Two contrasting space missions are in the final stages of preparation at
ESA’s Space Research and Technology Centre (ESTEC) in Noordwijk, the
Netherlands. They are the Rosetta mission to rendezvous with Comet
Wirtanen and study the origins of our solar system and the Integral
spacecraft to study the most violent phenomena in the Universe. Both
spacecraft are nearing their launch dates.

Media representatives are invited to ESTEC on Tuesday 18 June to learn
about these two missions. Professor David Southwood, ESA Director of
Science, ESA project managers and project scientists, together with
industry representatives, will be giving presentations and be on hand for
interviews. Visits to the spacecraft in their test environment will also
be included.

Representatives of the media wishing to attend this media day at ESA/ESTEC
on 18 June are kindly requested to complete the attached accreditation
form and fax it to: Heidi Graf, Head of Corporate Communication Office –
ESA/ESTEC, Noordwijk, The Netherlands (Tel. +31(0) 71.565.3006 – Fax.
+31(0)71.565.5728).

Note for editors:

The mission goal for the Rosetta spacecraft is a rendezvouJ@æth Comet
Wirtanen in 2011. Rosetta will be launched in January 2003 by an Ariane-5
from Kourou, French Guiana. On its eight-year journey to the Comet, the
spacecraft will pass close to two asteroids, before studying the nucleus
of Comet Wirtanen and its environment in great detail for a period of
nearly two years (2011-2013).

The spacecraft will also carry a lander to the nucleus and deploy it on
the comet’s surface. The lander science will focus on in situ study of the
composition and structure of the nucleus material. The mission will make
an unparalleled study of cometary material and reveal much about how the
solar system formed.

Integral will have the task of tracking gamma radiation across the entire
sky. ESA’s International Gamma-Ray Astrophysics Laboratory, Integral, will
gather gamma rays, the most energetic radiation that comes from space. The
spacecraft is scheduled for launch on 17 October this year, from Baikonur,
on board a Russian Proton launcher and will help solve some of the biggest
mysteries in astronomy.

Integral will be the most sensitive gamma-ray observatory ever launched.
It will detect radiation from the most violent events far away and yet at
the same time give evidence of the processes that made the Universe
habitable.

For further information, please contact :

ESA Media Relations Office

Tel: +33(0)1.53.69.7155

Fax: +33(0)1.53.69.7690 

REGISTRATION FORM

Rosetta and Integral Press Day at ESTEC, Noordwijk (the Netherlands)

Tuesday 18 June 2002


Surname: _______________________First name _______________________

Media : __________________________________________________________

Business address : _______________________________________________

                   _______________________________________________

                   _______________________________________________

Telephone: ________________________ Fax: _________________________

Mobile : __________________________ e-mail: ______________________


(  )	I will be attending the press day on Tuesday 18 June 2002

(  )	I will not be attending


Please return by fax to :
Heidi Graf, Head of Corporate Communication Office
ESA/ESTEC, Noordwijk, the Netherlands
Tel: +31(0)71.565.3006
Fax: +31(0)71.565.5728



PROGRAMME SCIENCE MEDIA DAY
Tuesday 18 June 2002
ESA/ESTEC



09:30 - Welcome

10:00 - The Integral and Rosetta missions in the context of "Cosmic Vision
2020" - David Southwood, Director of the Scientific Programme

10:30 -	The Integral Mission - Kai Clausen, ESA Project Manager
-       Scientific Goals and Instrument Overview - Arvind Parmar, ESA
        Acting Project Scientist
-	Industrial Organisation - Giuseppe Finocchiano, Alenia Project Manager

11:10 -	The Rosetta Mission - Europe Comet's Chaser - John Ellwood, ESA
        Project Manager
-	Science Objectives - Gerhard Schwehm, ESA Project Scientist
-	Industrial Organisation - Rainer Best, Astrium Project Manager

11:50 - Q & A session

12:30 - Lunch and possibility of interviews

13:45 - Transfer to test centre

14:00 -	Visit of flight units Integral and Rosetta

15:30 -	Additional interview opportunity

16:30 - End of programme