INTEGRAL Science Data Centre to be presented to the press

Paris, March 2002

While ESA's INTEGRAL spacecraft prepares for launch in October 2002, the INTEGRAL Science Data Centre at Versoix (Switzerland) is getting ready for operations. On 11 April 2002, the doors of the centre - which will prepare and distribute the INTEGRAL data to the worldwide astronomical community

- will be open to the European scientific community and to the press.

The task of INTEGRAL, the most sensitive gamma-ray observatory ever launched, will be to gather some of the most energetic radiation that comes from space. It will pinpoint and study gamma-ray sources in unprecedented detail and will help to solve some of the biggest mysteries in astronomy: INTEGRAL will investigate the origin of enigmatic gamma-ray bursts, brief but extremely powerful releases of energy, and will bring much new information on stellar explosions and black holes. Not only does INTEGRAL tell us about places where we could not live, it also tell us about the processes that made the Universe habitable, such as the formation of chemical elements.

The INTEGRAL Science Data Centre (ISDC), located near Geneva, represents the key element in the exploitation and analysis of the data that will come from INTEGRAL during the two years planned for in-orbit operations. In the centre, the data will be analysed, formatted and made accessible to the worldwide astronomical community. Such fundamental work on INTEGRAL data guarantees that data can be exploited by a wide community of astronomers, including those who are not familiar with the instrumentation used for gamma-ray observations.

The ISDC is supported and funded by a dozen institutes in Europe and the United States (the ISDC consortium). The press conference on 11 April marks the end of the centre's development phase and the start of its operational phase.

The presence of the ISDC in Switzerland represents a particular opportunity for Swiss scientists, who will participate in a special way to the development of high-energy particle astrophysics, as a result of having privileged access to INTEGRAL data.

Speakers at the press conference will include Professor T. Courvoisier (Geneva Observatory, Principal Investigator of the INTEGRAL Science Data Centre), Doctor P. Creola, (Head of Swiss Space Office), and Professor D. Southwood (Director of Science at the European Space Agency).

Note to editors

INTEGRAL, ESA's International Gamma-Ray Astrophysics Laboratory, will be launched in October 2002 on a Proton rocket from Baikonour, Kazakhstan.

The spacecraft is currently subject to final testing at ESA's European Space Research & Technology Centre (ESTEC) in Noordwijk, the Netherlands, while the ground segment facilities - from which INTEGRAL operations will be controlled - are preparing for final review in June.

The spacecraft will be shipped to the launch site in August 2002.

The ISDC consortium, lead by Professor Thierry Courvoisier (Geneva Observatory, Switzerland), consists of scientific institutes in Switzerland (Observatoire de Genève, Sauverny), Belgium (Institut d'Astrophysique - Université de Liège), Czech Republic (Astronomical Institute - Academy of Sciences, Ondrejov), Denmark (Copenhagen University Observatory; Danish Space Research Institute, Copenhagen), Ireland (University College Dublin), Italy (Istituto di Fisica Cosmica - CNR, Milan; Istituto di Astrofisica Spaziale -Tor Vergata, Rome), Finland (Metsähovi Radio Observatory, Kylmälä), France (Service d'Astrophysique - Centre d'Etudes de Saclay), Germany (Universität Tübingen - Inst. für Astronomie und Astrophysik; Max-Planck Institut für extrater. Physik Garching), USA (NASA/GSFC, Greenbelt), Poland (N. Copernicus Astronomical Centre, Warsaw), United Kingdom (University of Southampton; University of Birmingham) and the USA (NASA/GSFC, Greenbelt).

Media wishing to attend the press conference are requested to complete the reply form attached below and return it via fax to:

ISDC (INTEGRAL Science Data Centre)
Fax: +41 22 950 91 33
Tel: +41 22 950 91 00

For further information please contact:

ESA - Communication Department
Media Relations Office
Tel: +33(0)1 53 69 7155
Fax: +33(0)1 53 69 7690

Prof. Thierry J. L. Courvoisier, Principal Investigator of the ISDC
Versoix, Switzerland
Tel: +41 22 950 91 01
E-mail: Thierry.Courvoisier@obs.unige.ch

Dr Arvind Parmar, ESA - Acting INTEGRAL Project Scientist
ESA - ESTEC, Noordwijk, The Netherlands
Tel: +31 71 565 4532
E-mail: Arvind.Parmar@esa.int

For more information on the INTEGRAL mission and the ESA Science Programme, visit the ESA Science website at: http://sci.esa.int/integral

Further information on the INTEGRAL Science Data Centre can be found at: http://isdc.unige.ch

Event programme

Location: INTEGRAL Science Data Centre
16, Chemin d'Ecogia
CH-1290 VERSOIX
Switzerland

The press conference will be held partly in French, partly in English.

10:30 - Introduction & Welcome, by Prof. Thierry Courvoisier, Geneva Observatory, Principal Investigator of the ISDC (in French)

10:35 - - INTEGRAL in the context of the ESA Scientific Programme, by Prof. David Southwood, ESA Director of Science (in English with support material in French)

10:45 - The INTEGRAL mission, by Dr Kai Clausen, INTEGRAL Project Manager (in English with support material in French)

10:55 - The INTEGRAL instruments, by Dr Arvind Parmar, acting INTEGRAL Project Scientist (in English with support material in French)

11:05 - INTEGRAL Science and the INTEGRAL Science Data Centre, by Prof. Thierry Courvoiser, Geneva Observatory, Principal Investigator of the ISDC (in French)

11:20 - Switzerland & Space, by Dr P. Creola, ,Head of Swiss Space Office (in French)

11:30 - Conclusions, by Prof. Thierry Courvoiser (in French)

Press Conference

Thursday 11 April 2002 - 10h30

Location: INTEGRAL Science Data Centre (ISDC)
16, Chemin d'Ecogia
CH-1290 VERSOIX
Switzerland

Name: _________________________ First Name: _______________________

Media: ______________________________________________________________

Address: ____________________________________________________________

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Tel: _________________________ Fax: ____________________________

Mobile: ______________________ e-mail : _________________________

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To be returned by fax to: ISDC
Fax: +41 22 950 91 33
Tel: +41 22 950 91 00

Press Release N° 20-2002