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 of the United States, American space programs, and the largest space program in Europe. Background Space travel has long been a significant ambition in French culture. From the Gobelins Manufactory, Gobelins' 1664 tapestry representing a space rocket, to Jules Verne's 1865 novel ''From the Earth to the Moon'' and George Méliès' 1902 film ''A Trip to the Moon'', space and rocketry were present in French society long before the technological means appeared to allow the development of a space exploration program. During the late 18th century, Jean-François Pilâtre de Rozier, Jacques Charles and the Montgolfier brothers are seen as worldwide precursors and explorers of aeronautics, with the world record altitude then reached by a human a ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Commercial Spaceflight
Private spaceflight is spaceflight or the development of spaceflight technology that is conducted and paid for by an entity other than a government agency. In the early decades of the Space Age, the government space agencies of the Soviet Union and United States pioneered space technology in collaboration with affiliated design bureaus in the USSR and private companies in the US, entirely funding both the development of new spaceflight technologies and the operational costs of spaceflight. The European Space Agency was formed in 1975, largely following the same model of space technology development. However, Arianespace became the world's first commercial launch service provider in the early 1980s. Later on, large defense contractors began to develop and operate space launch systems, derived from government rockets. Private spaceflight in Earth orbit includes communications satellites, satellite television, satellite radio, astronaut transport and sub-orbital and orbital sp ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Montgolfier Brothers
The Montgolfier brothers – Joseph-Michel Montgolfier (; 26 August 1740 – 26 June 1810) and Jacques-Étienne Montgolfier (; 6 January 1745 – 2 August 1799) – were aviation pioneers, balloonists and paper manufacturers from the commune Annonay in Ardèche, France. They invented the ''Montgolfière''-style hot air balloon, globe aérostatique, which launched the first confirmed piloted ascent by humans in 1783, carrying Jacques-Étienne. Joseph-Michel also invented the self-acting hydraulic ram (1796) and Jacques-Étienne founded the first paper-making vocational school. Together, the brothers invented a process to manufacture transparent paper. Early years Joseph-Michel and Jacques-Étienne Montgolfier were born into a family of paper manufacturers. Their parents were Pierre Montgolfier (1700–1793) and Anne Duret (1701–1760), who had 16 children. Pierre Montgolfier established his eldest son, Raymond (1730–1772), as his successor. Joseph-Michel was the 12th chil ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Vernon, Eure
Vernon (; nrf, Vernoun) is a commune in the French department of Eure, administrative region of Normandy, northern France. It lies on the banks of the river Seine, about midway between Paris and Rouen. Vernon–Giverny station has rail connections to Rouen and Paris. The town is known for its production of engines by the SNECMA group. History Mentioned in a Latin written document as ''Vernum'', the /m/ at the end could be the last remains of the Celtic ''magus'' 'plain' or 'market', or it is a simple latinization, and the origin is just the Celtic word ''*uerno'', alder tree (Breton ''gwern'', Welsh ''gwern'', Irish ''fern'', modern French ''verne''). The village gave its name to a family who took part in the Norman Conquest of England, and then became a British first name. The village is home to Établissement Saint-Adjutor, a notable private school. Important dates * 750 – First mention of name Vernon by Pepin the Short. * 1070 – Birth of Saint Adjutor. * 1123 – ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Jean-Jacques Barré
Jean-Jacques is a French name, equivalent to "John James" in English. Since the second half of 18th century, Jean Jacques Rousseau was widely known as Jean Jacques. Notable people bearing this name include: Given name * Jean-Jacques Annaud (born 1943), French film director, screenwriter and producer * John James Audubon, born Jean-Jacques Rabin (1785–1851), American ornithologist and painter from Breton origin * Jean-Jacques Bertrand (1916–1973), Premier of Quebec, Canada * Jean-Jacques Burnel (born 1952), Franco-English musician, bassist * Jean-Jacques Challet-Venel (1811–1893), member of the Swiss Federal Council * Jean-Jacques Colin (1784-1865), French chemist * Jean-Jacques Conceição (born 1964), Angolan basketball player * Jean-Jacques De Gucht (born 1983), Flemish politician and member of Open VLD * Jean-Jacques Dessalines (1758–1806), a leader of the Haïtian Revolution * Jean-Jacques Domoraud (born 1981), Côte d'Ivoire footballer * Jean-Jacques Goldman (born 19 ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis powers. World War II was a total war that directly involved more than 100 million personnel from more than 30 countries. The major participants in the war threw their entire economic, industrial, and scientific capabilities behind the war effort, blurring the distinction between civilian and military resources. Aircraft played a major role in the conflict, enabling the strategic bombing of population centres and deploying the only two nuclear weapons ever used in war. World War II was by far the deadliest conflict in human history; it resulted in 70 to 85 million fatalities, mostly among civilians. Tens of millions died due to genocides (including the Holocaust), starvation, ma ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Sounding Rocket
