<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?><rss version="2.0" xmlns:dc="http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/"><channel><title><![CDATA[Astrium : Did you know ?]]></title><link>http://www.astrium.eads.net/node.php?pageid=1&amp;pageclef=rss</link><description><![CDATA[A whole universe of space facts and figures.  ]]></description><language>en</language><copyright><![CDATA[]]></copyright><lastBuildDate>Wed, 15 Feb 2012 12:54:09 +0100</lastBuildDate><pubDate>Wed, 15 Feb 2012 12:54:09 +0100</pubDate><generator>http://www.cafecentral.fr</generator><item><title><![CDATA[The oceans produce more than half of the oxygen in the atmosphere...]]></title><pubDate>Fri, 02 Dec 2011 00:00:00 +0100</pubDate><link>http://www.astrium.eads.net/en/did-you-know/the-oceans-produce-more-than-half-of-the-oxygen-in-the-atmosphere.html</link><guid>8025</guid><auteur>Tanja Sauerwald (tanja.sauerwald@astrium.eads.net)</auteur><description><![CDATA[... and absorb the most carbon from it &ndash; and since humans are generating more and more greenhouse gas emissions, the amount of CO2 sucked in by the upper layer of the oceans is increasing by about two billion tons per year, pushing up acidity levels. We know that the oceans are warming up, and that global sea level rose by about 17&nbsp;cm in the last century, the rate nearly doubling alarmingly over the last decade&nbsp;&hellip;
Find out more in our dossier &lsquo;Planet Earth &ndash; Handle with care&rsquo;]]></description></item><item><title><![CDATA[Astrium launches new video library]]></title><pubDate>Thu, 03 Nov 2011 00:00:00 +0100</pubDate><link>http://www.astrium.eads.net/en/did-you-know/astrium-launches-a-new-video-library.html</link><guid>7841</guid><auteur>Tanja Sauerwald (tanja.sauerwald@astrium.eads.net)</auteur><description><![CDATA[&nbsp;
Click here to view all Astrium videos
]]></description></item><item><title><![CDATA[What are the ‘flaps’ on Astrium satellites’ solar panels for?]]></title><pubDate>Wed, 17 Aug 2011 00:00:00 +0200</pubDate><link>http://www.astrium.eads.net/en/did-you-know/what-are-the-‘flaps-on-astrium-satellites-solar-panels-for.html</link><guid>7499</guid><auteur>Thierry Collin (thIerry.collin@astrium.eads.net)</auteur><description><![CDATA[The flaps on the sides of the solar panels are essential for enabling Astrium&rsquo;s satellites to use a technique called &lsquo;solar sailing&rsquo;. By slightly angling the satellite&rsquo;s solar arrays with respect to the direction of sunlight, the solar wind &ndash; or, more precisely, solar radiation pressure &ndash; produces a &lsquo;windmilling&rsquo; effect on the satellite. The flaps enable this effect to be more precisely controlled and thus minimise the use of chemical propulsion systems when the satellite is in operational mode.
This system of solar sailing flaps was patented in the 1960s, and is exclusive to Astrium&rsquo;s satellites. It is used on all the company&rsquo;s Eurostar communications satellites.]]></description></item><item><title><![CDATA[Fascinating High Altitude Balloon facts]]></title><pubDate>Mon, 06 Jun 2011 00:00:00 +0200</pubDate><link>http://www.astrium.eads.net/en/did-you-know/fascinating-high-altitude-balloon-facts.html</link><guid>7010</guid><auteur>Tanja Sauerwald (tanja.sauerwald@astrium.eads.net)</auteur><description><![CDATA[The first public experiment with hydrogen-filled balloons occurred in France in September 1783. The first manned flight by Joseph and Etienne Montgolfier came only two months later on the 21 November 1783.

