Nelson Motta
Reporter - Agência Brasil

Brasília – Yesterday president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva participated in a ceremony at the Palácio do Planalto of the presentation of the seal and medal that Brazilian astronaut, Marcos César Pontes, will carry with him into space tonight when he travels aboard a Soyuz spacecraft to the International Space Station. The seal and medal commemorate the Pontes mission, which is called "Centenary Mission" ( Missão Centenário), in honor of the fact that is it taking place exactly one hundred years after the first public flight of a powered aircraft which was piloted by the Brazilian aviation pioneer, Alberto Santo Dumont.

The minister of Science and Technology, Sergio Rezende, and the acting president of the Brazilian Space Agency, Himilcom Carvalho, gave Lula replicas of the seal and medal which depict Santos Dumont's aircraft, known as the 14 Bis, the Soyuz spaceship, the planet Earth and the likeness of astronaut Pontes.

The launch of the Soyuz capsule carrying Pontes, along with two other astronauts, a Russian and an American, is scheduled for 11:30 pm; 9:30 EST.

Translation: Allen Bennett