As you'd expect, Doug really highlighted the excellent work done by many UMSFers, but, more importantly, he made the point - VERY strongly- that ESA needs to do a lot, lot better when it comes to Outreach and Education. There were some ESA people in the room, so hopefully they'll take the message onboard and go back convinced that they can, and must, do better.

Unlike many other space agencies and their missions, typically ESA receives funding only for the design, building, launch and operation of their scientific spacecraft. The instruments are financed separately, which means that ESA then has no right to the data obtained and no say on how they should be disseminated. This also means that ESA has limited control over the breadth and depth of public outreach activities for most of its missions.

If the outside parties (t)hat are in possession of the copyright on the obtained data engage in adequate public outreach, then ESA enthusiastically supports this and includes all provided material on the web site of the respective mission. If the parties in question for any reason do not provide such material, then there is not much scope for real pressure that ESA could bring to bear.

“ESA had one more response
than Area 51 and just two more
responses than ‘Men in
Black’....the British National
Space Centre (BNSC) was not
mentioned once!”

ESA should make it a condition of flight that organisations etc make their instruments' images and data available for public release and outreach use.

Yep -- ESA should have a "no bucks, no Buck Rogers" talk with the European scientific community. Remind them that they can do whatever they want in terms of funding the instruments, but without a ride to the planet of their choice, they'll never be able to use them. And that, with such pathetic data flow imposed upon ESA by the PIs and no apparent interest in outreach by the scientific community, the rides will all go away -- sooner rather than later -- unless something changes soon.