One of the most famous manned High Altitude Balloon missions is that of Captain  Joe Kittinger. On August 16, 1960, he made the ascent in Excelsior III to  102,800 feet. He was equipped with a pressurised suit and small stabilising  parachute. He made his descent by simply stepping from the gondola and it took a  mere 4 minutes and 36 seconds. In this jump Kittinger set world records for the  highest parachute jump, the longest parachute drogue fall and the fastest speed  by a human through the atmosphere, all of which still stand.









Right: Kittinger readies himself for a high-altitude jump, standing beside the  Excelsior gondola. The sign at the lower edge of the gondola says: "This is the  highest step in the world." (&copy; U.S. Air Force Museum)
Left: Joseph Kittinger's high-altitude jump in 1960 (&copy; U.S. Air Force Museum)
The Wright brothers did not launch their manned plane  flight until 17 December 1903. So hot air ballooning existed over 120 years  before aeroplanes!Yorkshireman Robert Harrison is one of the leading men  when it comes to High altitude ballooning, having received interest and  recognition from NASA for his Icarus project. He currently holds the world record for the  highest HAB flight at 22 miles and has launched 12 HABs since 2008.
The most common type of high altitude balloons are weather  balloons.Over  the last decade, high altitude ballooning projects have  become  increasingly popular with amateur radio enthusiasts; it is a relatively   low budget hobby with outstanding  results.]]></description></item><item><title><![CDATA[Diving sessions are an important part of astronaut training]]></title><pubDate>Fri, 15 Apr 2011 11:41:26 +0200</pubDate><link>http://www.astrium.eads.net/en/did-you-know/diving-sessions-are-an-important-part-of-astronaut-training.html</link><guid>6894</guid><auteur>Tanja Sauerwald (tanja.sauerwald@astrium.eads.net)</auteur><description><![CDATA[Being underwater simulates the conditions of weightlessness as best as possible on Earth.The European Astronaut Centre in Cologne (Germany) features a 10-metre deep pool called the Neutral Buoyancy Facility (NBF) equipped with a full-size model of the Columbus space laboratory. Here, the trainee astronauts can manipulate equipment upside down, move their bodies around the outside of the mock-up, pretty much as on a real spacewalk.
&nbsp;]]></description></item><item><title><![CDATA[803 days…]]></title><pubDate>Mon, 11 Apr 2011 00:00:00 +0200</pubDate><link>http://www.astrium.eads.net/en/did-you-know/803-days.html</link><guid>6862</guid><auteur>Thierry Collin (thIerry.collin@astrium.eads.net)</auteur><description><![CDATA[&hellip; is the maximum accumulated time spent by a human being in space.  During his 803 days in space, Sergei Krikalev travelled around 550 million  kilometres &ndash; approximately four times the distance from the Earth to the  sun.
To find out more about the great space adventure, take a voyage  through time and space with our special &lsquo;50 years of manned spaceflight&rsquo;  animation &ndash; just click on the picture below for  take-off!

]]></description></item><item><title><![CDATA[How many payloads have been carried by Ariane rockets, up to the 200th flight with ATV-2 ‘Johannes Kepler’?]]></title><pubDate>Mon, 21 Feb 2011 00:00:00 +0100</pubDate><link>http://www.astrium.eads.net/en/did-you-know/how-many-payloads-up-the-200th-ariane-flight-with-atv-2-‘johannes-kepler-.html</link><guid>6570</guid><auteur>Thierry Collin (thIerry.collin@astrium.eads.net)</auteur><description><![CDATA[330... 
is the rounded-up total number of passengers lofted into orbit to date by Ariane launchers. About 85% of these are telecommunications satellites. Others are Earth observation satellites, weather satellites, astronomic observatories, space probes, one ISS service vehicle (ATV) and one atmospheric re-entry demonstrator (ARD).
79...
satellites or other payloads primed by Astrium launched by Ariane rockets:

50 telecommunications satellites (of which nine military)
26 Earth observation and science satellites (of which nine military)
3 other payloads (ATV-1, ATV-2 and ARD)

 Diapositive 1

330 &nbsp; 
is the rounded-up total number of passengers lofted into orbit to date by Ariane launchers. About 85% of these are telecommunications satellites. Others are Earth observation satellites, weather satellites, astronomic observatories, space probes, one ISS service vehicle (ATV) and one atmospheric re-entry demonstrator (ARD). 


