Mon Dico
Armstrong
Armstrong, Neil Alden:
Born in 1930 in the United States, an engineer and test pilot at the time of the Korean war (1950), he was selected by the NASA in 1962 to become an astronaut. He took part in the first docking of the Gemini 8 capsule with the Agena launcher. He was head of the Apollo 11 mission and became the first man to walk on the Moon, July 21, 1969. He left the NASA to teach aeronautics at the university of Cincinatti from 1971 to 1979. In 1986, he was vice-president of the inquiry board regarding the explosion of Challenger. He has been retired since 2002.
Apogee
One calls "apogee" the point furthest away from the center of the Earth which is occupied by an artificial satellite placed on an elliptic orbit (see orbit), i.e. whose distance to the Earth is not fixed.
Apollo
The US space program intended to send a man to the Moon and make him come back to Earth. Prepared by the Mercury and Gemini programs, the Apollo missions started in January 1962 with Apollo 1 and ended in 1972 with Apollo 17. It was during the Apollo 11 mission that Neil Armstrong and Edwin Aldrin walked on the Moon, on July 21, 1969. In total, twelve astronauts set foot on the Moon as part of six different Apollo missions.
Ariane
The European civilian satellite launcher. Created in 1973, the Ariane launcher knew more than nine versions. The current most powerful launcher is Ariane 5, launched in 1987. It is manufactured by EADS Astrium and is operated by Arianespace.
Arianespace
Arianespace, a company founded in 1980, has 23 shareholders from 10 European States (the national French space studies center holds 34% and Europe's EADS 30%) and all the European industrial companies that take part in the Ariane program. Arianespace offers its launching services to satellite operators around the world.
