OF THE EUROPEAN LOW GRAVITY RESEARCH ASSOCIATION

ago, in a remote and desolate region of what is now the independent Republic of Kazakhstan. The Soviet Union launched Sputnik, the first artificial satellite to orbit the Earth, which was little more than a few pieces of metal with a transmitter and a battery. In the years that have followed, human spaceflights inspired a generation of scientists, including some of you. The challenges of to-day space program are different, what was once a global competition has long since become a global collaboration wherein Europe plays a key role. ELIPS (European LIfe and Physical Science in Space) is the European Space Agency’s (ESA) research programme for science and application in Space. It covers many scientific disciplines, spanning from human physiology to fundamental physics, and utilises a variety of facilities and platforms, from rather simple equipment such as ground-based clinostats to complex ISS equipment designed and developed for specific experiments. ESA provides the platforms and infrastructure while all other means to conduct investigations (including sample and data analysis) have to be provided by national research organisations. One of the most useful means of contact between the ELIPS programme and the scientific community are ESA Topical Teams (TT). TTs are the instruments to identify scientific issues and suitable approaches for implementation through combined groundand spacebased research platforms and they simplify the coordination between scientists who had an experiment selected in an AO (Announcement of Opportunities). In this issue of the ELGRA Newsletter you will find presentation of several Topical Teams. The ELIPS program also includes education and outreach programmes aimed to help young Europeans to gain and maintain an interest in science and technology, and ensuring the existence of a qualified workforce for future space activities. ELGRA is a long-lasting partner of this program; we conduct evaluation of proposals for the Fly-, Spin-, and Drop-Your-Thesis programs of ESA and provide mentors for the selected proposals among the ELGRA members. One of the sessions during the last ELGRA assembly in Antwerp in 2011 was devoted to the presentation of students, and authors of the best manuscripts have received financial support to attend the meeting. Currently the ELIPS-3 programme is going to the end and an independent scientific evaluation of ESA’s ELIPS programme was carried out by the European Science Foundation (ESF). As the results of evaluation, ELIPS was recognised as a high-level programme of great scientific value and fundamental to the success of European research in space science, and therefore should be continued. To make a programme of such importance even better, a set of recommendations has been developed and one of them is to strengthen the link between Space Research and Mainstream Research performed on Earth. The future budget for research in Europe was under discussion at the ministerial meeting in Naples on 20–21 November. Space activities within the 20 ESA Member States and Canada will be settled in ELIPS-4 aiming to boost Europe’s competitiveness and growth along with scientific advances. Your ELGRA committee had prepared supporting letters to the members of the ministerial meeting to underline the importance of continuation of such space research in Europe. ELGRA strongly supports utilization of the ISS for scientific experiments. The giant, well equipped orbiting international laboratory represents the best platform to conduct research that can help to improve the daily lives of people on Earth, as well as testing and improving human capabilities in space. The life of the International Space Station has been extended by more than five years. In order to reach the space station, along with Russian vehicles the American private companies compete to make access to space easier. It enables opportunity for the continuation of the research on the ISS. However, the current economic situation in Europe is not in favourable conditions for research funding. The outcome of the Ministerial counsel indicted an essential reduction of budget for the ELIPS program in what was requested. Even so, it provides a basis to continue our efforts in space and gravity – related research. ESA experts say that all progress in space is done for the average cost of a cinema ticket per European per year. In the years to come we should all focus to obtain even more science with the limited budgets available in order to maintain our European leadership in this area. To assist in this efford weareverypleasedtowelcomeourRomanianandBritishcolleagues joining the ELIPS program. We are looking forward to an active participation of the British and Romanian science community within ELGRA. Finally, please, note in your agenda that the 20th ELGRA biennial Symposium and General Assembly will be held 11-14 Sept. 2013, in the Vatican, in Rome, jointly with the XXVI National Meeting of the Italian Association for Aeronautical and Space Medicine, AIMAS. For more information about the event, please consult the ELGRA website (www.elgra.org). Do not hesitate to contact the local organizers by e-mail (monica.monici@unifi.it, francesca.cialdai@unifi.it, f.strollo@alice.it) I wish you an excellent 2013 and I am looking forward to see you in the Vatican in September.