A sounding rocket or rocketsonde, sometimes called a research rocket or a suborbital rocket, is an instrument-carrying rocket designed to take measurements and perform scientific experiments during its sub-orbital flight. The rockets are used to launch instruments from 48 to 145 km (30 to 90 miles) above the surface of the Earth, the altitude generally between weather balloons and satellites; the maximum altitude for balloons is about 40 km (25 miles) and the minimum for satellites is approximately 121 km (75 miles). Certain sounding rockets have an apogee between 1,000 and 1,500 km (620 and 930 miles), such as the Black Brant X and XII, which is the maximum apogee of their class. Sounding rockets often use military surplus rocket motors. NASA routinely flies the Terrier Mk 70 boosted Improved Orion, lifting 270–450-kg (600–1,000-pound) payloads into the exoatmospheric region between 97 and 201 km (60 and 125 miles). Etymology The origin of the term ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Konstantin Tsiolkovsky
Konstantin Eduardovich Tsiolkovsky (russian: Константи́н Эдуа́рдович Циолко́вский , , p=kənstɐnʲˈtʲin ɪdʊˈardəvʲɪtɕ tsɨɐlˈkofskʲɪj , a=Ru-Konstantin Tsiolkovsky.oga; – 19 September 1935) was a Russian and Soviet rocket scientist who pioneered astronautic theory. Along with the Frenchman Robert Esnault-Pelterie, the Germans Hermann Oberth and Fritz von Opel, and the American Robert H. Goddard, he is one of the founding fathers of modern rocketry and astronautics. His works later inspired leading Soviet rocket-engineers Sergei Korolev and Valentin Glushko, who contributed to the success of the Soviet space program. Tsiolkovsky spent most of his life in a log house on the outskirts of Kaluga, about southwest of Moscow. A recluse by nature, his unusual habits made him seem bizarre to his fellow townsfolk. Early life Tsiolkovsky was born in Izhevskoye (now in Spassky District, Ryazan Oblast), in the Russian Empire, to ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Robert Esnault-Pelterie
Robert Albert Charles Esnault-Pelterie (8 November 1881 – 6 December 1957) was a French aircraft designer and spaceflight theorist. He is referred to as being one of the founders of modern rocketry and astronautics, along with the Russian Konstantin Tsiolkovsky, the Chinese Qian Xuesen, Germans Hermann Oberth, Fritz von Opel, Wernher Von Braun and the American Robert H. Goddard. Biography He was born on 8 November 1881 in Paris to a textile industrialist. He was educated at the ''Faculté des Sciences'', studying engineering at the Sorbonne. He served in World War I and was made an ''Officier de la Légion d'Honneur''. In November 1928, on board the ''Ile de France'' while sailing to New York City, he was married to Carmen Bernaldo de Quirós, the daughter of Don Antonio and Yvonne Cabarrus, and granddaughter of General Marquis of Santiago, Grandee of Spain, Head of the Military Household of Queen Isabella II. He died on 6 December 1957 in Nice, France. REP Esnault-Pel ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Airplane
An airplane or aeroplane (informally plane) is a fixed-wing aircraft that is propelled forward by thrust from a jet engine, propeller, or rocket engine. Airplanes come in a variety of sizes, shapes, and wing configurations. The broad spectrum of uses for airplanes includes recreation, transportation of goods and people, military, and research. Worldwide, commercial aviation transports more than four billion passengers annually on airliners and transports more than 200 billion tonne-kilometersMeasured in RTKs—an RTK is one tonne of revenue freight carried one kilometer. of cargo annually, which is less than 1% of the world's cargo movement. Most airplanes are flown by a pilot on board the aircraft, but some are designed to be remotely or computer-controlled such as drones. The Wright brothers invented and flew the first airplane in 1903, recognized as "the first sustained and controlled heavier-than-air powered flight". [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Astronautics
Astronautics (or cosmonautics) is the theory and practice of travel beyond Earth's atmosphere into outer space. Spaceflight is one of its main applications and space science its overarching field. The term ''astronautics'' (originally ''astronautique'' in French) was coined in the 1920s by J.-H. Rosny, president of the Goncourt academy, in analogy with aeronautics. Because there is a degree of technical overlap between the two fields, the term aerospace is often used to describe both at once. In 1930, Robert Esnault-Pelterie published the first book on the new research field. The term ''cosmonautics'' (originally ''cosmonautique'' in French) was introduced in 1930s by Ary Sternfeld with his book ''Initiation à la Cosmonautique'' (Introduction to cosmonautics) (the book brought him the Prix REP-Hirsch, later known as the Prix d'Astronautique, of the French Astronomical Society in 1934.) As with aeronautics, the restrictions of mass, temperatures, and external forces require t ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |