ESA astronaut Thomas Reiter on his way to his new home in space

N° 23-2006 - Paris, 4 July 2006

ESA astronaut Thomas Reiter on his way to his new home in space

As the Shuttle returns to flight and prepares the way for the resumption of
International Space Station assembly, a European astronaut is - for the
first time ever - heading for the orbital outpost to take up duty as a
member of its permanent crew. His mission, dubbed Astrolab, is planned to
last through to the end of the year.

This evening, Space Shuttle Discovery lifted off from NASA's Kennedy Space
Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida, at 20:38 CEST (18:38 UTC), and
successfully entered low Earth orbit after 8 minutes of powered flight. On
this STS-121 mission, the first Shuttle flight in almost a year, Discovery
is carrying a crew of seven, including one ESA astronaut: Thomas Reiter,
from Germany.

The first day in space will be devoted to a series of in-flight inspections
to ensure that Discovery did not suffer any damage following its launch. The
orbiter will then manoeuvre to rendezvous with the Space Station. Docking is
planned for Thursday 6 July at around 17:00 CEST ( 15:00 UTC). Shortly
thereafter, Thomas Reiter will install his tailor-made re-entry couch on the
Russian Soyuz ferry ship currently docked with the ISS. This event will mark
his change of status from Shuttle to Station crew member.

While his fellow Shuttle travellers are due to return to Earth on Sunday 16
July at 14:52 CEST (12:52 UTC), or on the following day if the mission can
be extended. Thomas Reiter will be staying onboard the Station for up to
six or seven months. His mission is being conducted under an agreement
between ESA and Roskosmos, the Russian federal space agency, with Reiter
taking a position originally earmarked for a Russian.

An ESA astronaut since 1992, Reiter is back in space for the second time,
but already has experience of long-duration spaceflight. Ten years ago, he
spent 179 days during ESA's EuroMir 95 mission onboard the Russian space
station Mir.

Europe contributes permanent ISS crew member

Onboard the International Space Station, Thomas Reiter will join the current
permanent crew as flight engineer, reporting to Russian commander Pavel
Vinogradov, who flew to the ISS with NASA flight engineer Jeffrey Williams
onboard Soyuz TMA-8 in March. This will be the first time since May 2003
that there has been a permanent crew of three onboard. The crew size had to
be reduced as long as the Shuttle was unavailable for logistics and
servicing. This boost will enable the astronauts to devote more of their
time to conducting science experiments, in addition to seeing to overall
Station maintenance.

Thomas Reiter will also be the first non-US, non-Russian astronaut to become
a permanent crew member. In the future, he is due to be succeeded by more
ESA, Japanese or Canadian astronauts. As flight engineer, he will be in
charge of vital tasks regarding ISS guidance and control, environmental
control and life support systems, power control and communications, crew
health & safety and extra-vehicular activities. He will become the first ESA
astronaut to have performed a spacewalk from the ISS. Here again he is a
veteran, having performed two EVAs during the EuroMir mission.

In September, Vinogradov and Williams will return to Earth and be replaced
by NASA commander Michael Lopez-Alegria and Russian flight engineer Mikhail
Tyurin, with whom Reiter will continue his mission.

For the Astrolab mission, Thomas Reiter will conduct a series of onboard
science and technology experiments. This programme of experiments was
devised by science institutions from all over Europe and covers many
different research fields including human physiology (cardiovascular system,
bone mass, eye motion, immune system, respiratory system, etc.), astronaut
psychology, microbiology, complex plasma physics and radiation dosimetry. He
will also perform technology demonstrations (3D camera) as well as
industrial and educational experiments for universities and
primary/secondary schools. Reiter and his crewmates will also taste
high-quality food specially designed in order to improve the lot of
astronauts far away from planet Earth.

ISS set to expand further

Discovery's launch confirms the return-to-flight of the Space Shuttle, after
more than three years of uncertainty following the loss of Columbia in
February 2003. It is due to confirm that Shuttle launches can proceed and
give the go-ahead for the resumption of ISS assembly flights.

A further 17 Shuttle flights are scheduled to deliver additional elements to
the Space Station complex, including new modules, truss sections and solar
arrays, through to 2010. These elements are currently in storage at Kennedy
Space Center. Among them are several European-built items, including the
Node 2 and 3 modules, which will make a key contribution to Station assembly
by increasing the number of docking ports, and the Cupola observation
module, the first panoramic window on space. One of the most important
European assets for the ISS has just arrived in Florida: the Columbus
laboratory, a unique science facility designed to accommodate
state-of-the-art research equipment for more than a decade of
experimentation. The Station's continued assembly will also be made possible
by the logistic servicing flights of ESA's Automated Transfer Vehicle, the
unmanned cargo ship to be launched by Ariane.

Some ESA equipment designed to improve ISS capabilities is already flying
onboard Discovery inside the Italian-built Leonardo Multi Purpose Logistics
Module and will be integrated on the Station by Thomas Reiter and his
crewmates. Among these is the first of three ESA-developed Minus-Eighty
degrees Laboratory Freezers for the ISS (MELFI). These advanced-technology
freezers were developed for the long-term conservation of biological samples
and experiment results at -80° C, and their eventual return to Earth. Other
ESA-supplied equipment being delivered on STS-121 includes the European



Modular Cultivation System, a facility designed to grow plants in space, and
the Percutaneous Electrical Muscle Stimulator, a device developed for human
physiology experiments. In addition, replacement hardware will upgrade some
existing ESA equipment already onboard, such as the Microgravity Science
Glovebox.

First for European control centres

The Astrolab mission is also the first long-duration human spaceflight to
the ISS to draw on the support of a European control centre, as a rehearsal
for a future expanded ESA presence onboard the Station with the arrival of
the Columbus laboratory.

The Columbus Control Centre at Oberpfaffenhofen, Germany is also home to the
European Payload Operations Centre, which is coordinating European
experiment and payload operations onboard the ISS while monitoring the
activities of Thomas Reiter. The Control Centre will be the hub of activity,
backed up by a network of User Support and Operations Centres throughout
Europe, with the European Astronaut Centre in Cologne providing medical
support.

For Daniel Sacotte, ESA Director of Human Spaceflight: "Astrolab is a
milestone mission for human spaceflight in Europe. Thomas is just the first
to go and more will follow. Even if our astronauts will not be permanently
on the Space Station over the coming years, we have to prepare for having
them onboard very often and for long durations. It is really the beginning
of a long-term European human presence in space."

As Jean-Jacques Dordain, ESA Director General, underlines: "Europe is a
visible and reliable partner in one of the most complex projects ever
carried out in space, with Thomas onboard this year and with the launches of
Columbus and the first ATV servicing mission next year. Thanks to the
commitments of its partners, in particular NASA and the Russian space
agency, as well as the commitments of its Member States, ESA can actively
prepare for utilisation of the Space Station and, beyond that, for its
contribution to the exploration of the solar system."


According to NASA's Space Shuttle launch manifest, Thomas Reiter is
currently expected to return to Earth on Shuttle flight STS-116, with
another ESA astronaut Christer Fuglesang of Sweden accompanying him.

For further information, please contact:
ESA Media Relations Division
Tel: +33(0)1.53.69.7155
Fax: +33(0)1.53.69.7690


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Jacques :-)

www.spacepatches.nl


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