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1981 In Spaceflight
The following is an outline of 1981 in spaceflight. STS-1 Launches , colspan="8", January , - , colspan="8", February , - , colspan="8", March , - , colspan="8", April , - , colspan="8", May , - , colspan="8", June , - , colspan="8", July , - , colspan="8", August , - , colspan="8", September , - , colspan="8", October , - , colspan="8", November , - , colspan="8", December , - , colspan="8", Unknown date , - Deep-space rendezvous References Footnotes {{Orbital launches in 1981 1981 in spaceflight, Spaceflight by year ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
STS-1
STS-1 (Space Transportation System-1) was the first orbital spaceflight of NASA's Space Shuttle program. The first orbiter, ''Columbia'', launched on April 12, 1981, and returned on April 14, 1981, 54.5 hours later, having orbited the Earth 37 times. ''Columbia'' carried a crew of two—commander John W. Young and pilot Robert L. Crippen. It was the first American crewed space flight since the Apollo–Soyuz Test Project (ASTP) in 1975. STS-1 was also the maiden test flight of a new American spacecraft to carry a crew, though it was preceded by atmospheric testing (ALT) of the orbiter and ground testing of the Space Shuttle system. The launch occurred on the 20th anniversary of Vostok 1, the first human spaceflight, performed by Yuri Gagarin for the USSR. This was a coincidence rather than a celebration of the anniversary; a technical problem had prevented STS-1 from launching two days earlier, as was planned. Crew Commander John Young and pilot Robert Crippen were sel ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Molniya Orbit
A Molniya orbit ( rus, Молния, p=ˈmolnʲɪjə, a=Ru-молния.ogg, "Lightning") is a type of satellite orbit designed to provide communications and remote sensing coverage over high latitudes. It is a highly elliptical orbit with an inclination of 63.4 degrees, an argument of perigee of 270 degrees, and an orbital period of approximately half a sidereal day. The name comes from the '' Molniya'' satellites, a series of Soviet/Russian civilian and military communications satellites which have used this type of orbit since the mid-1960s. A variation on the Molniya orbit is the so-called Three Apogee (TAP) orbit, whose period is a third of a sidereal day. The Molniya orbit has a long dwell time over the hemisphere of interest, while moving very quickly over the other. In practice, this places it over either Russia or Canada for the majority of its orbit, providing a high angle of view to communications and monitoring satellites covering these high-latitude ar ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kosmos 1238
Cosmos generally refers to an orderly or harmonious system. Cosmos or Kosmos may also refer to: Space * ''Cosmos 1'', a privately funded solar sail spacecraft project * Cosmic Evolution Survey (COSMOS), a Hubble Space Telescope Treasury Project * Kosmos (rocket family), a series of Soviet/Russian rockets * Kosmos (satellite), a series of Soviet/Russian satellites * Universe, synonymous with cosmos * COSMOS field, an image taken by the Hubble Space Telescope Places * Cosmos, Minnesota, United States * Cosmos, Rio de Janeiro, a neighborhood of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil * Kosmos, South Africa, a village in North West Province * Kosmos, Washington, an unincorporated community in Washington, United States Books * ''Cosmos'' (serial novel), a 17-chapter serial novel published in ''Science Fiction Digest'' (later ''Fantasy Magazine'') in 1933 - 1934 * ''Cosmos'' (Humboldt book), a scientific treatise by Alexander von Humboldt * ''Cosmos'' (Gombrowicz novel), a 1965 novel by Witold Go ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Plesetsk Cosmodrome Site 132
Plesetsk Cosmodrome () is a Russian spaceport located in Mirny, Arkhangelsk Oblast, near the town of Plesetsk, from which it takes its name. Until 2025 and the commissioning of the Andøya base in Norway, it was the only operational orbital spaceport in Europe and the northernmost spaceport in the world. Originally developed as an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) site for the R-7 missile, its strategic location approximately north of Moscow was key to its selection. Due to its high latitude, Plesetsk is particularly suited for specific types of satellite launches, such as those into Molniya orbits, and historically served as a secondary launch facility. Most Soviet orbital launches were conducted from Baikonur Cosmodrome, located in the Kazakh SSR. However, following the dissolution of the Soviet Union, Baikonur became part of Kazakhstan, which began charging Russia to lease the land for its use. As a result, Plesetsk has seen significantly increased activity since ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kosmos-3M
The Kosmos-3M ( meaning "''Cosmos''", GRAU index 11K65M) was a Russian space launch vehicle, member of the Kosmos (rocket family), Kosmos rocket family. It was a liquid-fueled two-stage launch vehicle, first launched in 1967 and with over 420 successful launches to its name. The Kosmos-3M used Unsymmetrical dimethylhydrazine, UDMH fuel and Red fuming nitric acid, AK27I oxidizer (red fuming nitric acid) to lift roughly of payload into orbit. It differed from the earlier Kosmos-3 in its finer control of the second-stage burn, allowing operators to tune the thrust and even channel it through nozzles that helped orient the rocket for the launching of multiple satellites at one time. Production Corporation Polyot, PO Polyot manufactured these launch vehicles in the Russian city of Omsk for decades. It was originally scheduled to be retired from service in 2011; however, in April 2010 the Commander of the Russian Space Forces confirmed that it would be retired by the end of 2010. On ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
