N° 37-1994: Media opportunities during the STS-66/ATLAS 3 mission

During the STS-66/ATLAS 3 Space Shuttle mission, scheduled for launch on 3 November 1994 (see Press release No 34-94 and notice the new launch time: 11h56 local time, 17h56 CET), the following opportunities for the media are scheduled:

Monday 7 November 1994

Live talk between a French Government representative, the ESA Director General and ESA astronaut J-F. Clervoy.

Location: To be decided (in Paris).

Audio/Video link as of 13h26 CET, duration 15 minutes.

Media representatives are welcome to witness the event but no question and answer session by media with the astronauts is possible on this occasion.

More information on this event will be availble as of 4 November. Please inquire with the ESA Public Relations Office in Paris, tel. + 33 1 42 73 71 55.

If you are interested in following this event, please fill out the relevant section in the attached reply form and fax it back to ESA Public Relations in Paris:

+ 33 1 4273 7690.

Tuesday 8 November 1994

In-flight press conference with the STS-66 crew.

Location: ESA Head Office, Paris

Starting time: 13h15.

Presentation followed by live audio/video link between Space Shuttle Atlantis and media gathered in the different NASA centers (KSC, JSC, MSFC) and in Paris.

Audio/Video link as of 14h06, duration 27 minutes. A few minutes at the end of the session are dedicated to the media in Paris.

If you are interested in following this event, please fill out the relevant section in the attached reply form and fax it back to ESA Public Relations in Paris:

+ 33 1 4273 76 90.

Friday 11 November 1994

Questions & Answers between students and J-F. Clervoy at the "Ecole Nationale Superieure de l'Aeronautique et de l'Espace", Toulouse (France).

Location: Ecole Nationale Superieure de l'Aeronautique et de l'Espace

10, avenue Edouard Belin

F-31055-TOULOUSE

Audio link starting as of 13h01, duration 15 minutes.

Media representatives are welcome to witness the event but no question and answer session with the astronaut is possible on this occasion.

For further information on this event, please contact : Mr Marc Panier, Ecole Nationale Superieure de l'Aeronautique et de l'Espace in Toulouse

(Tel : (33) 62.17.80.80)

or Ms. Francoise Perret, DGA, Paris

(Tel: (33.1) 42.19.53.34.

If you are interested in following this event, please fill out the relevant section in the attached reply form and fax it back to

ESA Public Relations, Paris: + 33 1 4273 76 90.

EUROMIR STATUS REPORT Nr 5

Paris, 28 October 1994

MERBOLD SET TO ENTER THE RECORD BOOKS

The EUROMIR 94 mission will achieve another milestone this week when ESA astronaut Ulf Merbold breaks the record for the longest space flight by a European. On Friday, 28 October, he will beat the record of 24 days and 18 hours held by French Space Agency cosmonaut Jean-Loup Chretien, who flew to Russia's Mir space station in 1988. Merbold has been in space since blasting off on 3 October.

Merbold's long duration mission aboard Mir is providing scientists in Europe with important data on the effects of 'weightlessness' on the human body. In years to come, the research will benefit astronauts who spend long periods aboard the International Space Station, which is scheduled for assembly later this decade. The results may also lead to improvements in medicine here on Earth. Scientists are eagerly awaiting the return of Merbold with preserved samples of blood, saliva and urine taken throughout the mission for post-flight analysis.

The mission's technology experiments have looked at the use of lap-top computers for data collection in space, tested a component for a mass spectrometer, and evaluated methods of restraining equipment in microgravity.

The five materials sciences experiments planned for EUROMIR 94 will probably be conducted at a later date by Russian cosmonauts because a crucial furnace aboard the station has failed. Extensive efforts to repair the Russian-supplied furnace, which has been aboard the station for many years, were abandoned at the weekend. Spare parts needed to repair the furnace will be shipped to the station on a Progress cargo spacecraft. The results of the materials sciences experiments could then be returned to Earth next summer aboard the US shuttle after it docks with Mir. Russian space officials propose Friday 4 November as date for the landing in Kazachstan.

Merbold will return to Earth in the Soyuz TM-19 spacecraft with Russian cosmonauts Yuri Malenchenko and Talgat Musabyev.

On 19 October, Merbold answered questions posed by children from schools across Europe. Questions included: Can astronauts shower in space? And do they have pets aboard the space station? He faced more questions on 24 October at a press conference held via satellite through ESA's DICE communications system.

EUROMIR 94 is the first of two ESA manned missions with the Russians. The next, scheduled for August 1995, will be even more ambitious, lasting 135 days and including the first spacewalk by an ESA astronaut. Christer Fuglesang and Thomas Reiter are currently training for that flight.