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2013 In Spaceflight
In 2013, the maiden spaceflight of the Orbital Sciences' Antares launch vehicle, designated ''A-ONE'', took place on 13 April. Orbital Science also launched its first spacecraft, Cygnus, that docked with the International Space Station in late September 2013. A total of 81 orbital launches were attempted in 2013, of which 77 were successful, one was partially successful and three were failures. The year also saw eleven EVAs by ISS astronauts. The majority of the year's orbital launches were conducted by Russia, the United States and China, with 31, 19 and 15 launches respectively. Overview India's Indian Space Research Organisation launched its first mission to Mars with the Mars Orbiter Mission that successfully reached Mars orbit on 23 September 2014. Numerous significant milestones in robotic spaceflight occurred in 2013, including the landing of China's Chang'e 3 lander at Moon's Mare Imbrium on 14 December; it is China's first attempt and first successful soft land ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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Antares (rocket)
Development The NASA COTS award was for and Orbital Sciences expected to invest an additional $150 million, split between $130 million for the booster and $20 million for the spacecraft. A Commercial Resupply Service contract of $1.9 billion for eight flights was awarded in 2008. As of April 2012, development costs were estimated at $472 million. In June 2008, it was announced that the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport, formerly part of the Wallops Flight Facility, in Virginia, would be the primary launch site for the rocket. Launch pad 0A (LP-0A), previously used for the failed Conestoga rocket, would be modified to handle Antares. Wallops allows launches which reach the International Space Station's orbit as effectively as those from Cape Canaveral, Florida, while being less crowded. The first Antares flight launched a Cygnus mass simulator. On December 10, 2009, Alliant Techsystems Inc. (ATK) test-fired their Castor 30 motor for use on the second stage of the Anta ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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Mars Orbiter Mission
The Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM), also called ''Mangalyaan'', was a space probe orbiting Mars since 24 September 2014. It was launched on 5 November 2013 by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO). It was India's first interplanetary mission and it made ISRO the fourth space agency to achieve Mars orbit, after Roscosmos, NASA, and the European Space Agency. It made India the first Asian nation to reach Martian orbit and the first nation in the world to do so on its maiden attempt. The Mars Orbiter Mission probe lifted-off from the First Launch Pad at Satish Dhawan Space Centre (Sriharikota Range SHAR), Andhra Pradesh, using a Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) rocket C25 at 09:08 UTC on 5 November 2013. The launch window was approximately 20 days long and started on 28 October 2013. The MOM probe spent about a month in Earth orbit, where it made a series of seven apogee-raising orbital manoeuvres before trans-Mars injection on 30 November 2013 ( UTC). After a 298 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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Strela (satellite)
Strela (russian: Стрела, for ''Arrow'') is a Russian (previously Soviet) military communications satellite constellation operating in low Earth orbit. These satellites operate as mailboxes ("store-and-forward"): they remember the received messages and then resend them after the scheduled time, or by a command from the Earth. Some sources state the satellites are capable of only three months of active operation, but through coordination with others they can serve for about five years. The satellites are used for transmission of encrypted messages and images. History The first three satellites, Kosmos 38 (reentered 8 November 1964), Kosmos 39 (reentered 17 November 1964) and Kosmos 40 (reentered 17 November 1964), were launched on 18 August 1964. Five different types of Strela satellites have been launched, designated Strela-1 (1964-1965), Strela-1M (1970-1992), Strela-2 (1965-1968), Strela-2M (1970-1994), and Strela-3 (1985-2010). Strela satellites are also used for the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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Kosmos 2482
