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Diamant
The Diamant rocket (French for "diamond") was the first exclusively French expendable launch system and at the same time the first satellite launcher not built by either the United States or USSR. As such, it has been referred to as being a key predecessor for all subsequent European launcher projects. During 1962, development of the Diamant commenced as the inaugural spacecraft project of France's space agency, the Centre National d'Études Spatiales (CNES). As a project, it was derived from the military program ''Pierres précieuses'' (fr.: gemstones) that included the five prototypes Agate, Topaze, Emeraude, Rubis and Saphir (Agate, Topaz, Emerald, Ruby and Sapphire), and drew heavily upon the knowledge and technologies that had been previously developed. On 26 November 1965, the Diamant A performed its maiden flight. Out of a total of 12 launch attempts to be performed between 1965 and 1975, 9 of these were successful. Most notably, on 26 November 1965, the Diamant was u ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hammaguir
Hammaguir (also written Hamaguir and Hammaguira) ( ar, حماقير) is a village in Abadla District, Béchar Province, Algeria, south-west of Béchar. It lies on the N50 national highway between Béchar and Tindouf. The location is notable for its role in French rocketry. Hamaguir Airport is located there. Role in French rocketry and spaceflight Between 1947 and 1967 there was a rocket launch site, the Interarmy Special Vehicles Test Centre (abbreviated CIEES in French), near Hammaguir, used by France for launching sounding rockets and the satellite carrier ''"Diamant"'' between 1965 and 1967. The Diamant launch pad at Hammaguir is located a30° 46′ 41″ N, 3° 3′ 14″ W The CIEES facility was also used for testing surface-to-air and air-to-air missiles. The first French satellite Astérix was launched from there in 1965. In honor of its role in the early development of French spaceflight, its name was given to a Martian crater in 1979 and to an asteroid cr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
CNES
The (CNES; French: ''Centre national d'études spatiales'') is the French government space agency (administratively, a "public administration with industrial and commercial purpose"). Its headquarters are located in central Paris and it is under the supervision of the French Ministries of Defence and Research. It operates from the Toulouse Space Centre and the Guiana Space Centre, but also has payloads launched from space centres operated by other countries. The president of CNES is Philippe Baptiste. CNES is a member of Institute of Space, its Applications and Technologies. It is Europe's largest and most important national organization of its type. History CNES was established under President Charles de Gaulle in 1961. It is the world's third oldest space agency, after the Soviet space program (Russia), and NASA (United States). CNES was responsible for the training of French astronauts, until the last active CNES astronauts transferred to the European Space Agency in 200 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Saphir (rocket)
Saphir VE231 (French, meaning ''sapphire'') was a French sounding rocket. It was part of the "''pierres précieuses''" ("precious stones") family of launch vehicles. Saphir was used between 1965 and 1967 and had a payload capacity of . The rocket could reach a maximum altitude of and produced thrust of at launch. Saphir had a launch mass of , a diameter of and a length of . Saphir was launched 15 times, from July 5, 1965, to January 27, 1967. The Diamant rocket, which carried the first French satellite, Asterix-1, into orbit, was developed from the Saphir with the addition of a third stage. After the successful launch of Diamant, Saphir rockets were used to test technologies for France's burgeoning intercontinental ballistic missile development—namely radio and inertial guidance, warhead separation, and ablative heat shielding of a re-entry vehicle. See also * French space program The French space program includes both commercial spaceflight, civil and military spaceflig ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Diamond
Diamond is a Allotropes of carbon, solid form of the element carbon with its atoms arranged in a crystal structure called diamond cubic. Another solid form of carbon known as graphite is the Chemical stability, chemically stable form of carbon at Standard conditions for temperature and pressure, room temperature and pressure, but diamond is metastable and converts to it at a negligible rate under those conditions. Diamond has the highest Scratch hardness, hardness and thermal conductivity of any natural material, properties that are used in major industrial applications such as cutting and polishing tools. They are also the reason that diamond anvil cells can subject materials to pressures found deep in the Earth. Because the arrangement of atoms in diamond is extremely rigid, few types of impurity can contaminate it (two exceptions are boron and nitrogen). Small numbers of lattice defect, defects or impurities (about one per million of lattice atoms) color diamond blue (bor ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Emeraude (rocket)
Émeraude VE121 (French for "emerald") was a large French sounding rocket of the 1960s. It built on the experiences of the Véronique and Vesta programs, and though it was only used for one year, it tested important technologies that were used in later French launch vehicles, from the Topaze and Saphir sounding rockets to the Diamant, the multi-stage orbital rocket that was used to launch France's first satellite, the Asterix-1. Emeraude was launched exclusively from the Centre interarmées d'essais d'engins spéciaux (CIEES) launch site in Hammaguir, Algeria. Its codename, VE121, means Vehicle Experimental; 1 stage, liquid propellant (code 2), guided (code 1). The rocket was liquid-fueled and carried 12.8 tonnes of fuel and oxidizer—nitric acid and gasoline turpentine—which were pressure-fed into the four Vexin-B engines, providing a total of 301.55 kN of thrust. Pitch and yaw control were provided by gimbaling the four engines while roll control was provided by aerodynam ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rubis (rocket)
The Rubis was a French two-stage rocket. It used an Agate for its first stage and a P064 engine for its second stage. The Rubis has a maximum altitude of 2,000 kilometers, a takeoff thrust of 186 kN, a diameter of and a length of . The Rubis was launched eleven times from 10 June 1964 to 5 July 1967. All Rubis rockets were launched from CIEES at Hammaguir, French Algeria, with the exception of the last launch, which took place from Biscarosse. It was used to test technologies used in the Diamant, France's first orbital rocket, as well as to launch scientific instruments from the Paris Observatory and Max Planck Institute Max or MAX may refer to: Animals * Max (dog) (1983–2013), at one time purported to be the world's oldest living dog * Max (English Springer Spaniel), the first pet dog to win the PDSA Order of Merit (animal equivalent of OBE) * Max (gorilla) (1 .... References Rockets and missiles Space launch vehicles of France {{Rocket-stub ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gemstones
A gemstone (also called a fine gem, jewel, precious stone, or semiprecious stone) is a piece of mineral crystal which, in cut and polished form, is used to make jewelry or other adornments. However, certain rocks (such as lapis lazuli, opal, and obsidian) and occasionally organic materials that are not minerals (such as amber, jet, and pearl) are also used for jewelry and are therefore often considered to be gemstones as well. Most gemstones are hard, but some soft minerals are used in jewelry because of their luster or other physical properties that have aesthetic value. Rarity and notoriety are other characteristics that lend value to gemstones. Apart from jewelry, from earliest antiquity engraved gems and hardstone carvings, such as cups, were major luxury art forms. A gem expert is a gemologist, a gem maker is called a lapidarist or gemcutter; a diamond cutter is called a diamantaire. Characteristics and classification The traditional classification in the West, whic ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Topaze (rocket)
Topaze is the designation of a French sounding rocket. The Topaze was developed by several French companies, notably Nord Aviation and Sud Aviation, // ''Aviation Week & Space Technology'', January 7, 1963, v. 78, no. 1, p. 37. and built by SEREB (a of Nord and Sud, now known as ) and was the first guidable French sounding rocket. The Topaze was launched 14 times from the CIEES launch site in ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Spacecraft
A spacecraft is a vehicle or machine designed to fly in outer space. A type of artificial satellite, spacecraft are used for a variety of purposes, including communications, Earth observation, meteorology, navigation, space colonization, planetary exploration, and transportation of humans and cargo. All spacecraft except single-stage-to-orbit vehicles cannot get into space on their own, and require a launch vehicle (carrier rocket). On a sub-orbital spaceflight, a space vehicle enters space and then returns to the surface without having gained sufficient energy or velocity to make a full Earth orbit. For orbital spaceflights, spacecraft enter closed orbits around the Earth or around other celestial bodies. Spacecraft used for human spaceflight carry people on board as crew or passengers from start or on orbit (space stations) only, whereas those used for robotic space missions operate either autonomously or telerobotically. Robotic spacecraft used to support scientific re ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Agate (rocket)
Agate is the designation of an unguided French test rocket developed in the late 1950s and early 1960s. The Agate has a length of 8.50 metres, a diameter of 0.80 metres, a start mass of 3.2 tonnes, a takeoff thrust of 186 kN and a ceiling of 20 km. The Agate was launched from the CIEES test site in Hammaguir, French Algeria, and the Ile de Levant test site, in order to test instrument capsules and recovery systems. See also * French space program The French space program includes both commercial spaceflight, civil and military spaceflight activities. It is the third oldest national space program in the world, after the Soviet space program, Soviet (now Roscosmos, Russian) and Space policy ... * Nuclear dissuasion References External linksAgate Rockets and missiles Space launch vehicles of France {{rocket-stub ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Agate
Agate () is a common rock formation, consisting of chalcedony and quartz as its primary components, with a wide variety of colors. Agates are primarily formed within volcanic and metamorphic rocks. The ornamental use of agate was common in Ancient Greece, in assorted jewelry and in the seal stones of Greek warriors, while bead necklaces with pierced and polished agate date back to the 3rd millennium BCE in the Indus Valley civilisation. Etymology The stone was given its name by Theophrastus, a Greek philosopher and naturalist, who discovered the stone along the shore line of the Dirillo River or Achates ( grc, Ἀχάτης) in Sicily, sometime between the 4th and 3rd centuries BCE. Formation and properties Agate minerals have the tendency to form on or within pre-existing rocks, creating difficulties in accurately determining their time of formation. Their host rocks have been dated to have formed as early as the Archean Eon. Agates are most commonly found as nodules wi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Satellite
A satellite or artificial satellite is an object intentionally placed into orbit in outer space. Except for passive satellites, most satellites have an electricity generation system for equipment on board, such as solar panels or radioisotope thermoelectric generators (RTGs). Most satellites also have a method of communication to ground stations, called Transponder (satellite communications), transponders. Many satellites use a Satellite bus, standardized bus to save cost and work, the most popular of which is small CubeSats. Similar satellites can work together as a group, forming Satellite constellation, constellations. Because of the high launch cost to space, satellites are designed to be as lightweight and robust as possible. Most communication satellites are radio Broadcast relay station, relay stations in orbit and carry dozens of transponders, each with a bandwidth of tens of megahertz. Satellites are placed from the surface to orbit by launch vehicles, high enough to ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
