ESA experiments successfully launched aboard Foton

[flynn]

<b>European experiments successfully launched aboard Foton spacecraft</b><br /><br /> ESA PR 26-2005. An unmanned Foton-M spacecraft carrying a mainly European payload was put into orbit by a Russian Soyuz-U launcher today at 14:00 Central European Time (18:00 local time) from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.<br /> <br />Following the launch and nine minutes of propelled flight, the Foton-M2 spacecraft is now in low-earth orbit where it will remain for 16 days before its reentry module lands close to the Russian/Kazakh border. <br />During the mission European experiments and equipment will be monitored by ESA’s Operations Team at the Payload Operations Centre based at Esrange near Kiruna, Sweden. They will be responsible for receiving, evaluating and disseminating scientific data generated by European payloads on Foton such as the Fluidpac and Agat experiment facilities. During 6 of the 16 daily orbits, the Foton spacecraft will be in a suitable orbital position for Kiruna to receive signals from it. Should any experiment parameters need adjustment, the commands will be sent direct from Kiruna to the specific experiment facility. <br /> <br />The European payload carried by Foton-M2 covers a scientific programme consisting of 39 experiments in fluid physics, biology, material science, meteoritics, radiation dosimetry and exobiology. The European Space Agency has been cooperating with the Russian Space Agency on this type of scientific mission for 18 years. With 385 kg of European experiments and equipment out of the overall payload of 600 kg, this mission constitutes the largest European contribution that has been put into orbit on such missions. The Foton-M2 mission provides reflight opportunities for almost the entire Foton-M1 experiment programme lost due to launcher failure on 15 October 2002. <br /><br />Applied research plays a prominent role with heat transfer experiments in the European FluidPac facility, chemical diffusion experiments in the SCCO (Soret Coef <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <font color="#800080">"All God does is watch us and kill us when we get boring. We must never, ever be boring" - <strong>Chuck Palahniuk</strong>.</font> </div>

 

[nacnud]

Isn't the Foton almost a direct descendant of the Vostok?

 

[mrmorris]

I was interested in the FAVORITE experiment onbord Foton (generates oxygen from wastewater like Elekton), so I did some Googling. Found a nice PDF file here that describes it and a couple of other experiments.<br /><br />FAVORITE looks *very* cool. No moving parts, and the electrolysis process actually gives nicely separated streams of H2 and O2. Once the concept is validated in zero-G, it's supposed to become part of an ESA ECLSS system under development.

 

[syndroma]

Foton made a successful landing.<br />There're rumours that FAVORITE (European "Elektron" prototype) failed.

 

[chebby]

A bit unrelated, but I have to ask. Does anyone know if the investigation of the 2002 Foton failure came up with an explanaton?

 

[syndroma]

Foreign matter in peroxide pipeline.<br /><br />The more interesting question is what happened to today's Molniya.