Kosmos 2482 (russian: Космос 2482 meaning ''Cosmos 2482'') is a Russian military store-dump communications satellite launched in 2013, together with Kosmos 2483 and Kosmos 2484. This satellite is a Strela-3M/Rodnik satellite, a modification of the civilian Gonets satellites. Kosmos 2482 was launched from site 133/3 at Plesetsk Cosmodrome in northern Russia. A rokot carrier rocket with a Briz-KM upper stage was used to perform the launch which took place at 16:24 UTC on 15 January 2013. The launch successfully placed the satellite into low Earth orbit. It subsequently received its Kosmos designation, and the international designator 2013-001A. The United States Space Command assigned it the Satellite Catalog Number 39057. The launch was postponed from 8 December 2012 and was the first launch of a Rokot since the 28 July 2012 launch of Kosmos 2481, another Rodnik. See also *List of Kosmos satellites (2251–2500) The designation ''Kosmos'' (russian: Космос meani ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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Russian Aerospace Defence Forces
The Russian Aerospace Defence Forces (VVKO) ( rus, Войска воздушно-космической обороны (ВВКО), Voyska vozdushno-kosmicheskoy oborony (VVKO)) was a branch of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation responsible for aerospace defence, and the operation of Russian military satellites and the Plesetsk Cosmodrome. It was established on 1 December 2011 and replaced the Russian Space Forces. The Aerospace Defence Forces was first commanded by former Space Forces commander Colonel General Oleg Ostapenko, who was promoted to Deputy Minister of Defence in November 2012. In December 2012, Aleksandr Golovko was appointed the new commander. Although it is officially translated as aerospace in English, it covers both attacks from the air and from (outer) space, and some Russian writers translate it as "air and space" instead. On 1 August 2015, the Russian Air Force and the Russian Aerospace Defence Forces were merged to form the Russian Aerospace For ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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Plesetsk Cosmodrome Site 133
Site 133, also known as Raduga (russian: Радуга meaning ''Rainbow''), is a launch complex at the Plesetsk Cosmodrome in Russia. It is used by Rockot, and previously Kosmos carrier rockets. It consists of a single pad, originally designated 133/1, and later 133/3. The first launch from Site 133 was of a Kosmos-2I, on 16 March 1967, carrying the Kosmos 148 satellite. 91 Kosmos-2 launches were conducted, the last of which was on 18 June 1977, with Kosmos 919. It was later reactivated as Site 133/3, and supported 38 Kosmos-3M launches between 1985 and 1994. During the late 1990s, Site 133/3 was rebuilt as a surface launch pad for Rockot, following the decision to use it for commercial launches. There were concerns that noise generated during a launch from Site 175 at the Baikonur Cosmodrome ''Baiqoñyr ğaryş ailağy'' rus, Космодром Байконур''Kosmodrom Baykonur'' , image = Baikonur Cosmodrome Soyuz launch pad.jpg , caption ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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Plesetsk Cosmodrome
Plesetsk Cosmodrome ( rus, Космодром «Плесецк», r=Kosmodrom "Plesetsk", p=kəsmɐˈdrom plʲɪˈsʲet͡sk) is a Russian spaceport located in Mirny, Arkhangelsk Oblast, about 800 km north of Moscow and approximately 200 km south of Arkhangelsk, the cosmodrome dates to 1957. Originally developed as an ICBM site for the R-7 missile, it also served for numerous satellite launches using the R-7 and other rockets. Its high latitude makes it useful only for certain types of launches, especially the Molniya orbits, so for much of the site's history it functioned as a secondary location, with most orbital launches taking place from Baikonur, in the Kazakh SSR. With the end of the Soviet Union, Baikonur became a foreign territory, and Kazakhstan charged $115 million usage fees annually. Consequently, Plesetsk has seen considerably more activity since the 2000s. Overview Plesetsk () is used especially for military satellites placed into high inclinat ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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Briz-M
The Briz-K, Briz-KM and Briz-M (russian: Бриз-К, КM and M meaning ''Breeze-K, KM and M'') are Russian liquid-propellant rocket orbit insertion upper stages manufactured by Khrunichev State Research and Production Space Center and used on the Proton-M and Angara A5. The upper stages were also used on Rokot, one of Russia's smaller launchers, before its retirement in 2019. Characteristics Briz-K and Briz-KM Briz-K, GRAU index 14S12, is a single-piece structure with a conical tank compartment and the engine located in a recess in the fuel tank. Briz-KM ( GRAU index 14S45) is an improved version of Briz-K. The Briz-K and Briz-KM were used as a third stage of the Rokot launch vehicles. Briz-M Briz-M, GRAU index 14S43, is designed for injecting large payloads into a low, medium-height or high geosynchronous orbit. Briz-M is a twin upper stage consisting of a core module (using Briz-KM as the baseline) and a jettisonable add-on toroidal tank surrounding the core. It ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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Rokot
