German Chancellor Angela Merkel to hold live in-flight call with ESA
astronaut Thomas Reiter on board the ISS

18 July 2006

ESA PR 27-2006. On Thursday, 20 July, German Chancellor Dr Angela Merkel and
the Prime Minister of Germany's Hesse region, Roland Koch, will address ESA
astronaut Thomas Reiter, currently on board the International Space Station
(ISS), from ESA's operations centre (ESOC) in Darmstadt, Germany.

This first live 'Space-to-Earth discussion' between Chancellor Merkel and
Thomas Reiter will start at 12:30 CEST and last 20 minutes.
The Chancellor will also tour the control facilities from which 54 European
satellite missions have been successfully operated. Chancellor Merkel and
Prime Minister Koch will follow first-hand the preparation for the launch of
Europe's latest weather satellite, MetOp. ESA Director General Jean-Jacques
Dordain and senior ESA staff will also brief the guests on highlight ESA
missions, including the Huygens mission to Saturn's moon Titan, Mars
Express, Venus Express, Earth observation with Envisat, as well as on Europe
's future solar exploration plans.

ISS in-flight call to Hesse-born ESA astronaut Thomas Reiter

The German ESA astronaut is looking forward to discussing ISS science and
operations in zero gravity with Mrs. Merkel, who holds a PhD in physics, and
with Mr Koch, Prime Minister of the region in which he was born. ESA
Director General Dordain explains: "It is a great honour and a pleasure to
welcome Chancellor Angela Merkel and Hesse Prime Minister Roland Koch for
this in-flight call. Thereby, they demonstrate great support for Thomas
Reiter's ISS mission as a key asset to Europe's human spaceflight
programme - and for ESA's operations centre in Germany."

Thomas Reiter will begin the second week of his six-month "Astrolab" mission
on board the Space Station when he talks to the Chancellor. During his stay
in space, he will conduct a programme of European science experiments and
carry out ISS maintenance activities. He will also perform an
extra-vehicular activity (EVA, or "spacewalk"), currently scheduled for 3
August. This mission will allow Europe to gain experience and know-how in
the operation of long-duration spaceflight in preparation for the addition
of Europe's Columbus laboratory to the ISS in the second half of 2007.


Jocelyne Landeau
ESA/ESOC Communication
Tel:+49.6151.90.2696
Email :

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Jacques :-)

www.spacepatches.nl