European mission open to offers

Here is your chance to put a name to one of the most important European space missions of the year.

The European Space Agency (Esa) is launching a competition to find the most suitable names for its four Cluster II space weather satellites.

The quartet, which are currently known as flight models 5, 6, 7 and 8, are scheduled for launch from the Baikonur Space Centre in Kazakhstan in June and July.

The four identical spacecraft will fly in formation between 25,000 and 125,000 km above the Earth where they will study the planet's near-space environment.

In particular, they will be looking at the Earth's magnetic field and electric surroundings in three dimensions.

Solar wind

Scientists want to learn more about how these systems work and interact with the solar wind. This is the hot wave of energy produced by the Sun, which buffets our planet's protective magnetosphere and produces the spectacular Northern and Southern Lights.

The mission is called Cluster II because it is the replacement of Cluster I which was destroyed on the ill-fated first flight of Europe's new Ariane 5 rocket.

The competition to find names for the new satellites is open to people of all the Esa member states. Each entry should include a set of four names. These can be places, people, or things from history, mythology, or fiction, but they should not be names of living people.

Contestants should also describe in a few sentences why their chosen names would be appropriate for the four Cluster II spacecraft.

One winning entry per country will be selected to go to the finals of the competition, and the prize for each national winner will be an invitation to the first Cluster II launch.

Contest details can be found on Esa's website.