Rokot (russian: Рокот meaning ''Rumble'' or ''Boom''), also transliterated Rockot, was a Russian space launch vehicle that was capable of launching a payload of into a Earth orbit with 63° inclination. It was based on the UR-100N (SS-19 Stiletto) intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM), supplied and operated by Khrunichev State Research and Production Space Center. The first launches started in the 1990s from Baikonur Cosmodrome out of a silo. Later commercial launches commenced from Plesetsk Cosmodrome using a launch ramp specially rebuilt from one for the Kosmos-3M launch vehicle. The cost of the launcher itself was about US$15 million in 1999; The contract with European Space Agency (ESA) for launching Swarm in September 2013 was worth €27.1 million (US$36 million). Specifications Rokot's total mass was 107 tonnes, its length 29 metres and its maximum diameter 2.5 metres. The liquid-fueled launch vehicle comprised three stages. The lower two were based o ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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Shenzhou Spacecraft
Shenzhou (, ; see ) is a spacecraft developed and operated by China to support its crewed spaceflight program, China Manned Space Program. Its design resembles the Russian Soyuz spacecraft, but it is larger in size. The first launch was on 19 November 1999 and the first crewed launch was on 15 October 2003. In March 2005, an asteroid was named 8256 Shenzhou in honour of the spacecraft. Etymology The literal meaning of the native name ( p: Shénzhōu; ) is "the Divine vessel n the Heavenly River, to which Heavenly River () means the Milky Way in Classical Chinese. is a pun and neologism that plays on the names of China, poetic word referring to China, , meaning ''Divine realm'', which bears the same pronunciation. For further information, refer to Chinese theology, Chinese astronomy and names of China. History China's first efforts at human spaceflight started in 1968 with a projected launch date of 1973. Although China successfully launched an uncrewed satellite ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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Soyuz Spacecraft
Soyuz () is a series of spacecraft which has been in service since the 1960s, having made more than 140 flights. It was designed for the Soviet space program by the Korolev Design Bureau (now Energia). The Soyuz succeeded the Voskhod spacecraft and was originally built as part of the Soviet crewed lunar programs. It is launched on a Soyuz rocket from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. Between the 2011 retirement of the Space Shuttle and the 2020 demo flight of SpaceX Crew Dragon, the Soyuz served as the only means to ferry crew to or from the International Space Station, for which it remains heavily used. Although China did launch crewed Shenzhou flights during this time, none of them docked with the ISS. History The first Soyuz flight was uncrewed and started on 28 November 1966. The first Soyuz mission with a crew, Soyuz 1, launched on 23 April 1967 but ended with a crash due to a parachute failure, killing cosmonaut Vladimir Komarov. The following flight was uncr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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Mare Imbrium
Mare Imbrium (Latin ''imbrium'', the "Sea of Showers" or "Sea of Rains", "Sea of Tears") is a vast lunar mare, lava plain within the Imbrium Basin on the Moon and is one of the larger craters in the Solar System. The Imbrium Basin formed from the collision of a proto-planet during the Late Heavy Bombardment. Basaltic lava later flooded the giant Impact crater, crater to form the flat volcanic plain seen today. The basin's age has been estimated using Uranium–lead dating, uranium–lead dating methods to approximately 3.9 billion years ago, and the diameter of the impactor has been estimated to be 250 ± 25 km. The Moon's maria (plural of Lunar mare, mare) have fewer features than other areas of the Moon because molten lava pooled in the craters and formed a relatively smooth surface. Mare Imbrium is not as flat as it was originally thought, because later events have altered its surface. Origin Mare Imbrium formed when a Protoplanet, proto-planet from the asteroid bel ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |