British minister visits ESA space center

DARMSTADT, Germany, Jan. 23 (UPI) -- Britain's minister of state for science visited the European Space Agency's operations center Wednesday -- the first visit from a British state secretary.

Ian Pearson held discussions with ESA Director General Jean-Jacques Dordain and was also updated on European space activities and on the participation of British industry in ESA programs. Peterson also met with British industrial contractors working at the center, located in Darmstadt, Germany.

The ESA said Pearson's tour of the facility included visits to individual mission control rooms and to the main control room from which more than 57 space missions have been successfully operated.