On July 27, 2013 at 20:45 UTC (on July 28 at 00:45 Moscow time) the "Progress M-20M” unmanned supply spacecraft was launched from Baykonur Cosmodrome to the International Space Station. The spacecraft was orbited by the "Soyuz-U” rocket-carrier.
On July 25, 2013 at 20:44 UTC the "Progress M-18M” unmanned supply spacecraft was undocked from the Russian "Pirs” (Pier) module of the International Space Station. At 23:53 UTC the spacecraft’s engines were started for deorbiting. Non-burnt fragments of the spacecraft sank in the South part of the Pacific at 00:42 UTC on July 26.
On July 25, 2013 at 19:54 UTC the Ariane 5ECA” rocket-carrier was launched from Kourou Cosmodrome in French Guiana. The rocket orbited 2 satellites: the "Alphasat-1” European telecommunication satellite and India's "INSAT-3D” meteorological satellite. The "Alphasat-1” is the largest telecommunication satellite ever manufactured and it will provide voice and data transmission services across Europe, Africa and the Middle East. It was built by Astrium, an aerospace subsidiary of the European Aeronautic Defence and Space Company. INSAT-3D, developed by Indian space agency will provide enhanced meteorological observation and monitoring of land-ocean surfaces.
On July 19, 2013 at 23:37 UTC the UTC the "Chang Zheng-4C” (Long-March 4-C) rocket-carrier was launched from the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center in Taiyuan, capital of north China's Shanxi Province. The rocket orbited the "Chuangxin-3”, the "Shiyan-7” and the "Shijian-15” scientific satellites. The three satellites will be used mainly for conducting scientific experiments on space maintenance technologies.
On July 19, 2013 at 13:00 UTC the "Atlas-5” rocket-carrier was launched from Cape Canaveral launch site of US Air Force. The launch was performed by United Launch Alliance supported by the 45th Space Wing of US Air Force. The rocket orbited the MUOS-2 (Mobile User Objective System-2) telecommunication satellite for US Navy.
Russian Post issued a postage stamp devoted to the 50th Anniversary of Valentina Tereshkova’s space flight. Although the 50th anniversary of the spaceflight took place on June 16, the postage stamp was issued only on July 5, 2013. The size of stamp is 32,5 X 65 millimeters. The stamp is printed by sheets of 8 (4 X 2) stamps. Total edition is 424 000 stamps (53 000 sheets). The First Day Cover was also issued on July 5. All 3 parts of FDC (a cover, a postage stamp and a post cancellation) depict a seagull soaring in the sky. The Tereshkova’s call sign during her historic space flight was "Chaika”. Chaika means a seagull in Russian.
In June 2013 Russian Post issued the postal stationery devoted to this Historical event. Total edition are 2 000 000 envelops. The cover depicts a Soviet postage stamp issued in 1963 and a seagull soaring in the sky. The Tereshkova’s call sign during her historic space flight was "Chaika”. Chaika means a seagull in Russian.
On July 16, 2013 at 11:56 UTC American astronaut Christopher Cassidy and Italian astronaut Luca Parmitano opened the hatches of the "Quest” module of the International Space Station to begin a spacewalk. But NASA aborted a planned 6.5-hour spacewalk by two astronauts outside the International Space Station, after Luca Parmitano reported "a buildup of water" inside his helmet. "A little more than one hour into Tuesday's spacewalk, Luca Parmitano of the European Space Agency reported water floating behind his head inside his helmet," NASA said in a statement. "The water was not an immediate health hazard for Parmitano, but Mission Control Centre decided to end the spacewalk earlier." The spacewalk officially ended at 13:29 UTC. It lasted only 1 hour and 32 minutes instead of the planned 6.5-hour venture outside the space station, making it the second shortest in the orbital laboratory's history.
On July 15, 2013 at 09:27 UTC the "Chang Zheng-2C” (Long-March II-C) rocket-carrier was launched from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center located in northwest China's Gobi desert. The rocket orbited the "Shi-Jian-11-05” experimental satellite. It will be used to conduct scientific and technological experiments.
On July 09, 2013 American astronaut Christopher Cassidy and Italian astronaut Luca Parmitano performed a spacewalk. The hatch of the "Quest” module was opened at 12:02 UTC. The spacewalks carried out a variety of maintenance and installation tasks. They spent six hours and seven minutes outside the International Space Station. It was Parmitano's first spacewalk, making him the first Italian astronaut to walk in space, and the 5th EVA for Cassidy.