Discover lots of other amazing facts about Ariane and the ATV, plus details of all the Ariane flights by clicking here.

&nbsp;
&nbsp;]]></description></item><item><title><![CDATA[20,100 kilogrammes...]]></title><pubDate>Mon, 21 Feb 2011 14:30:52 +0100</pubDate><link>http://www.astrium.eads.net/en/did-you-know/20100-kilogrammes-is-the-mass-of-the-atv2-johannes-kepler.html</link><guid>6543</guid><auteur>Thierry Collin (thIerry.collin@astrium.eads.net)</auteur><description><![CDATA[... is the greatest mass placed into any orbit by an Ariane launcher last 16th February 2011. It is the ATV-2 Johannes Kepler. Before the 200th launch, the record was hold by the Jules Verne ATV , 19,350 kg, on Flight 181 (Ariane 5 ES).
Discover all other amazing data about Ariane and ATV plus all the Ariane flights clicking here.

&nbsp;
&nbsp;]]></description></item><item><title><![CDATA[Giuseppe (‘Bepi’) Colombo – father of the swing-by manoeuvre]]></title><pubDate>Fri, 11 Feb 2011 00:00:00 +0100</pubDate><link>http://www.astrium.eads.net/en/did-you-know/giuseppe-‘bepi-colombo-–-father-of-the-swing-by-manoeuvre.html</link><guid>6519</guid><auteur>Tanja Sauerwald (tanja.sauerwald@astrium.eads.net)</auteur><description><![CDATA[Giuseppe (Bepi) Colombo (1920–1984).Giuseppe Colombo was a successful mathematician and  engineer. Born in Padua, Italy, in 1920, he attended primary and secondary  school in his home town. In 1944, he was awarded a PhD in mathematics from the  University of Pisa, and subsequently returned to Padua, where he worked as an  assistant and associate professor in theoretical mechanics. In 1955, he received  full professorship in applied mechanics from the Faculty of Engineering at the  University of Padua. He mainly taught vibration mechanics and celestial  mechanics, but also covered spacecraft and rockets during his last few  years.Better known by his nickname &lsquo;Bepi&rsquo;, Professor Giuseppe Colombo  was significantly involved in planning the Mariner 10 mission of 1974&ndash;75 &ndash; the  only Mercury mission to be completed so far. He proposed the probe&rsquo;s trajectory,  which included the first-ever swing-by manoeuvre around a planet &ndash; in this case  Venus &ndash; which would set it on course for Mercury. Colombo is therefore  considered the father of swing-by manoeuvres, during which light spacecraft can  alter both their speed and their direction of flight by exploiting the  gravitational force of planets.Colombo was also the first to explain  Mercury&rsquo;s unusual period of rotation. Unfortunately, he did not live to witness  the Giotto mission to Halley&rsquo;s Comet launched in July 1985, which he had helped  to initiate, as he died prematurely of cancer aged 64 in 1984. At its meeting in  Naples in September 2003, ESA&rsquo;s Science Programme Committee decided to name its  European Mercury mission after Bepi Colombo, in honour of the man to whom we owe  much of our present knowledge about the planet Mercury.]]></description></item><item><title><![CDATA[A question of Altitute....]]></title><pubDate>Thu, 03 Feb 2011 00:00:00 +0100</pubDate><link>http://www.astrium.eads.net/en/did-you-know/a-question-of-altitute.html</link><guid>6457</guid><auteur>Tanja Sauerwald (tanja.sauerwald@astrium.eads.net)</auteur><description><![CDATA[The International Space Station's orbit suffers a natural dacay of&nbsp; 50 - 100 cm - each day.
Due to the presence of a residual atmosphere at an altitude of 400 kilometres and the large surface area of the space station, the station is slowly and continuously descending and needs to be re-boosted at regular intervals.]]></description></item></channel></rss>
