Wednesday, December 2, 2015

Planet Earth

And what is this network with name of Italian astronomer? It is the first service of navigation for civilian use and not controlled by the armed forces, in which Europe has been working for two decades and who aspires to be much more accurate than GPS that serves so that woman you indicate "keep right at the fork".


Thirty satellites and five ground stations make up the system if all goes according to the plan will be completed by 2020, offering benefits such as locating different measures for fishing, agriculture and emergency calls in real time or congestion in transport. With Galileo operating there is a 90% probability that anyone, anywhere on the planet, can be in view of (at least) four satellites. Who will need to double check?

Precisely it was Galileo who appeared in the drawing which this girl won share their name with a satellite. Alba, which defines itself as a very creative, painted a ship with a tail that left a star for each country of the European Union. At the bottom of the drawing Galileo observing with a telescope how the device took off leaving a ball in the world.


The European Commission launched the contest of drawing Galileo in 2011 to satellites that would compose the constellation name. Children from all over Europe born between 2000 and 2002 participated in this initiative, which aims to bring space and aeronautics to the children so that children know how since the European Union promotes the continental market in the space sector. "The goal is that we can compete on the global stage and achieve great things," said Elzbieta Bienkowska, the European Commissioner for industry.

Terra Planet 
The construction of these satellites is in the hands of the company OHB, in Bremen, while antennas are provided by Surrey Satellite Technology Ltd., in Guildford, United Kingdom. Both companies receive in turn supplies across the continent. Then, the satellites move to ESTEC, the largest of the European Space Agency (ESA) Centre, where they undergo tests in those who are exposed to conditions that will be at the launch and the space environment: noise, vacuum intense and very extreme temperatures. Each satellite is connected also to the terrestrial network international Galileo for several days without interruption to verify that it works as advertised.
Once launched, the first ten days are "taken care of" from ESA (Darmstadt, Germany) or from the French Space Agency (CNES, Toulouse), working together in this mission. Then moves control of the satellite to the space agency Germany (DLR), in Oberpfaffenhofen, on the outskirts of Munich, where will be the routine supervision, pampering day.

From Darmstadt and Toulouse already they won't to know nothing of these satellites, because at the time in which give witness prepare for the next pitch. Galileo is an ambitious project, spanning a wide satellite fleet and a strict release calendar, every three months are being sent satellites into space as if it were of Noah's Ark, two by two. Starting from the next release the challenge increases, will be prepared to make four satellites that orbiten simultaneously, something unusual. This is possible because the European rocket Ariane 5, rather than the Russian Soyuz will be used as usual.

The program has two phases. Firstly that of validation, already completed, that found the Galileo concept and operation of ground stations. The second phase, the operations, which started in August, 2014 with the launch of two satellites to validate the orbit, was a famous failure: 'Doresa' and 'Milena' ended up in an orbit of erroneous, about 17,000 kilometers from the Earth instead of 23,000. Although today has been that they are in an operational orbit, still has not been decided if they are to be used or are here to stay in the "dock". However, since then the project has been rolled, so much so that on December 17 satellites 11 to 12, with names of Italian and Cypriot, Antonianna and Adriana, will be heading to space.
Alba, who the subject of Aeronautics interests although it prefers the art as a career, says that winning this contest and there is a satellite in space with his name has marked his life. So much so that in his next artistic creation, already underway, its satellite has a "role".