France in Space #224
1: ARIANESPACE FLIGHT 157
The inquiry board appointed to investigate the failure of Flight 157
submitted its report to Arianespace on January 6, 2003. The report
identifies the occurrence of a leak in the Vulcain 2 nozzle’s cooling
circuit during its first flight phase, followed by a critical overheating of
the nozzle. It was concluded that the Ariane 5 baseline showed no weaknesses
with the functioning and resistance of the Vulcain 1 nozzle. An exhaustive
investigation of the Vulcain 1 engine nozzle will however be conducted. The
board also requested that some modification of the Vulcain 2 nozzle be done
on the Ariane 5 ECA. [Arianespace Press Release 01/07/2003]
2: ROSETTA LAUNCH DELAYED
Awaiting the Flight 157’s final report, the irreversible operations linked
to Rosetta’s launch have been suspended. The launch will thus be postponed
by several days beyond the targeted date of Sunday, January 11. The probe
should however be launched before the end of January. It would be the first
spacecraft to land on a comet, after a 10-year journey. The Rendezvous is
scheduled for November 2011.
[Arianespace Press Release 12/30/2002]
3: A HAPPY YEAR’S END FOR SNPE
Due to a reorganization of its programs, which include the creations OF
Roxel, a new European pole of tactical propulsion, and SNPE Matériaux
Energétiques, and also thanks to a 130 million Euro shareholders’ loan
granted by the government, the group SNPE has now found a new serenity. Its
future was previously jeopardized by the government required partial
reopening of the Toulouse chemical branch. With such a restructure, SNPE
will yield an 800 million Euros annual revenue for a yearly net cash flow of
100 million Euros.
[La Tribune 01/02/2003]
4: 5th GRADE STUDENTS COMMUNICATE LIVE WITH THE ISS
Twenty-two primary school students from the Loire region, France, cut their
Christmas vacation short and returned to school last Tuesday morning to
conduct a live conversation with an astronaut aboard the International Space
Station (ISS). The children had a 10 minutes conversation, held in English,
with Donald R. Petit, the NASA American flight engineer, during which they
discussed the astronauts lives and mission aboard the ISS. This conference
was made possible by the “radio-amateurs” club of Roan, France.
[AFP Press Release 12/31/02]
5: 2003: EUROPE LANDS ON MARS
After Rosetta, the new year will be marked by another new and ambitious
European space mission. For the first time, the European Space Agency (ESA)
will send a probe to Mars, our neighbor in the solar system. The launch,
planned for June aboard a Soyuz rocket, should bring the probe in orbit of
the red planet around Christmas time 2003. The high point of the mission
will be the landing of Beagle 2, a small robot designed by British
engineers, and travelling on the ESA’s probe. The main scientific goal of
the robot will be to discover potential evidence of life on Mars.
[AFP Press release 12/23/02 and ESA Press release 12/23/02]
6: IN BRIEF
At the end of January 2003, the European telecommunication satellite,
Artemis, will reach its geostationary orbit after traveling its remaining
700 km. [Air et Cosmos 03/01/02]
After his 2002 difficult mission aboard the International Space Station
(ISS) during its building phase, French astronaut Philippe Perrin is now
facing another challenge. He is in charge of setting up the French Automated
Transfer Vehicle (ATV) Control Center, in Toulouse. The first ATV is planned
for launch in 2004. [L’Express 01/02/03]
Galileo is still at a stand point since last December 22nd, as Germany and
Italy have yet to reach a consensual solution regarding its future. Europe
is not showing its best side… [Air et Cosmos 01/03/03]
[From AFP Press Release, Air & Cosmos, Arianespace Press Release, CNES Press
Release, ESA Press Release, La Tribune, L’Express ]
