Student parabolic flights 2004 – ESA TV Exchanges – 5 Oct 2004

This week’s ESA TV Exchanges will be partly on Eutelsat W1, and partly on “Europe by Satellite”. The next transmission is:

Student parabolic flight campaign 2004

ESA TV Exchanges

5 October 09:15-09:30 GMT

Replay I: 5 October 16:00-16:15 GMT

EUTELSAT W1 at 10° East Transponder B4 Middle, channel 2, vertical, F=11.089 MHz (SCPC – DVB/MPEG-2), SR=5.632 MS/sec, FEC=3/4

Replay II: 8 October 13:00 -13:15 GMT

EUTELSAT HOT BIRD at 13° East (DVB/MPEG-2), horizontal, F=12,476 MHz (MCPC, Europe by Satellite), SR=27,500 MS/sec, FEC=3/4

Background information on the transmission:

Every year, ESA offers talented young scientists a thrill of a lifetime: the unique chance to feel weightlessness. ESA TV again accompanied these students going zero-g on a parabolic flight campaign. The plane is the Airbus-300 Zero-G dedicated to parabolic flights. Initially conceived to train astronauts, such flights are today used to develop and test science experiments and equipment usually destined to fly in space.

The flights are not just for astronauts, engineers and doctors. Since 1994, ESA has organised, as part of its Outreach and Education programme, an annual student parabolic flight campaign. The seventh such campaign took place 29 June to 16 July 2004, flying off the Brittany coast. Experiments proposed by 31 teams had been selected, giving 120-odd yougsters a unique opportunity to float freely and perform their experiments – exactly as astronauts do in space. Many, if not all, of the investigations carried out by the students have potential for further applications. All participants are very motivated to pursue such activities in science and technology – and who knows – may follow careers in space research. But the roller-coaster ride can be hard on the stomach and brain as the recordings in today’s Exchange are also showing.

The script will be on-line as of 5 October as a PDF document under http://television.esa.int/photos/STPF2004.pdf

More backgroud information can be found on: http://www.esa.int/esaED/SEMUU725WVD_highereducation_0.html

For further information and a daily update of the transmission schedule, visit our website at http://television.esa.int. For all enquires, contact Claus Habfast, Tel +31 71 565 3838, Fax +31 71 565 6340, e-mail claus.habfast@esa.int.