by Donald J. Butz, S.U. #3507
77 Medbrook Way, Columbus, Ohio 43214-3603
dbutz@AOL.com
The October 26, 1998 issue of the U.S. aerospace industry publication Aviation Week and Space Technology, AWST,
(visit their website at http://www.aviationweek.com) provided
a great summary of an exciting European spacecraft development and testing program, the Advanced Reentry Demonstrator
(ARD). As noted by AWST, this mission is significant for two reasons: it is the "first complete space mission,
from launch to recovery, ever flown by a European spacecraft", and the Global Positioning System (GPS) was
used to assist in navigation, guidance and control. The unmanned ARD spacecraft was developed by Aerospatiale
(visit their web site at http://www.aerospatiale.fr/homef.htm)
for a press release and photographs which can be found by searching within the site). The shape of the ARD is
directly derived from the U.S. Apollo vehicle and test data. The vehicle flown is about a half-scale version of
the intended future operational space transportation system. On October 21, 1998, this 6173 pound (2,800 kg) capsule
splashed down in the Pacific Ocean after liftoff on the Ariane 5 booster, followed by a long suborbital flight.
Maximum altitude was reportedly 830 km (512 miles!), and the maximum reentry velocity was about 16,750 miles per
hour (27,130 km/hr), and the spacecraft maneuvered during reentry toward its intended impact location. It landed
just 3 mi or 4.9 km (rather than the expected 12.3 mi. or 20 km) from its intended splash point, near the Marquesa
Islands south of Hawaii, after a 66 minute long flight. ARD is a testbed for development of future unmanned and
manned reusable space transportation system configurations, components and materials, and features a maneuvering
capability much wider (10X) than the U.S. space shuttle orbiter. Do any readers know of any covers serviced for
this significant event in international spacecraft development? Also, according to AWST, Aerosdpatiale, and various
other sources, this launch was significant in that it completed the qualification flight series for the Ariane
5 booster, and, in placing a dummy Maqsat satellite into orbit, demonstrated the multiple firing capability of
the Aestus upper stage motor on Ariane’s second stage.