The boyish 48-year-old from Ghent was a star pilot before being selected for astronaut training in 1998. He will serve as third flight engineer under commander Genady Padalka before taking over command of the ISS in October for the two months that remain of his mission. Dirk Frimout was the first Belgian ever in space, but De Winne is the first to go twice, the first honorary doctor from the University of Hasselt and the first viscount - a title he received based on his achievements in the space programme.

De Winne, however, is representing the European Space Agency (ESA) this time around, so he will not, as he did on his first space trip in 2002, be carrying out any work on behalf of Belgian scientists. But Belgium, and in particular Flanders, is active in other aspects of space exploration.

"Most ambitious ever"

Not two weeks before the launch of De Winne's rocket, which is scheduled for 27 May, another launch took place from the European spaceport in Kourou, French Guyana. An Ariane-5 rocket lifted off with the infrared telescope Herschel and the cosmic background mapper Planck on board. The ESA described it as "two of the most ambitious missions ever".

Herschel, named after the German-British scientist who discovered infrared radiation in 1800, is the largest space telescope ever at 3.5 metres across (Hubble is 2.4). It will allow astronomers, including a team at the Catholic University of Leuven, to study the creation of galaxies and solar systems.

Planck's job is to analyse background cosmic radiation, which scientists believe is the residual radiation from the Big Bang - a sort of "afterglow" from the emergence of the universe.

On board Herschel is a special cooling system that uses 2,000 litres of superfluid helium to maintain a temperature of -271ºC. The crucial equipment employed to monitor and maintain the system was built by Thalia Alenia Space Antwerp. The parent company also constructed and fitted other equipment for the two satellites.

"The delivery and launch of Herschel and Planck represent for us the high point of eight years of intensive teamwork with the ESA," said Thalia CEO Reynald Seznec. "We are now working on studies concerning future astronomical and astrophysical missions within the framework of the ESA's Cosmic Vision programme."

Giant trashcan

Back at the ISS, Thalia Alenia Space Antwerp is also responsible for communications equipment in the Automated Transport Vehicle (ATV), which brings the space station its supplies, and later, as explained by De Winne on YouTube, is "used as a giant trashcan". Filled with ISS rubbish, the whole thing burns up on re-entry to the earth's atmosphere.

Flemish fingerprints are indeed all over the ATVs: Space Applications Services of Zaventem have been working on the ATV project since 1994, and their contributions range from ground processing to rendezvous and docking operations. Space Applications are also heavily involved in the space shuttle Columbus.

AeroGo of Ekeren, near Antwerp, meanwhile, supply the air cushions used to transport the ATV on the ground. The 28 Flemish companies involved in space research are worth a total of €200 million in sales, according to figures released earlier this month at the annual Space Days in Leuven.

Finally, the Flemish company Verhaert Space from Kruibeke, near Ghent, is supplying equipment for two of De Winne's experiments, both concerned with water purification on manned space flights. Verhaert will also supply equipment for two experiments suggested by Flemish schools and chosen from more than 60 applications. An experiment on surface tension and capillary action in liquids came from the class of teacher Jef Luyten of the Rozenberg secondary school in Mol, while an experiment to measure mass in zero gravity was the idea of the class of Mieke Recour at the Onze-Lieve-Vrouw College in Ostend. Both schools will carry out the same experiments in normal gravity to provide control data for evaluating the results.

"These experiments are relatively simple from a technical point of view," said Kyun Thibaut of Verhaert. "The biggest challenge in the development of these instruments is the extremely short delivery time for numerous reviews, tests and safety inspections to be carried out."

www.esa.int

This is the first part of a three-part article.

Read also: Final Frontiers Part 2 and Part 3