N° 11–2004: ESA’s Rosetta comet chaser ready for lift-off - Follow the Rosetta launch from an ESA or Arianespace establishment
17 February 2004
On 26 February at 04:36 a.m. Kourou time (07:36 a.m. GMT - 08:36 a.m. CET), Rosetta is scheduled to be launched on board an Ariane-5 launcher from the European Spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana.
Originally timed to begin about a year ago, Rosetta's journey had to be postponed. This delay meant that the original mission's target, Comet Wirtanen, could no longer be reached. Instead, a new target has been selected, Comet Churyumov-Gerasimenko, which Rosetta will encounter in 2014 after a "billiard ball" journey through the Solar System lasting more than ten years. This will be the first mission to orbit and land on a comet.
Media representatives in Europe can follow the launch of Rosetta and initial orbital operations at ESA/Darmstadt (ESOC) in Germany - which will be acting as the main press centre - ESA Noordwijk (ESTEC) in the Netherlands or ESA/Frascati (ESRIN) in Italy. At each site ESA specialists will be available for interviews. Also Arianespace at Evry will cater for media.
Media representatives wishing to attend are asked to complete the attached reply form and fax it to the Communication Office at the establishment of their choice.
The ESA TV Service will provide live televised coverage of the launch and initial orbital operations with English commentary, between 05:30 and 10:30 GMT:
Satellite :ASTRA 2 C at 19 degrees East
Transponder 57, horizontal, MPEG-2, MCPC
Frequency 10832 MHz, Symbol Rate 22000 MS/sec, FEC+5/6 Service Name: ESA
Details of the transmission schedule and the various pre-launch Video News Releases can be found on http://television.esa.int.
For more information on the Rosetta mission and the launch activities, visit the ESA web pages at: http://www.esa.int/rosetta.
For more information on the ESA science programme, visit : http://www.esa.int/science
For further information, please contact:
ESA Media Relations Division
Tel: +33(0)1.53.69.7155
Fax: +33(0)1.53.69.7690
ROSETTA LAUNCH ACCREDITATION FORM
Launch on Thursday 26 February 2004
First Name :________________Surname :____________________
Media :__________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________
Address:__________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________
Tel : _______________________ fax: _______________________
Mobile :_____________________ e-mail:______________________
I will be attending the ROSETTA launch event at the following site:
[ ]Germany:
Location: ESA/ESOC
Address: Robert-Bosch Strasse 5, Darmstadt, Germany
Opening hours: 7:00–13:00
Contact: Jocelyne Landeau-Constantin
Tel: +49(0)6151.90.26.96
Fax: +49(0)6151.90.29.61
Info line: +49(0)6151.90.26.09
[ ] The Netherlands
Location : Newton Conference Room, ESA/ESTEC
Address: Keplerlaan, 1, Noordwijk, the Netherlands
Opening hours: 07:00-12:00
Contact: Heidi Graf
Tel: +31(0)71.565.3006 - Fax: +31(0)71.565.5728
Info line: +31(0)71.565.8016
[ ]Italy
Location: Magellan Conference Room - ESA/ESRIN
Address: Via G. Galilei, Frascati (Rome), Italy
Opening hours: 07:45-12:00
Contact: Franca Morgia,
Tel:+39.06.9418.0951 - Fax:+39.06.9418.0952
[ ] France
Location: Arianespace
Address: Boulevard de l’Europe, 91006 Evry
Opening hours: 07:45-12:00
Tel:+33.(0)1.60.87.63.07 - Fax:+33.(0)1.60.8763.04
Please complete the form and fax it to the site of your choice
For further information:
ESA Media Relations Division
Tel: +33(0)1.53.69.7155
Fax: +33(0)1.53.69.7690