Environment satellite goes on tour
On 31 May the European Space Agency (ESA) launches a new travelling exhibition about its new environment satellite, Envisat. It will tour fourteen cities across Germany, Austria and Switzerland, presenting the satellite which ESA describes as the largest and most up-to-date ever built for earth observation. It has taken several years for ESA to build the eight ton satellite which will blast into orbit in October this year. Envisat's mission is to search for answers to scientists'' questions about pollution and global warming. 'The importance of Envisat's mission is highlighted by a sobering report issued recently by the UN's intergovernmental panel on climate change, warning of drastic climate change linked to pollution and demanding immediate action,' says ESA. 'For this, scientists will require detailed data on the sources and mechanisms of pollution and on the complex system of interactions between the oceans, and masses and the atmosphere.' The first show is in Berlin, from where it will continue on to Mannheim, Lucerne, Saarbrücken, Munich and Zurich. The initial exhibition dates are as follow: 27.05. - 17.06.2001 Deutsches Technikmuseum Berlin 20.06. - 08.07.2001 Landesmuseum für Technik und Arbeit in Mannheim 11.07. - 19.08.2001 Verkehrshaus Luzern 13.09. - 25.09.2001 Haus der Zukunft Saarbrücken 28.09. - 21.10.2001 Deutsches Museum München 16.10. - 11.11.2001 Museum für Gestaltung Zürich Other locations are being prepared for the exhibition in Germany (Bremen, Hamburg, Dresden, Nuremberg, Oberhausen, Sinsheim), Austria (Vienna) and Switzerland (Winterthur).