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K5ARH > SAT 03.03.96 22:05l 95 Lines 4182 Bytes #999 (0) @ AMSAT
BID : ANS-063.03
Read: GUEST DK3EL
Subj: ARIANE-501 LAUNCH CAMPAIGN BEGINS
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Sent: 960303/0659 14426@K5ARH.#LFT.LA.USA.NOAM
HR AMSAT NEWS SERVICE BULLETIN 063.03 FROM AMSAT HQ
SILVER SPRING, MD March 3, 1996
TO ALL RADIO AMATEURS BT
BID: $ANS-063.03
Preparations for the launch campaign for the first Ariane-5
qualification flight (501) are under way in Europe and at the
Guiana Space Centre, Europe's spaceport. The main launcher
elements (cryogenic main stage, storable propellant stage,
vehicle equipment bay, Speltra and fairing) arrived in Kourou
on 14 February on board the Toucan. The solid booster stages
are assembled on site in Guiana.
The Flight Readiness Review for this first Ariane-5 mission
(Ariane 501/Cluster) took place on 19 and 20 February at the
CNES facilities in Evry, France. After detailed examination
of the configuration and the quality of the hardware items
making up the launcher, and with due regard to the status of
current activities, the Review gave permission for the 501
launch campaign to start on 4 March.
Provided all operations proceed smoothly, the target date for
the launch is now set at 15 May 1996.
The European Space Agency has delegated the management
of its Ariane-5 programme to CNES, the French space agency.
SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-063.04
EUROMIR 95 MISSION ENDS
HR AMSAT NEWS SERVICE BULLETIN 063.04 FROM AMSAT HQ
SILVER SPRING, MD March 3, 1996
TO ALL RADIO AMATEURS BT
BID: $ANS-063.04
Astronaut Reiter lands, ending longest ESA manned mission The
record-breaking six-month EUROMIR 95 mission of ESA astronaut Thomas Reiter
came to an end February 29th with the successful landing of the Soyuz TM-22
spacecraft. Thomas Reiter and Russian cosmonauts Yuri Gidzenko and Sergei
Avdeev have been aboard the Mir space station since September 1995. The
highlights of the mission included the first spacewalks by an ESA
astronaut, a docking by the space shuttle Atlantis and extensive scientific
research. The EUROMIR missions are an important step for international
cooperation in view of ESA's participation in the International
Space Station program.
Reiter and his Russian crewmates landed in the steppes of
Kazakhstan at 13:42 Moscow time). Their capsule touched down about 107
kilometres northeast of Arkalyk. Recovery teams were quickly at the scene
and the three men are reported to be in good health. Reiter was
greeted at the landing site by ESA astronaut Christer Fuglesang, his backup
and point of contact at mission control, Kaliningrad. ESA Director General
Jean-Marie Luton and Director of ESA's Manned Space Flight and Microgravity
Programme Jorg Feustel B-echl will welcome the crew on
their arrival at Star City this evening.
The Soyuz TM-22 crew bid farewell to their two-man relief crew, Yuri
Onufrienko and Yuri Usachev, and undocked from Mir at 08h20 CET (10h20
Moscow time) . The craft's engines were fired at 10h47 CET (12h47 Moscow
time) to begin the descent. After jettisoning the spacecraft's orbital and
service modules, the Soyuz descent capsule reentered the atmosphere.
The fall to earth was slowed by parachutes and a last-minute
burst from the capsule's retro-rockets.
Reiter, a 37 year-old German, has entered the record books as
the first ESA astronaut to perform a spacewalk and the first
European to make a second walk in space. At 180 days, his
mission is the longest by a non-Russian.
Reiter made his spacewalks on 20th September, 1995, and 8th February 1996.
During the first walk, he mounted a European experiment, called European
Science Exposure Facility (ESEF), to the exterior of the Spektr module.
ESEF was designed to expose materials to space and capture man-made
space debris and naturally occurring cosmic dust. On his second excursion
into space, Reiter retrieved two of the experiment's cassettes.
The Mir crew welcomed visitors to their orbital home when the space shuttle
Atlantis (STS-74) came calling. The shuttle arrived at Mir on 15th November
1995 and spent three days docked with the station.
Most of Reiter's time aboard the station was spent on an extensive
programme of research devised by European scientists. The experiments
spanned the fields of live sciences, astrophysics, material sciences and
technology.
ANS thanks Bernard Pidoux F6BVP for this information.
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