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N° 57-2001: First European woman heads for International Space Station

18 October 2001
ESA's French astronaut Claudie Haigneré will become the first European woman to visit the International Space Station (ISS) after she lifts off from Baikonur on board a Russian Soyuz vehicle on Sunday 21 October at 10:58 CEST (08:58 GMT) for a ten-day space mission.

The Soyuz will dock with the International Space Station, approximately 48 hours after lift-off, on Tuesday 23 October at 12:43 CEST (10:43 GMT). Before its arrival, the members of the Expedition Three crew already on board the station - Frank Culbertson, station commander, Vladimir Dezhurov, Soyuz commander, and flight engineer Mikhail Tyurin - will change the location of the Soyuz capsule currently attached to the station to clear the port for the arrival of the visiting crew.Alongside Claudie Haigneré, two Russian cosmonauts Victor Afanassiev, commander, and Konstantin Kozeev, flight engineer, are the other crewmembers on this mission. She is the first non-Russian woman to undertake the role of flight engineer.

This mission, named Andromède, was initiated by the French Minister for Research and is being carried out under an agreement between the French space agency (CNES), the Russian space agency (Rosaviakosmos) and the Russian company RSC Energia. One of its main objectives is to replace the Station's Soyuz vehicle which serves as the main rescue craft for the Space Station crew in case of emergency. This is done every six months to ensure that the rescue craft is always in top condition. The visiting crew will depart from the ISS aboard the Soyuz currently attached to the station on 31 October in the early morning after an eight-day stay, and will land approximately three hours later in Kazakhstan.

During her stay Claudie Haignére and her crewmates will carry out a programme of experiments exploring life sciences, biology, materials science and Earth observation on behalf of CNES, ESA and DLR (German Aerospace Centre). Some of the experiments have been proposed by children and students at various schools and colleges in France and Germany.

"Andromède will demonstrate how the focus of work on the ISS is shifting more and more towards scientific research. Part of our aim is to show young people in Europe what we are doing up there and that a career in science and technology can be fascinating and fulfilling", said Claudie Haigneré.

For Claudie Haigneré (44), a doctor, the Andromède mission will be the second stay in space, after the Russian-French Cassiopée mission to Mir in 1996.

More information - including live webstreaming of mission highlights, daily reports, Claudie's training diary and biography, and the chance to put questions to ESA's astronauts - can be found on a dedicated webpage at http://www.esa.int/claudie.

For further information, contact:

ESA Media Relations

Tel:+33.(0)1.5369.7155

Fax:+33.(0)1.5369.7690

Note to editors:

Media representatives in Europe can follow the live transmission of the launch or the docking from the ESA establishments listed below.

Those wishing to attend are asked to complete the attached reply form and fax it back to the Communication Office at the ESA establishment of their choice.

For broadcasters the transmission of video material is planned as follows :

·Friday, 19 October, 11:15-11:30 CEST, Andromède science, on Europe by Satellite (Hot Bird 3)

·Saturday, 20 October, 12:00-12:15 CEST, Andromède last launch preparations, on Eutelsat W2

·Sunday, 21 October, 10:45-11:15 CEST, Andromède live launch transmission, on Eutelsat W2

·Tuesday, 23 October, 12:30-13:00 CEST, Docking live coverage, on Eutelsat W1

·Tuesday, 23 October, 14:00-14:30 CEST, Entry into ISS live coverage, on Eutelsat W1

·Wednesday, 31 October, 17:00-17:15 CEST, Andromède mission summary, on Eutelsat W1

These transmissions are co-produced by ESA and CNES and available in English and French. For detailed satellite downlink information, go to http://television.esa.int.

The televised transmissions above will be available as video on the Web, in Real, Quicktime and MediaPlayer formats. Then, you can follow the launch, the docking with the ISS and the entry of Claudie Haigneré into the ISS live, as a Real video stream. To watch video on the Web and live Real streams go to http://www.esa.int/claudie starting on Friday 19 October.

Launch transmission, 21 October

The Netherlands

Location: Space Expo

Address: Keplerlaan 3, Noordwijk, The Netherlands

Opening hours: 09:30-12:30

Contact point: Heidi Graf

Tel. : + 31 71 565 3006

Fax.: + 31 71 565 5728

Info line : +31 71 565 8016

During launch event: +31 71 3646446

Docking transmission, 23 October

Germany:

Location: EAC

Address: Linder Höhe (Gelände DLR) 51147 Köln

Opening hours: 12:00 -16:00

Contact point: Maren Stock

Tel. +49 22 03 6001 111

Fax.+ 49 22 03 6001 112

Italy

Location: ESA/ESRIN

Address: Via G. Galilei, Frascati (Rome), Italy

Opening hours: 12:00-14:30

Contact point: Franca Morgia

Tel. + 39 06 9418 0951

Fax. +39 06 9418 0952

France :

Location: ESA Headquarters

Address: 8-10 Rue Mario Nikis, 75015 Paris

Opening hours : 12:00-14:30

Contact point : Brigitte Kolmsee

Tel : +33.(0)1.5369.7299

Fax : +33.(0)1.5369.7690

ANDROMEDE ACCREDITATION FORM

First name: __________________ Surname : _________________

Media : ___________________________________________________

Address : _________________________________________________

Tel : ____________________________ Fax : __________________

Mobile : ______________e-mail:____________________________

I will be attending

The launch event, 21 October:

[ ]The Netherlands

Location: Space Expo

Address: Keplerlaan 3, Noordwijk, Holland

Opening hours: 09:30-12:30

Contact point: Heidi Graf

Tel. : + 31 71 565 3006

Fax. + 31 71 565 5728

Info line : +31 71 565 8016

During launch evening : +31 71 3646446

The docking event, 23 October:

[ ] Germany: