The Ariane launchers
Just after the Arianespace area and the films about the different launch campaigns … a parade of Ariane launchers.
The Ariane family
| Launcher | ARIANE 1 | ARIANE 2 | ARIANE 3 | ARIANE 4 | ARIANE 5 |
|
Mass at lift-off
|
210 t
|
219 t
|
234 t
|
243 to 480 t
|
750 to 780 t
|
|
Throw-weight capacity
|
1,75 t
|
2,20 t
|
2,60 t
|
2 to 4,8 t
|
6,9 to 10 t
|
|
Thrust *
|
250 t
|
270 t
|
270 t
|
270 to 540 t
|
1 200 to 1 300 t
|
|
Height
|
47,4 m
|
49 m
|
49 m
|
59 m
|
47 to 57 m
|
|
Number of launches
|
11
|
6
|
11
|
116
|
15 **
|
|
Number of successes
|
9
|
5
|
10
|
113
|
12 **
|
|
Lifetime
|
1981 - 1986
|
1986 - 1989
|
1984 - 1989
|
1988 - 2003
|
1996 - ...
|
* Thrust is expressed in kiloNewtons (kN). It is popularly (but incorrectly) expressed in tonnes. To understand the value of a force described in kN, dividing by 10 gives an approximate mass (in tonnes) that the force can lift.
** As of 1st September 2003
The XMM satellite and Exploration of the Universe
The European XMM satellite (for X-Ray Multimirror Mission) is the second largest satellite ever built by ESA and launched from the CSG by Ariane 504 (Ariane 5’s first commercial flight was Flight 119 on 10 December 1999.)
It carries several cameras and spectrometers and was designed to perform imaging and spectrometry of X-rays from outer space.
What are X-rays?
They represent the signature of particularly violent events occurring in the Universe at extremely high temperatures: black holes, exploding stars, galactic nuclei, etc. Since they are invisible from the ground, in order to observe and detect the origin of these electromagnetic waves in Space it is necessary to send astronomy satellites equipped with specific telescopes.
The XMM-NEWTON observatory was launched in 1999 for this purpose, the same year as its American rival CHANDRA. It is incomparably sensitive, and has significantly improved the quality of data obtained in X-ray astronomy and has enabled the discovery of thousands of new sources of X-rays.
On 7 April 2003, the 1st catalogue of sources of X-rays discovered by the XMM-NEWTON satellite was made available to the scientific community. It listed several tens of thousands of stars and galaxies emitting X-rays, a major contribution to the field of high-energy astrophysics. These observations will help the scientific community achieve a better understanding of several mysteries, from how black holes are created to the origins of the Universe.
The model of the XMM satellite is displayed in the Space Museum.
XMM-NEWTON in brief :
Mass 4 t
Width 11 m
Orbite Eccentric Earth orbit
Altitude Between 7,000 and 114,000 km
Payload 3 X-ray cameras (EPIC experiment)
2 grating spectrometers (RGS)
1 optical telescope (Optical Monitor)
1 ERM radiation monitoring device
Mission duration 10 years
ESPACE MULTIMEDIA
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