N° 5–1998: XMM on show

A unique opportunity for journalists and cameramen to view Europe's next scientific satellite, XMM, will be provided at ESA/ESTEC, Noordwijk, the Netherlands on Tuesday 10 February at 10:00 a.m. On show will be the full-size development version of XMM which has completed engineering tests. Press representatives will be permitted to inspect it and take pictures at close quarters.

Robert Lainé, the XMM project manager, and Fred Jansen, the XMM project scientist will present the spacecraft and mission. Roger Bonnet, Director of the ESA Science programme will present Horizons 2000, the future ESA Science programme. After the presentations they will be available to answer questions. Due for launch in 1999, XMM is an unprecedented space observatory for X-ray astronomy, with far greater sensitivity than any previous X-ray mission. It is also ESA's largest scientific spacecraft -- almost 11 metres long and with a mass of nearly 4 tonnes.