The Columbus laboratory is Europe’s cornerstone contribution to the International Space Station. Final integration has been successfully completed in Bremen. Columbus will be shipped to Cape Canaveral at the end of May, from where it will be flown on a Space Shuttle to the ISS in the second half of 2007.

During its planned 10-year operational lifetime, scientific researchers in Europe, with the help of the astronauts onboard and a Europe-wide support infrastructure on the ground, will be able to conduct a vast programme of experiments in the areas of the life and physical sciences, materials science, fundamental physics and technology research.

ESA Director General Jean-Jacques Dordain and EADS SPACE Transportation President Evert Dudok are inviting leading figures from industry, research institutes, space agencies and government institutions involved in the programme, together with political representatives and the media, to attend a ceremony to celebrate the completion of Columbus development on 2 May, starting at 10:00, at EADS SPACE Transportation in Bremen, Germany. Chancellor Angela Merkel will be attending the event and addressing the participants.

The ceremony will be followed at 12:15 by a press conference given by a panel including ESA Director General Jean-Jacques Dordain, ESA Council Chair and Chair of the Executive Board of the German Aerospace Centre (DLR) Sigmar Wittig, NASA Deputy Administrator Shana Dale and EADS SPACE Transportation President Evert Dudok. Journalists will also have the opportunity to conduct individual interviews with the panellists and other key contributors to the ISS programme after the press conference, and to visit the Columbus laboratory in small groups in the EADS clean room, its present location.

The venue for the event is within walking distance of Bremen airport. Media representatives wishing to attend the ceremony and the media programme are requested to fill in the attached form and return it to the ESA Media Relations Division.

For further information, please contact:

Franco Bonacina

ESA Media Relations Division

Directorate of External Relations

Paris, France

Tel: +33 1 5369 7155

Fax: +33 1 5369 7690

Dieter Isakeit

Erasmus User Centre and Communication Office

Directorate of Human Spaceflight, Microgravity and Exploration

Noordwijk, Netherlands

Tel: +31 71 565 5451

Fax: +31 71 565 8008

PROGRAMME

Tuesday, 2 May 2006

Columbus Delivery Event

"Ready for Success"

EADS SPACE Transportation

Hünefeldstrasse 1-5

D-28199 Bremen

Germany

09:00

Press Centre opens, Building 49

09:30

Doors open for ceremony, Building 400

10:00-11:30

Columbus delivery ceremony, Building 400

12:15-12:45

Press conference, Building 49

Lunch break , Building 49

14:00-17:00

Interview opportunities with programme specialists and ESA astronaut. Visit to Columbus laboratory clean room in small groups.

17:00

End

Columbus Delivery Event - Tuesday, 2 May 2006

Name:_______________________ Surname: _____________________

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___________________________________________________________

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[ ] I wish to attend the ceremony

[ ] I wish to attend the press conference

[ ] I wish to conduct individual interviews with

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[ ] I wish to visit the Columbus laboratory

Please return this form by fax by Friday 28 April to:

Brigitte Kolmsee

ESA Media Relations Division

Fax: +33 (0)1 5369 76 90

Tel: +33(0)1 53 69 71 55