Prof. Ian Halliday, Chief Executive of the Particle Physics and Astronomy
Research Council [PPARC], confirmed an investment of £3.5M [5M€] on behalf of
the UK to the European Space Agency’s [ESA] European Preparatory Space
Exploration Programme – ‘Aurora’. In addition, PPARC has set aside a further
£1.5M [2M €] which will be used for either UK national preparatory activities
for Aurora or as additional contributions to ESA. The total budget ascribed to
the preparatory programme by PPARC will thus be £5M [7M €].

Speaking at a press conference today Prof. Halliday said, “Aurora is an exciting
programme of space exploration to unravel the mysteries of our immediate cosmos,
initially focusing on Europe’s robotic exploration of Mars”.

Prof. Halliday added, “Importantly the UK can make a real contribution both
scientifically and industrially to Aurora, particularly in the fields of
instrumentation, robotic surface rovers and entry, descent and landing systems
technology. That is exactly why we have made a significant investment from our
existing budget at this point in order to put the UK in a commanding position to
shape and define a programme that meets our national scientific and industrial
objectives”.

This latest stage of ESA’s Aurora programme will lead to a fully costed and
defined programme by 2006, to include the first tranche of
scientifically-orientated robotic missions which are likely to dominate the
first ten years of the programme. Since Aurora is a long-term programme,
potentially leading to a human mission to Mars circa 2033, the programme will be
divided into 5-year periods allowing each country to revise its scope of
participation, depending on actual outputs achieved at the end of each period
and of national interests.

“The science case for Aurora is extremely strong as endorsed by PPARC’s Science
Committee,” commented Prof. Halliday. “It will build on the excellent
collaboration which already exists between UK academics and industrialists and
will deliver new technologies and real industrial return. Ultimately it will be
a decision for government whether or not the UK enters the full implementation
programme. That will be the subject of future evaluation, decision making and
investment. But by taking a leading role right now, the UK will be extremely
well placed to make that judgement against a programme that aligns with our
national goals.”

ESA member states will announce their decision to participate in the full Aurora
implementation programme at the next ESA ministerial-level Council meeting.

Commenting on the significance of today’s announcement and its impact on current
and future generations of scientists, Dr. Sarah Dunkin from the Rutherford
Appleton Laboratory and Vice President of the Royal Astronomical Society [RAS]
said, “The decision to join this next phase of Aurora is welcomed by the RAS,
reflecting our declared support for the programme earlier this year. It is good
news and highlights the positive feeling of the community towards the programme,
giving strong encouragement to young scientists and engineers in the UK.
However, there is a need for a long term commitment to the programme otherwise
these people will see their future in other countries”.

Dunkin added,” We need to secure our long-term future in science and technology
— Aurora will provide an unprecedented training ground for our younger
scientists and engineers, and in addition it’s an accepted fact that space has
an inspirational effect on children, enthusing them to pursue further education
in science and technology and eventually full-time careers. Without that
inspiration we stand to lose our next generation of scientists and technologists”.

Prof. John Zarnecki of the Planetary & Space Sciences Research Institute at the
Open University, a key member of the Task Group initiated by PPARC to evaluate
the science case for UK involvement, said,” Today’s announcement by PPARC is
really good news for the UK planetary space science community. We can now start
to develop a credible programme that will help us to understand how readily life
can evolve in the Universe and determine how common environments that could
support life are. This is of profound scientific and philosophical importance”.

“However, we are not out of the woods yet,” added Prof. Zarnecki, “If we can
mould Aurora to our UK science strengths then we need to sign-up to the full
implementation programme and that will require new government money”.

Prospects for UK industry were raised today as Dr. Mike Healy, Director Earth
Observation, Navigation and Science at EADS Astrium explained. “We can now begin
to exploit our leadership in entry, descent and landing systems — key
technologies required for Aurora — reprising the expertise that went into the
Beagle 2 Lander”.

The Particle Physics and Astronomy Research Council (PPARC) is the UK’s
strategic science investment agency. It funds research, education and public
understanding in four areas of science — particle physics, astronomy, cosmology
and space science.

PPARC is government funded and provides research grants and studentships to
scientists in British universities, gives researchers access to world-class
facilities and funds the UK membership of international bodies such as the
European Laboratory for Particle Physics (CERN), and the European Space Agency.
It also contributes money for the UK telescopes overseas on La Palma, Hawaii,
Australia and in Chile, the UK Astronomy Technology Centre at the Royal
Observatory, Edinburgh and the MERLIN/VLBI National Facility, which includes the
Lovell Telescope at Jodrell Bank observatory.

PPARC’s Public Understanding of Science and Technology Awards Scheme funds both
small local projects and national initiatives aimed at improving public
understanding of its areas of science.

Notes for Editors:

Further information

More details of the European Space Agency’s programme can be found at:

* ESA: Aurora http://www.esa.int/SPECIALS/Aurora/index.html

* PPARC: Aurora http://www.aurora.rl.ac.uk/Default.htm Images

Pictures to accompany this release, http://www.pparc.ac.uk/Nw/Aurora_decision.asp