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REVIEW AND OUTLOOK

FLUG REVUE: How would you personally weigh up the achievements of the last 18 years?

Prof. Bonnet: I am deeply grateful and proud to have had the opportunity to hold a responsible office in ESA. During these eighteen years we have succeeded in winning undisputed second place after NASA, but ahead of Russia and Japan, in the scientific space research rankings. This has been achieved on the back of the "Horizon 2000" programme which I initiated in 1984 but which would not have been possible without the wholehearted support of my staff and the scientific community.

Our success in implementing the scientific programme was due in no small measure to extremely efficient management and development of the technologies that were necessary for it. We received fantastic support from industry and scientists. And yet we achieved all this with only around one-quarter of the budget available to the Americans to spend on civilian space research

FLUG REVUE: No doubt ESA's effectiveness on the public relations front also helped...

Prof. Bonnet: Yes, you're right, and we are proud of that too. The public, and hence the taxpayer, has a right to be informed of what we are doing. And the same applies of course to the politicians who approve our funding. This means we have to present the purpose of our missions lucidly, despite the fact that they are continually getting more complex.

I was always mindful in my work that we were very much in the public eye, and I am convinced it is to this that we owe the outstanding calibre of our staff. I made it a rule some time ago that one per cent of our entire budget should go just on that, and this has paid off. Before that the amount spent in our area of operations was virtually unquantifiable.

FLUG REVUE: What would you say were the high points of your term of office?

Prof. Bonnet: I have always seen my work here as that of the conductor of a large orchestra. My music is space science, and it is wonderful music...

FLUG REVUE: ...that was some overture, when the Giotto spacecraft swept past Halley's Comet.

Prof. Bonnet: Yes indeed. Millions of people followed the progress of our spacecraft at that time and also the work of the scientists thanks to whom we were able to make enormous strides forward in our knowledge of comets. Six years later Giotto flew past the comet Gregg-Skjellerup and took another set of measurements - a complete success!

Then came Hipparcos, although it didn't end up on quite the orbit that had been planned. I decided to ignore the gloom of the scientists and make the best out of the situation. We developed some new software and programmed the on-board computer step-by-step. And in fact the satellite achieved a true revolution in astronomy - in measuring the positions of the stars and surveying the dynamics of the universe. With stellar astrometry we created a completely new direction of research.

Of course I could mention a number of other missions, such as ISO or SOHO, which was restored to full operational capability after a malfunction. To help us with this we used some software that we have since patented. The loss of the first of the four Cluster satellites, on the other hand, was a great shock for us. The scientists and engineers, especially at Dornier Satellitensysteme, were really depressed. I managed to get the mission repeated, and the first results we are getting back from the four satellites are already proving a full vindication of this decision.

FLUG REVUE: Which projects was it not possible to implement, and why?

Prof. Bonnet: Fortunately there are not many of those. Naturally I dreamed of being able to overtake the USA in space research, but simply for financial reasons this was unrealistic. American civilian space research benefits enormously from the US military space programmes - we can't compete there. But to achieve the number two position is still pretty fantastic

FLUG REVUE: Under your leadership the "Horizon 2000" Cornerstone programme was initiated in 1984. Of the satellites envisaged in the programme, SOHO, Cluster II and XMM have been great successes, and Rosetta and Herschel will follow soon. How do you see the future of the Cornerstone missions?

Prof. Bonnet: The programme, its management and financing have proved themselves, and it will continue for at least another five years. It is only natural that we should have to overcome a certain amount of resistance from our paymasters. After all we are administering the resources of the ESA mandatory programme, to which all the member states contribute. Naturally they expect a little more in return than a colourfully decorated Christmas tree, and our long-term programme testifies to the responsible way we use our resources. Expensive scientific missions are only justifiable if we are actually discovering something new and are not just repeating research which the Americans or Japanese have already carried out before us.

Nevertheless, in the future we shall be carrying out more, less expensive and more flexible missions - some will be smaller - on which we will use a variety of new technologies. By reducing costs dramatically it will be possible on the Small Missions for Advanced Research Technology (SMART) programme that I also initiated to launch twice as many spacecraft.

FLUG REVUE: If you were not under any financial pressure and could choose, which project would you like to implement?

Prof. Bonnet: There would be three of them. First of all I would send a mission to Mars and strengthen the European commitment to Mars research, as that will be the next big step of humanity in the solar system. My second priority would be to send another lander on Titan after Huygens, because I am sure that that Saturn moon holds a lot of surprises waiting for us. Perhaps there are actually prebiotic activity underneath its ice crust, as some scientists believe.

And finally I have a big personal interest in the Darwin satellites which are intended to identify earth like planets around other stars on which there might possibly be alien life forms. There are some new, exciting tasks here awaiting my successor.

FLUG REVUE: What will you miss the most once you have left the boardroom of ESA?

Prof. Bonnet: Of course that is a very personal question, but it is not difficult to answer. I will miss my fantastic colleagues, in science, engineering and communications. They are extremely clever, efficient, creative and competent. ESA holds out many attractions to talented people of all disciplines and we have the very best here. It has been a great honour for me to be able to work with them.

FLUG REVUE: Thank you for the interview, and we wish you all the best for the future.

From page 48 of FLUG REVUE 5/2001