FLUG REVUE April 2004: Feust-Büchl on European space plans

EUROPES MANNED SPACEFLIGHT PLANS

We spoke to Jörg Feustel-Büechl, ESA Director of Manned Spaceflight and Microgravity.

FLUG REVUE: How do you assess the status of European participation on flights to the International Space Station?

Feustel-Büechl: The seventh European, André Kuipers, will be flying to the ISS in April. Bearing in mind the fact that we will only gain full rights to astronaut flights when our Columbus laboratory enters service, the high rate of participation we have enjoyed to date is extremely satisfactory. Of course, so far the missions have been only short, but I am hopeful that European astronauts will take part in long-term flights in the near future.

FLUG REVUE: How much benefit do the present taxi flights offer?

Feustel-Büechl: Unfortunately, after the Colombia disaster we went through a lean period as regards station operations, but despite that we have always been able to put together a very good scientific programme for our regular flights. And as far as André Kuipers is concerned, we have 105 kilograms of scientific payload on board the station, so he will be busy around the clock.

FLUG REVUE: What form will future European missions take?

Feustel-Büechl: It has not yet been confirmed whether one of our astronauts will be on board a Soyuz capsule in October of this year. Apart from that, we are also planning to continue the Soyuz flights next year. Meanwhile, from next year we expect Shuttle flights to the ISS to resume, and we are hoping that one of our men will be onboard the ISS when the first “Jules Verne” Automated Transfer Vehicle docks. Then finally, in 2006, the ESA Columbus laboratory module should be attached, so that from then on there is a definite prospect of our astronauts participating in long-term missions lasting several months.

FLUG REVUE: The back-up astronaut for André Kuipers is the German, Gerhard Thiele. Does that mean that he will be top of the list when it comes to the next flight?

Feustel-Büechl: Normally, we do in fact follow the procedure that an astronaut's back-up flies on the next mission. But for Gerhard Thiele to fly, we also need financial support from Germany. Naturally, candidates from countries which provide money are better placed. Other countries, like Italy or Holland, have been more open on this point in the past. But when sustained missions with Columbus operation come up for debate in the future, you can be sure that one of the German astronauts will work in space for three to six months.

FLUG REVUE: Does that mean that there are currently problems in working relationships between the member states?

Feustel-Büechl: Definitely not! Even if up to now our spacemen have flown into space as representatives of their respective countries, nevertheless they have always been ESA astronauts above all else, that is, they have been Europeans first and foremost. This way of working is deeply ingrained in our organisation, and in the 18 years that I have worked as an employee of ESA I have never observed any of our staff placing their own national interests above those of Europe.

FLUG REVUE: What impact will the ever closer collaboration between ESA and the EU have?

Feustel-Büechl: I think we are already a model here. On the basis of its international strength, the EU will play a significant political role, whereas we have the specialists for programmes and projects. Besides, the EU is the customer for the practical application of the results of spaceflight; the Community formulates the requirements and we offer the solutions.

FLUG REVUE: Is ESA already thinking about initiatives for the post-ISS era?

Feustel-Büechl: Of course. On the one hand we have the Aurora programme aimed at exploring Mars which was agreed at the meeting of ESA's Council at Ministerial Level in Edinburgh in 2001. On the other hand, already last year I asked a group of international experts to formulate a realistic vision for the challenges of manned European spaceflight in the period from 2005 to 2025. The results of the work of this Human Spaceflight Vision Group (HSVG) have been available since the end of 2003 and, together with the Aurora results, they constitute a good basis for preparing for future decisions of the ESA Council at Ministerial Level in the area of manned spaceflight.

FLUG REVUE: Could you please tell us the most important conclusions?

Feustel-Büechl: Subject to the reservation that as yet it is only a vision rather than a programme that has received the blessing of the Council, we are working on the assumption that our next objective after the ISS could be to build a permanently manned lunar station. However, that will depend on how well accepted and useful the ISS proves to be by the end of its service life. Taxpayers are unlikely to be willing to finance an outpost on the moon unless the present station brings measurable benefits.

FLUG REVUE: Does that mean that Europe is following the initiative of the American President to establish a settlement in the solar system?

Feustel-Büechl: First of all it has to be said that this initiative is very welcome as it has given NASA something to focus its energies on again. In the past too many programmes were pursued there in parallel, a lot of money was spent and a number of projects were abandoned without any prospect of being implemented. I am thinking here of the many developments in the manned and unmanned transport sector that were begun, only to be cancelled later on. Now there are plans to develop a crew exploration vehicle, and we will see what form it takes. Again, the NASA initiative gives a clear target for the future of the ISS.

On the other hand, a European response to the initiative is still pending. As a preliminary, we need to gather information and decide what strategy we should be pursuing. That process will continue to the middle of the year. However, it is important that negotiations regarding European participation are conducted on an equal footing, for at present the American documents all too often use phrases like “under the direction of the USA” or “support for the USA”. But over the years we have become more politically and technologically self-assured, as we have undeniable contributions to offer to space research.

Matthias Gründer was asking the questions.
From FLUG REVUE 4/2004, page 21

Last updated 12 March 2004

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