On 31 May the European Space Agency (ESA) starts a year-long travelling
exhibition about its new environment satellite, Envisat. The largest and
most up-to-date satellite for earth observation ever built will be
presented at fourteen cities across Germany, Austria and Switzerland. From
the inaugural event in Berlin, the show will continue on to Mannheim,
Lucerne, Saarbruecken, Munich and Zurich.

Envisat weighs eight tonnes and has been several years in the making. This
October it will be launched into space to start searching for answers to
questions about pollution and global warming, using some of the most
sophisticated instruments available in the world.

The importance of the Envisat mission is highlighted by a sobering report
issued recently by the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change,
warning of drastic climate change linked to pollution and demanding
immediate action. For this, scientists will require detailed data on the
sources and mechanisms of pollution and on the complex system of
interactions between the oceans, land masses and the atmosphere.

The travelling exhibition will present some of the uses of the data which
will be gathered by Envisat, such as predicting changes to the ozone layer
and warning of imminent natural disasters. The exhibition will also
explain the scientific background of the mission.

Representatives of the media are invited to attend the opening press
conference with Siegmar Mosdorf, the parliamentary undersecretary for the
German federal ministry of economy, and Michael Rast, an expert working in
ESA’s Earth Observation Directorate. It will be held at the German Museum
of Technology in Berlin at 11:00 on 31 May. A form is enclosed for
registration by fax.

Exhibition dates:

27.05. – 17.06.2001 — Deutsches Technikmuseum Berlin

20.06. – 08.07.2001 — Landesmuseum für Technik und Arbeit in Mannheim

11.07. – 19.08.2001 — Verkehrshaus Luzern

13.09. – 25.09.2001 — Haus der Zukunft Saarbrücken

28.09. – 21.10.2001 — Deutsches Museum München

16.10. – 11.11.2001 — Museum für Gestaltung Zürich

Other locations are being prepared for the exhibition in Germany (Bremen,
Hamburg, Dresden, Nuremberg, Oberhausen, Sinsheim), Austria (Vienna) and
Switzerland (Winterthur).

For more information, please contact :

Jocelyne Landeau

Head of Communication Office

ESA/ESOC

Tel: +49(0)6151.90.2696

Fax: +49(0)6151.90.2961

Opening press conference

ENVISAT TRAVELLING EXHIBITION

First name : _______________ Surname : _____________________

Organisation represented: _____________________________________

Address : _______________________________________________

_______________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________

Tel : __________________ Fax : _________________________

Mobile : _______________ e-mail : ______________________

[ ] I will attend the opening press conference

[ ] I will not attend

Please return by fax to:

Deutsches Technikmuseum, Science Centre Spektrum

Dr. Maria Borgmann

Mˆckernstrasse 26

Berlin-Kreuzberg

Telefon: +49(0)30.90.254.284

Fax: +49(0)30.90.254.283