Europe in Space - Sverige i Rymden exhibition, Story in Pictures
7-20 December 2006
The Europe in Space – Sverige i Rymden exhibition was inaugurated on the evening of 7 December at the Kulturhuset in the centre of Stockholm by Thorwald Larsson, Deputy Director Director of the Swedish National Space Board, Fernando Doblas, Head of the ESA Communication Department and Eva Schön from the City of Stockholm.
Over 500 guests attended the inauguration which kicked off at 21.30. The highlight of the evening was a live video transmission of the space shuttle launch of the Celsius mission, carrying Swedish-born ESA astronaut Christer Fuglesang to the International Space Station. ESA astronaut Jean-François Clervoy captivated the audience with stories of his own experiences during three missions into space and presented the Celsius mission.
Despite the launch attempt being thwarted by bad weather conditions in Florida, an enthusiastic audience were entertained with presentations by space experts from ESA and from Swedish space entities and industry until 04.00 am.
The launch finally got off the ground on Sunday 10 December and Christer has now docked with the station, to be reunited with fellow ESA astronaut Thomas Reiter, who is coming to the end of a 6-month, long-duration mission on board.
The exhibition was presented to press on 6 December by Johan Marcopoulos of the Swedish National Space Board, Charlotte Beskow of ESA's Human Spaceflight, Microgravity and Exploration Directorate and Eva Schön from the City of Stockholm.
The exhibition is part of a series of events hosted by the City of Stockholm with a special space festival dedicated to the Celsius mission and it will remain open until Wednesday 20 December, from 11.00-19.00 hours every day.
