Venus Express is Europe’s first mission to Venus, a place of many mysteries that scientists are still eager to solve. Principal among those mysteries is why a planet so similar to the Earth in size, mass, and composition has evolved so differently over the course of the last 4.6 billion years.

ESA’s ESOC establishment, the Space Operations Centre in Darmstadt, Germany will control the mission and organise a launch event from 06:00 to 12:00.

A live televised transmission of the launch will bring images from Baikonur to broadcasters and the general public. ESA senior management and specialists will be on hand at ESOC and at other ESA establishments for explanations and interviews.

All live transmissions are carried free-to-air. For broadcasters, complete details of the various satellite feeds (on Eutelsat W2) are listed at http://television.esa.int.

For the general public, a launch transmission via Astra 1G has again been organised, with all schedule and transmission details online at http://television.esa.int/photos/Astra.pdf On the occasion of the launch of Venus Express, the Planetary Society has teamed up with ESA to invite youths and adults worldwide to enter a Venus Express Art Contest. The theme of the contest is "Postcards from Venus". Entrants are invited to imagine the surface of Venus from an above-ground perspective. The winner will be invited to follow the Venus Orbit Insertion event at ESA's control centre in Darmstadt, Germany, on 6 April 2006. More on the constest at http://planetary.org/postcards_from_venus/

Media representatives wishing to follow the event at ESA/ESOC, or the retransmission at other ESA establishments, are requested to fill in the attached registration form and fax it back to the place of their choice.

For further information, please contact:

ESA Media Relations Division

Tel: +33(0)1.53.69.7155

Fax: +33(0)1.53.69.7690

 
Venus Express launch – Baikonur – 26 October 2005

First name: __________________ Surname:_____________________

Media:______________________________________________________

Address:____________________________________________________

Tel: ________________________ Fax:_________________________

Mobile:______________________ E-mail:_______________________

I will be attending the Venus Express launch at the following site:

[ ] Italy

Location: ESA/ESRIN

Address: Via Galileo Galilei, Frascati (Rome), Italy

Open: 06h20-12h00

Contact: Franca Morgia – Tel: +39.06.9418.0951 – Fax: +39.06.9418.0952

[ ] The Netherlands

Location: Space Expo, ESA/ESTEC Visitors' Centre

Address: Keplerlaan 3, Noordwijk

Open: 06:00-09:00

Contact: Heidi Graf, Tel. + 31 71 565 3006 - Fax + 31 71 565 5728

[ ]Germany

Location: ESA/ESOC

Address: Robert Bosch Strasse 5, Darmstadt, Germany

Open: 05:00-12:00

Contact: Jocelyne Landeau-Constantin, Tel: +49.6151.902.696 – Fax: +49.6151.902.961

[ ] Spain

Location: ESA/ESAC

Address: Urbanización Villafranca del Castillo, Villanueva de la Cañada, Madrid

Open: 06:15-09:30

Contact: Monica Oerke, Tel + 34 91 813 13 59 – Fax: + 34 91 813 12 19

[ ] France

Location: ESA HQ, Salle A

Address: 8/10, rue Mario Nikis – F-75015-Paris, France

Open: 06:00-13:00

Contact: Brigitte Kolmsee – Tel: +33(0)1.5369.7299 – fax: +33(0)1.5369.7690