Practical information for the press
The 4th Ariane 5 flight (Ariane 504) is currently scheduled to take place from Europe’s spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana, on 10 December 1999. The launch window opens at 15:32 CET (14:32 GMT; 11:32 Kourou time) and closes at 16:02 CET (15:02 GMT, 12:02 Kourou time).
With Ariane 5 entering now commercial service, Arianespace will be launching ESA’s XMM, a very special telescope that will revolutionise the study of X-rays sources from the Universe.
To enable media representatives to witness this event from Europe, a European press centre and several local press centres are being set up on the day of the launch. The main press centre will be at ESA’s operations centre ESOC in Darmstadt, Germany, from where XMM will be controlled. The French media can watch the event at Evry, near Paris, at the CNES/Arianespace premises, the Dutch media at the ESA/ESTEC visitors’ centre (Space Expo) in Noordwijk, and the Italian media at ESA/ESRIN in Frascati, near Rome. In the USA, the press will be welcomed in Washington, at a date to be confirmed.
On the day of the launch, the press centres in Europe will provide journalists with non-stop comunication with the Jupiter Press Centre in Kourou. Media representatives will be able to follow the video transmission of the launch and all press conferences and briefings (audio only) scheduled in Kourou. Senior officials, managers, spokespersons and representatives of organisations and firms working on the Ariane 5 and XMM programmes will also be on hand to take questions and assist the press.
Pre-launch press briefings from Kourou two days and one day before launch can be followed by calling dedicated telephone servers at given times. The attached table summarises the main events to be followed.
Attached you will also find an accreditation form that we kindly ask you to complete and fax to the press centre of your choice.
Media representatives wishing to cover the launch from Kourou are kindly requested to contact the Press Services at ESA (Franco Bonacina : + 33.1.53.69.71.55) or at Arianespace (Mario de Lepine:
+ 33.1.60.87.60.15).
Main press events for the launch of XMM on Ariane 504
PRATICAL INFORMATION FOR THE PRESS
LAUNCH SCHEDULED FOR
Friday 10 December 1999
LAUNCH WINDOW
15:32-16:02 CET/ 14:32- 15:02 GMT/ 11:32-12:02 Kourou time
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ARRANGEMENTS |
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L-2 (Wednesday 8 Dec. 1999)
23:00 CET/ 22:00 GMT/ 19:00 Kourou time Press briefing: Countdown status from Kourou
Audio on telephone servers: French: +33.1.49.57.28.80 English: +33.149.57.65.55 |
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L-1 (Thursday 9 Dec. 1999)
15:00 CET/ 14:00 GMT/ 11:00 Kourou time Presentation of the mission and countdown status from Kourou
Audio on telephone servers: French: +33.1.49.57.28.80 English: +33.149.57.65.55
21:00 CET/ 20:00 GMT/ 17:00 Kourou time Press briefing: Countdown status from Kourou
Audio on telephone servers: French: +33.1.49.57.28.80 English: +33.149.57.65.55
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L 0 (Friday 10 Dec. 1999)
12:30 CET/ 11:30 GMT/ 08:30 Kourou time Press briefing: Pre-launch countdown status from Kourou
Audio on telephone servers: French: +33.1.49.57.28.80 English: +33.149.57.65.55
14:42 CET/ 13:42 GMT/ 10:42 Kourou time Start of Video transmission to all Centres (*) Ho= 15:32 CET/ 14:32 GMT/ 11:32 Kourou time
Ho + 35′ End of videotransmission
18:00 CET/ 17:00 GMT/ 14:00 Kourou time Post-launch press conference from Kourou
In audio multiplex with all centres and on telephone servers: French : +33.1.49.57.28.80 English: +33.149.57.65.55
19:30 CET/ 18:30 GMT/ 15:30 Kourou time Status report on the XMM mission
In audio multiplex with all centres and on telephone servers: French: +33.1.49.57.28.80 English: +33.149.57.65.55 |
(*) The video transmission , all video news releases and news feeds will be available via the ESA TV Service. For transmission details and schedule, see http://television.esa.int. The ESA TV service transmits every workday 15:00-15:30 CET on:
Eutelsat 2 F4, 10 degrees East
Transponder 22, channel 2 (digital, 9 MHz bandwidth)
11.144 MHz, pol HMPEG-2 (4:2:0), 5.632 Msymb/sec, FEC 3/4
ARIANE 504/ Launch of XMM- 10 December 1999
First Name: _____________________________ Surname: ____________________________
Media: _________________________________________________________________
Telephone: ______________________ Cell Phone: _____________________________
Fax: ____________________________ e-mail: _________________________________
I intend to follow the Ariane 504/XMM launch at the following centre:
( ) Germany: EUROPEAN PRESS CENTRE at ESA/ESOC
Address: Robert Bosch Strasse 5, Darmstadt, D-64293
Open from: 11:30 hrs on launch date, local press briefing at 14:00 hrs before start of video transmission
Contact person: Jocelyne Landeau-Constantin
Tel +49 6151 90 26 96, Fax+ 49 6151 90 29 61
( ) France: ARIANESPACE/CNES
Address: Boulevard de l’Europe , Evry
Open from: 14:00 hrs on launch date
Contact person: Beatrix Maugueret
Tel. + 33 1 60 87 6013 Fax: + 33 1 60 87 6304
( ) Netherlands: ESA/ ESTEC Visitors’ Centre (Space Expo)
Address: Keplerlaan 3, 2201 AZ Noordwijk
Open from: 14:00 hrs on launch date
Contact person: Heidi Graf
Tel: + 31 71 565 3006, Fax: + 31 71 565 5728
( ) Italy: ESA/ESRIN- Frascati
Address: via Galileo Galilei, 00044 Frascati (Rome)
Open from: 14:00 hrs on launch date
Contact person: Franca Morgia
Tel: + 39 06 9418 0951, Fax. + 39 06 9418 0952
( ) USA: ESA Washington
Contact Person: Jane Mellors
Tel: + 1 202 488 4158, Fax: + 1 202 488 4930
PLEASE COMPLETE AND FAX THIS FORM TO THE CONTACT PERSON AT THE CENTRE WHERE YOU WILL BE ATTENDING THE EVENT.
