Spaceflight

PARIS 2007: French astronaut explains mission

The European Space Agency (ESA) showed how important the space industry is to France with the “Paris fête l’Espace” celebration, held at the place du Trocadéro on Friday evening.

The event was hosted by TV presenter Jérôme Bonaldi and ESA astronaut Jean-François Clervoy of France. Pascale Ultré-Guérard of CNES; also hosted a session on “How to become an astronaut”, featuring French astronaut Léopold Eyharts who is due to fly to the International Space Station (ISS) at the end of the year on a mission to install Europe’s Columbus space laboratory.

An original first edition of the Jules Verne classic 'From the Earth to the Moon' was then presented to ESA - this is due to be carried to the ISS aboard the European supply vessel, the Automated Transfer Vehicle (ATV).

The public were later treated to a 'son et lumière' laser spectacular, featuring special effects, space music and images produced from science satellite data projected onto a giant 350m2 screen.