Press Release
No.15-2006
Paris, 24 April 2006
European Columbus laboratory for the International Space Station ready
for delivery
The Columbus laboratory is EuropeÂ’s cornerstone contribution to the
International Space Station. Final integration has been successfully
completed in Bremen. Columbus will be shipped to Cape Canaveral at the
end of May, from where it will be flown on a Space Shuttle to the ISS
in the second half of 2007.
During its planned 10-year operational lifetime, scientific researchers
in Europe, with the help of the astronauts onboard and a Europe-wide
support infrastructure on the ground, will be able to conduct a vast
programme of experiments in the areas of the life and physical
sciences, materials science, fundamental physics and technology
research.
ESA Director General Jean-Jacques Dordain and EADS SPACE Transportation
President Evert Dudok are inviting leading figures from industry,
research institutes, space agencies and government institutions
involved in the programme, together with political representatives and
the media, to attend a ceremony to celebrate the completion of
Columbus development on 2 May, starting at 10:00, at EADS SPACE
Transportation in Bremen, Germany. Chancellor Angela Merkel will be
attending the event and addressing the participants.
The ceremony will be followed at 12:15 by a press conference given by a
panel including ESA Director General Jean-Jacques Dordain, ESA Council
Chair and Chair of the Executive Board of the German Aerospace Centre
(DLR) Sigmar Wittig, NASA Deputy Administrator Shana Dale and EADS
SPACE Transportation President Evert Dudok. Journalists will also
have the opportunity to conduct individual interviews with the
panellists and other key contributors to the ISS programme after the
press conference, and to visit the Columbus laboratory in small groups
in the EADS clean room, its present location.
The venue for the event is within walking distance of Bremen airport.
Media representatives wishing to attend the ceremony and the media
programme are requested to fill in the attached form and return it to
the ESA Media Relations Division.
For further information, please contact:
Franco Bonacina
ESA Media Relations Division
Directorate of External Relations
Paris, France
Tel: +33 1 5369 7155
Fax: +33 1 5369 7690
Dieter Isakeit
Erasmus User Centre and Communication Office
Directorate of Human Spaceflight, Microgravity and Exploration
Noordwijk, Netherlands
Tel: +31 71 565 5451
Fax: +31 71 565 8008
many cards have not arrived at their addressees yet. Maurizo Nati just told me that it seems that none of you have received a card. These cards were sent out from Bremen by an external service company under contract by EADS.