Vega VV20

 

By Astrophilatelie Martin

Vega VV20, launching on November 16, 2021. Twelfth launch of the year and third with Vega. The mission also marks the 300th launch of Arianespace with its launch range from the Guyana Space Center. This flight allowed to place three CERES satellites in orbit, developed under the supervision of the Directorate General of Weapons (DGA) with the assistance of the National Centre for Spatial Studies (CNES) for the benefit of the French Armed Forces. The three CERES satellites (Spatial Electromagnetic Intelligence Capacity) aim to collect electromagnetic information from areas that surface sensors cannot reach, without the constraints of flyover airspace and at all times, thus providing an in-depth situational image to support the design and execution of military operations. This state-of-the-art technology system, whose mastery of the space segment has been entrusted to Airbus Defense and Space, in co-mastery with Thales Defense Mission System for the payload and the ground user segment, allows France to join the very closed group most advanced countries in this field. On the other hand, Thales Alenia Space acts as a subcontractor to Airbus Defense and Space for the provision of the satellite platform.

June 27, 1982

 

By Astrophilatelie Martin

June 27, 1982, Columbia STS 4 launched from Cape Canaveral firing line 39A with astronauts Thomas Mattingly and Harry Hartsfield on board. In the shuttle bay, Cirris, an infrared telescope for detecting missile launches that can't work (optical cover did not come off). Usage of Cfes Electrophoresis Apparatus for pharmaceutical use. Astronauts experiment with the production of anti-hemophilic substances from beta cells for diabetics. First load of experience from the private sector (universities, industries, individuals). Trying scaffolding in the sas. Last test flight. Back on July 4, 1982 for a flight of 7 days 1 hour 9 minutes and 113 Earth orbits.

On June 25

 

By Astrophilatelie Martin

On June 25, 1894, birth of Hermann Oberth in Hermannstadt (currently Sibiu) in Transylvania, Romania, where his father was a doctor and died on December 28, 1989 in Nuremberg, Germany. He is an Austro-Hungarian physicist of Saxon origin from Transylvania, a specialist in astronautics, considered one of the founding fathers of spaceflight alongside Russian Constantin Tsiolkovski and American Robert Goddard. From his native German, he will be no less a citizen of the mobile world by offering his services and talents in Romania, Germany and the United States.

40 years ago

 By Astrophilatelie Martin

40 years ago, the first French astronaut flew to the stars...

On June 24, 1982, Jean-Loup Christian with the Soviets Vladimir Djanibekov and Alexander Ivanchenkov took off from Baikonour to join the Soviet orbital station Saliut 7. He became the first Frenchman to fly in space, opening the way, in the middle of the cold war, to intense scientific cooperation between Paris and Moscow.

His mission was called "PVH" (First Habité Flight): an eight-day trip in orbit aboard Saliout 7, ancestor of the station Mir. HOST of the permanent crew (Soyouz T 5, Anatoli Berezovoy and Valentin Lebedev), Jean-Loup Chrétien was the pre mier foreign visitor to ne not from a communist country, and the first French spaceaut.

"PVH" marks the culmination of a French will to cooperate with the USSR driven by General De Gaulle, who in 1966 was the first Western head of state to visit Baikonour, in a relaxing context.

During the mission, Jean-Loup conducts 37 experiments in astronomy, geophysics, metallurgy, biology and medicine.

Back on July 2, 1982 for a 7 day flight 21 hours 50 minutes and 125 Earth orbits.

It's been 50 years

 

By Astrophilatelie Martin

It's been 50 years since we walked on the moon... Apollo 17, the last men on the moon was December 1972.

On December 14, 1972, Eugène Cernan and Harrison Schmitt were the last men to leave the moon, ending the most ambitious space program.

Saliout 5

 By Astrophilatelie Martin

On June 22, 1976, Saliout 5 was launched by a three-decker Proton rocket.

It is the third and last Almaz-type military space station, included in the Saliout program to conceal its true objective.

She received the crew of Soyouz 21 (Volynov and Zholobov) from July 7 to August 24, 1976.

Soyouz 23 (Zoudov and Rozhdestvensky) failed to moor with the station.

And she received her last Soyouz 24 crew (Gorbatko and Glazkov) from February 8 to February 25, 1977.

The Soyouz 25 mission, originally scheduled, has been cancelled.

Structurally similar to Saliout 3, the station had a mass of 19,000 kg. It came equipped with two side-mounted solar panels on the center of the station and a return module for data and research materials.

Saliout 5, length: 14.55 meters, maximum diameter: 4.15 meters. Living volume: 100 m3.

The search module was thrown out and picked up on February 26, 1977. Saliout 5 was consumed into the atmosphere on August 8, 1977, after its reserves depleted.

Ulf Dietrich Merbold

 

By Astrophilatelie Martin

On 20 June 1941, birth of Ulf Dietrich Merbold in Greiz, Germany, German astronaut selected on 18 May 1978 in ESA 1 group.

First West German astronaut and first non-American astronaut to fly space shuttle.

He participated in three space missions:

-STS 9 Columbia November 18 to December 8, 1983

-STS 42 Discovery January 22-30, 1992.

-Soyouz TM 20 from October 3 to November 4, 1994 and back with Soyouz TM 19.

He was part of the backup crew of Flight STS 61A Challenger.

He left the group of astronauts on August 30, 1998 with 49 days 21 hours 36 minutes spent in space.

Ariane 4 V22

 

By Astrophilatelie Martin

Ariane 4 V22 launched from Kourou in Guyana ( ELA-2 ) on June 15, 1978. First launch of the Ariane 4 rocket with a mass of 417 112 kg. It placed Meteosat P2 satellites weighing 696 kg, Amsat 3C weighing 825 kg and Pam American Satellite 1 weighing 1,220 kg in a transfer orbit of 221 to 36,359 km.