Disclosure would've been good timing for this!.................
ESA pavilion "L’Europe de l’Espace, Space for Earth" at the 48th Paris Air Show
10 June 2009
The 48th International Paris Air Show will take place from 15 to 21 June at Le Bourget. The ESA Pavilion "L’Europe de l’Espace, Space for Earth" will be located in its usual place between the full scale models of the Ariane 1 and Ariane 5 launchers.
This year the theme of the pavilion is “Space, a key asset for Europe to face global challenges”. “This choice”, explains Fernando Doblas, Head of the ESA Communication Department, “aims to highlight the multiple roles of space: space as an enabling tool for Europe to take on the challenges facing humankind; space as a sector generating new technologies and contributing to a knowledge-based society; space for European growth and employment. Space is also a font of education, innovation and inspiration. A particular accent is given to astronomy and planetary missions in order to celebrate the International Year of Astronomy that aims to stimulate worldwide interest, especially among young people”.
The exhibition is a journey from the boundaries of the Universe to the core of the Earth. The visit starts with an impressive image from the Hubble Space Telescope showing new born stars. This area, entitled “Space to Discover”, gives an overview of past, current and future ESA missions studying the Universe in different wavelengths, with a focus on the two cosmic explorers, Herschel and Planck, recently launched to study the origin and evolution of the Cosmos.
From the farthest stars we arrive in the Solar System. Images, videos and interactive “magic books” allow visitors to have a better understanding of Europe’s contribution in the exploration of Mars, Venus, Titan, Saturn’s largest moon, and comets. A special emphasis is given to BepiColombo and ExoMars, planned to be launched in 2013 and 2016. BepiColombo will explore Mercury to find out how planets close to stars form; and ExoMars will be ESA’s first mission to land a rover on Mars to search for signs of present, or past, life.
For the rest of the article.............
http://www.esa.int/esaCP/SEMFKJQORVF_index_0.html