National Space Development Agency Of Japan
The , or NASDA, was a Japanese national space agency established on October 1, 1969 under the National Space Development Agency Law only for peaceful purposes. Based on the Space Development Program enacted by the Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT), NASDA was responsible for developing satellites and launch vehicles as well as launching and tracking them. The first launch vehicles of NASDA ( N-I, N-II, and H-I) were partially based on licensed technology from the United States, particularly the Delta rocket family. The H-II was the first liquid fuel rocket to be fully developed in Japan. Hideo Shima, chief engineer of the original Shinkansen "bullet train" project, served as Chief of NASDA from 1969 to 1977. On October 1, 2003, NASDA merged with the Institute of Space and Astronautical Science (ISAS) and the National Aerospace Laboratory of Japan (NAL) into one Independent Administrative Institution: the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agen ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tanegashima Launch Area T
is one of the Ōsumi Islands belonging to Kagoshima Prefecture, Japan. The island, in area, is the second largest of the Ōsumi Islands, and has a population of 33,000 people. Access to the island is by ferry, or by air to New Tanegashima Airport. Administratively, the island is divided into the city, Nishinoomote, and the two towns, Nakatane and Minamitane. The towns belong to Kumage District. Geography Tanegashima is the easternmost and the second largest (after Yakushima) of the Ōsumi Islands. It is located approximately south of the southern tip of Ōsumi Peninsula in southern Kyushu, or south of Kagoshima. The Vincennes Strait (Yakushima Kaikyō) separates it from Yakushima. The island is of volcanic origin; however, unlike neighboring Yakushima, it presents a flat appearance, with its highest elevation at only above sea level. The island has a length of and a width ranging from . The climate is subtropical. The island, along with neighbouring Yakushima, has been ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tanegashima Space Center
The (TNSC) is Japan's primary spaceport, covering approximately about . It is located on the southeastern tip of Tanegashima, the easternmost of the Ōsumi Islands, approximately south of the major island of Kyushu. The site was selected on May 24, 1966, and construction began later that year on September 17. Exactly two years later, on September 17, 1968, it hosted its first launch, a small rocket. The facility officially opened on October 1, 1969, coinciding with the establishment of its initial operator, the National Space Development Agency of Japan (NASDA). Now operated by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency The is the Japanese national Aeronautics, air and space agency. Through the merger of three previously independent organizations, JAXA was formed on 1 October 2003. JAXA is responsible for research, technology development and launch of satell ... (JAXA) since its formation in 2003, TNSC is responsible for satellite assembly, as well as launch vehicle test ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ionosphere
The ionosphere () is the ionized part of the upper atmosphere of Earth, from about to above sea level, a region that includes the thermosphere and parts of the mesosphere and exosphere. The ionosphere is ionized by solar radiation. It plays an important role in atmospheric electricity and forms the inner edge of the magnetosphere. It has practical importance because, among other functions, it influences radio propagation to distant places on Earth. Travel through this layer also impacts GPS signals, resulting in effects such as deflection in their path and delay in the arrival of the signal. History of discovery As early as 1839, the German mathematician and physicist Carl Friedrich Gauss postulated that an electrically conducting region of the atmosphere could account for observed variations of Earth's magnetic field. Sixty years later, Guglielmo Marconi received the first trans-Atlantic radio signal on December 12, 1901, in St. John's, Newfoundland (now in Canada) usin ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Suborbital Spaceflight
A sub-orbital spaceflight is a spaceflight in which the spacecraft reaches outer space, but its trajectory intersects the surface of the gravitating body from which it was launched. Hence, it will not complete one orbital revolution, will not become an artificial satellite nor will it reach escape velocity. For example, the path of an object launched from Earth that reaches the Kármán line (about – above sea level), and then falls back to Earth, is considered a sub-orbital spaceflight. Some sub-orbital flights have been undertaken to test spacecraft and launch vehicles later intended for orbital spaceflight. Other vehicles are specifically designed only for sub-orbital flight; examples include crewed vehicles, such as the X-15 and SpaceShipTwo, and uncrewed ones, such as ICBMs and sounding rockets. Flights which attain sufficient velocity to go into low Earth orbit, and then de-orbit before completing their first full orbit, are not considered sub-orbital. Exam ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
