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 Russian cosmonauts performed a spacewalk.
On December 27, 2013 Russian cosmonauts Oleg Kotov and Sergey Ryazanskiy performed a spacewalk to replace equipment on the outside of the International Space Station.
The spacewalk began at 13:00 UTC when the cosmonauts opened the hatch of the Russian "Pirs” module of the International Space Station. The cosmonauts, Oleg Kotov and Sergei Ryazanskiy, installed equipment on the hull of the space station including high-resolution cameras to photograph the earth and a foothold for use in future spacewalks. They also detached an old experiment module and threw it overboard into open space. The spacewalk is Kotov’s fifth and Ryazansky’s second.
The spacewalk lasted 8 hours and 07 minutes. The 8-hour 07-minute duration set a new Russian spacewalk record, eclipsing the old mark of seven hours and 28 minutes set by two cosmonauts outside the ISS On August 16, 2013. Two NASA astronauts hold the record for longest spacewalk ever condu
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Russia launched communications satellite.
On December 26, 2013 at 10:49 UTC the "Proton-M” rocket-carrier was launched from Baykonur Cosmodrome. The rocket equipped with the "Briz-M” booster orbited the "Express-AM5” telecommunications satellite. The Express AM5 spacecraft is owned Russian Satellite Communications Co., the country's state civil satellite operator. The satellite will provide digital television and radio broadcasting, telephone, video conferencing, data transmission and Internet services.
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Date: 30.12.2013
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Russia launched 3 military satellites.
On December 25, 2013 at 00:31 UTC the "Rokot” rocket-carrier was launched from Plesetsk Cosmodrome, Arkhangelsk region, North Russia. The rocket equipped with the "Briz-KM” booster orbited 3 military satellites.
The satellites were given the names "Kosmos-2488”, "Kosmos-2489” and "Kosmos-2490”.
Russia did not identify the payloads on the launch, but the rocket's target orbit indicated the mission carried a trio of "Rodnik” satellites designed to relay messages between military users posted in remote areas.
The "Rockot” rocket-carrier is based on the SS-19 missile developed by the Soviet Union to launch nuclear weapons. Russia converted retired SS-19 missiles to rocket-carriers by adding a "Briz-KM” third stage to deliver payloads to orbit.
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Date: 27.12.2013
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US spacewalkers completed coolant system repairs.
On December 24, 2013 US astronauts Richard Mastraccio and Michael Hopkins performed a spacewalk.
The spacewalk began at 11:53 UTC. Two astronauts successfully installed a replacement coolant pump aboard the International Space Station, completing a high-stakes two-spacewalk repair job and clearing the way for flight controllers to re-activate a critical coolant system.
The spacewalk lasted 7 hours and 30 minutes.
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US astronauts performed a spacewalk.
On December 21, 2013 US astronauts Richard Mastraccio and Michael Hopkins performed a spacewalk.
The spacewalk began at 12:01 UTC. The spacewalk lasted 5 hours and 28 minutes. It was the first of at least two excursions needed to repair a critical coolant loop.
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China launched Bolivian satellite.
On December 20, 2013 at 16:42 UTC the "Long March – 3B/E” ("Changzheng-3B/E”) rocket-carrier was launched from the Xichang space center in southern China's Sichuan province. The rocket orbited the Bolivian «Tupac Katari-1” (TKSat-1) telecommunications satellite.
Bolivian President Evo Morales witnessed the launch at Xichang. According to Xinhua news agency, Evo Morales was the first foreign head of state to view a satellite launch from China.
The satellite is named in honor of Tupac Katari, leader of the Indian uprising against colonial rule in Bolivia in the XVIII century.
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Date: 27.12.2013
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Russian rocket orbited European space observatory.
On December 19, 2013 at 09:12 UTC the Russian "Soyuz-ST-B” rocket- carrier was launched from Kourou space center in French Guiana. The rocket orbited the "Gaia” (Global Astrometric Interferometer for Astrophysics) space observatory of the European Space Agency (ESA).
The mission aims to compile a 3D space catalogue of approximately 1 billion astronomical objects (approximately 1% of the Milky way population). Gaia will monitor each of its target stars about 70 times over a period of five years. Gaia will create a precise three-dimensional map of stars throughout the Milky Way galaxy and map their motions which encode the origin and subsequent evolution of the Milky Way.
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Date: 20.12.2013
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Chinese rover began moving on the moon's surface.
On December 15, 2013 at 00:35 UTC China's first moon rover, "Yutu” (Jade Rabbit) separated from the lander several hours after the Chang'e-3 probe soft-landed on the lunar surface. The rover disconnected from the landing platform beginning about six hours after touchdown, severing electrical and mechanical connections before sliding off the lander on a ramp and driving on to the moon's surface. The rover is designed for a three-month mission, and the Chang'e 3 lander could operate more than a year.
The rover stands nearly 1,1 meter tall and has a mass of 140 kilograms.
The first world automatic moon rover was the Soviet "Lunochod-1” which worked on the Moon’s surface from November 1970 till September 1971 and went the path length of 10 540 meters. It had a high of 1,92 meters and a mass of 756 kilograms.
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Date: 20.12.2013
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China successfully soft-landed probe on the Moon.
On December 14, 2013 at 13:11 UTC the Chinese "Chang'e 3” probe, named after a mythical Chinese goddess of the moon, landed on the moon, becoming China's first outpost on another world after a rocket-powered descent to an unexplored barren volcanic plain. The probe carried a six-wheeled moon rover called "Yutu," or "Jade Rabbit," the goddess' pet.
China became the third country to carry out a lunar soft landing — which does not damage the craft and the equipment it carries — after the Soviet Union and the United States. The previous moon landing was performed by the Soviet "Luna-24” automatic probe in 1976.
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Date: 20.12.2013
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Remote sensing satellite lost in Chinese rocket failure.
A $250 million Earth observation satellite developed by China and Brazil was lost in the launch failure of the "Long March 4B” rocket-carrier on December 09, 2013. The rocket-carrier was launched at 03:26 UTC from the Taiyuan space center in northern China's Shanxi province. The rocket was supposed to put the 2.3-ton CBERS 3 satellite into orbit about 12 minutes later, but something went wrong. It was not clear so far when the rocket ran into trouble, but Chinese and Brazilian news reports said the satellite did not enter orbit. The last time any Long March rocket malfunctioned was in August 2011, when the "Long March-2C” rocket-carrier faltered while carrying a Shijian military satellite.
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Date: 20.12.2013
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