The space industry is guaranteed to make headlines again in 1997. The second attempted launch of the European Space Agency's Ariane 5 booster is certain to count as one of the most closely followed media events of the year. It will now take place in July, just a little over a year after the spectacular explosion of the the first attempt - flight 501 - in June 1996.
Another failure would be a major blow to the agency and to Europe's space prestige in general, not to mention a commercial disaster for Arianespace, which plans to take delivery of the launcher for commercial operations from 1998.
Another media highlight will be the exploration of Mars which follows 1996's much-publicised speculation that there may be some form of life on the planet.
On 4 July, the US Mars Pathfinder is due to land on the Red Planet and to deploy a mini-rover, which may finally add some facts to the "life on Mars" debate. It will be followed by the Mars Global Surveyor, which arrives in its orbit in September.
By November, assembly will also finally begin on the long-delayed International Space Station project, with the launch of the Russian FGB module.
A US Node connector and other equipment will be added by the Space Shuttle STS88 Endeavour mission in December.
After that, things may slow down, because of delays to further Russian modules and equipment. The Russian Mir 1 space station will continue to feature in events, however, housing a series of international crews as it nears the end of its operational life.o
Ariane 5 is set for a July launch
MANNED SPACE DIARY
12 January
STS81/Atlantis
Flies the fifth Shuttle Mir Mission (SMM), delivering another US astronaut, Jerry Linenger, to the station and returning John Blaha.
4 February
Soyuz TM25
Three-man crew to the Mir, including German astronaut on commercial mission. TM 24 crew returns.
13 February
STS82/Discovery
The second Hubble Space Telescope servicing mission, including four spacewalks.
27 March
STS83/Columbia
Flight of the Microgravity Science Laboratory.
May
STS84/Atlantis
UK-born Mike Foale to be delivered to the Mir 1 on the SMM 6 mission, which will return Linenger.
June
Soyuz TM26
Replacement crew for the Mir. TM25 crew returns.
July
STS85/Discovery
Satellite deployment-retrieval and science mission.
September
STS86/Atlantis
SMM 7 delivers Wendy Lawrence to the Mir and returns Foale, while Vladimir Titov and Scott Parazinsky will perform the first US-Russian spacewalk.
October
STS87/Columbia
Satellite deployment-retrieval and science mission, featuring Ukrainian Leonid Kadenuk and the spacewalks which were cancelled during the recent STS80 mission.
December
STS88/Endeavour
The first Space Shuttle assembly mission for the International Space Station.
December
Soyuz TM27
Replacement crew for the Mir 1. TM26 crew returns.
Source: Flight International
