European Space Agency astronaut André Kuipers of the Netherlands, in the framework of the Dutch Soyuz mission DELTA, is scheduled to fly into space on April 19. DELTA stands for Dutch Expedition for Life Science, Technology and Atmospheric Research. Kuipers' 11- day flight will include nine days on the International Space Station. The Dutch Ministry of Education, Culture and Science, and the Dutch Ministry of Economic Affairs have financed the cost within the framework of an agreement between ESA and the Federal Space Agency (of Russia).

Kuipers will carry out a full program of educational, scientific and cultural activities during his stay on the ISS. The mission consists of a scientific program, with the Dutch ESA astronaut spending much of his time on the ISS on experimental activity. Kuipers is a medical doctor and a great degree of this activity will focus on human physiology and biology. The mission also has a strong educational focus and Kuipers will spend a lot of his time carrying out activities with the objective of stimulating primary and secondary school pupils, and students of technology and space. This will help bring the European human space program and research performed in space to a wider public.

From a European perspective, the DELTA mission is important because it increases ESA's astronaut experience ahead of the launch of Columbus, Europe's own laboratory, to the Space Station. The ongoing development of Columbus and its research facilities will benefit from the hands-on experience Kuipers will get during his stay on the ISS.

Kuipers' flight is the result of longstanding cooperation between Europe and Russia. It is one outcome of a framework agreement signed between ESA and the Federal Space Agency in May 2001, paving the way for European astronauts to fly to the ISS on Russian Soyuz vehicles.

The cooperation between ESA and the Federal Space Agency allows for European astronauts to take up positions normally occupied by cosmonauts, performing technical functions during the Soyuz flights to and from the Space Station.

The cooperation is motivated by ESA's desire to develop operational expertise for Europe's astronauts and perform research before the intensive use of the ISS by Europe for scientific research, technology experiments and application purposes becomes possible after the launch of the Columbus laboratory.

Under the agreement so far four ESA astronauts have participated in Soyuz missions ­ Claudie Haigneré (France), Roberto Vittori (Italy), Frank De Winne (Belgium) and Pedro Duque (Spain).

Two other European astronauts, Umberto Guidoni (Italy) and Philippe Perrin (France), have participated in missions with the Space Shuttle to the ISS in the framework of bilateral agreements with NASA.

These missions are an important bridge between the end of Spacelab and the start of Columbus because, according to the international agreements ruling the Space Station, European astronauts will not get automatic access to the Space Station until ESA's Columbus module becomes operational.

A sign of the growing experience between ESA and the Federal Space Agency (of Russia) is that for the second time on a Soyuz mission to the ISS a European, German ESA astronaut Gerhard Thiele, is acting as backup to the prime European astronaut.

The experimental program encompasses a series of experiments in the fields of human physiology, biology, microbiology, physical science, Earth observation, education and technology. They will be performed in the Russian Zvezda module and in NASA's Destiny laboratory.

As in the previous European Soyuz missions Odissea and Cervantes, the Microgravity Science Glovebox, developed by ESA and located in the Destiny laboratory, will be used for European experiments.