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Paris, 10 December 2002
Press Release
Nø 79-2002

ESA presents Integral's first images
====================================

Integral, the European Space Agency's gamma-ray satellite, has taken 
its first images and collected its first scientific data.  These 
'first-light' images confirm that Integral is working superbly. 
Everyone involved with the project is delighted with its performance 
so far.

Professor David Southwood (ESA Director of Science), Dr Arvind Parmar
(Integral's Acting Project Scientist), and the Principal Investigators
will be presenting Integral's first ground-breaking images and results 
at a press conference on 18 December at ESA Headquarters in Paris, 
France.

Since its launch on 17 October, scientists have manoeuvred Integral 
into its operational orbit, thoroughly tested their communications 
link, and verified the spacecraft's response to their commands.  They 
have also been fine-tuning the instruments by observing the famous 
black hole, Cygnus X-1.  "We have beautiful gamma-ray images and 
spectra of the sky to show", says Arvind Parmar. Astronomers use 
spectra to analyse the energy of the radiation that  they observe.

Integral's results promise to be very special because it has already
captured one of the most elusive events in the cosmos - a gamma-ray burst.

Gamma-ray bursts are titanic explosions of varying duration that occur 
about twice daily. Scientists think that collapsing stars in the very 
distant Universe cause these mysterious, tremendous explosions.  The 
fascinating and thought-provoking results from this observation will 
be presented at the press conference.

Media representatives wishing to attend are kindly requested to 
complete the attached accreditation form and return it, preferably by 
fax, to the ESA Media Relations Service in Paris  (Fax : 
+33(0)1.53.69.7690).


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


Dr Arvind Parmar, ESA - Acting Integral Project Scientist
ESA - ESTEC,  Noordwijk, The Netherlands
Tel: +31 71 565 4532
E-mail: Arvind.Parmar{at}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

Press conference programme
--------------------------
Wednesday 18 December 2002 - 08:30
ESA Headquarters
8-10 rue Mario-Nikis
Paris, France

08:30 - 09:00 - Breakfast with the press

09:00 - 09:10 -	Welcome & Introduction,  by Prof. D. Southwood, ESA
 Director of Science

09:10 - 09:20 - The Integral mission - objectives, activities and 
 future plans, by Dr A.N. Parmar, ESA - Acting Integral Project 
 Scientist

09:20 - 09:30 - First lights from the Optical Monitor (OMC) on board
 Integral, by Dr M. Mas-Hesse, OMC Principal Investigator,
 LAEFF, Spain

09:30 - 09:40 -	First lights from the X-ray monitor (JEM-X) on board
 Integral,  by Dr N. Lund, JEM-X Principal Investigator,
 DSRI, Denmark

09:40 - 09:50 - First-light  images of the Cygnus region with the
 gamma-ray imager (IBIS) on board Integral,  by Dr P. Ubertini, IBIS
 Principal Investigator, and Dr François Lebrun, IBIS Co -Principal
 Investigator, CEA Saclay, France

09:50 - 10:00 - First-light spectra of the Cygnus region with the
 gamma-ray spectrometer (SPI) on board Integral, by Dr J.P. Roques,
 SPI Co-Principal Investigator, CESR,  France

10:00 - 10:30 -	Questions & Answers 

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Press conference Integral first images
Wednesday 18 December 2002 - 08:30
ESA Headquarters
8-10 rue Mario-Nikis
Paris, France

First name: _______________________ Surname:  _______________________

Media:  _____________________________________________________________

Address: ____________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

Tel:  ___________________________    Fax:  __________________________

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Please fax this form back to :
ESA Media Relations Service
Fax : +33(0)1.53.69.7690

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