Tel: +33(0)1.53.69.71.55 Fax: +33(0)1.53.69.76.90
.
Greetings from Hans at Maarssenbroek ³~ The Netherlands
HomebBs : PI8WNO × .
E-Mail : pd0rdd@hj-lammers.demon.nl ××׶ Úп
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