MASCOT Rover deployed from Hayabusa 2 onto Ryugu 2018

The massively successful Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), Hayabusa 2 deployed one of its four rovers, Mobile Asteroid Surface Scout (MASCOT) onto the surface of asteroid Ryugu, October 3, 2018.  The German Aerospace Center (DLR) developed MASCOT in cooperation with National Centre for Space Studies in France.  It weights only about 21 lbs and is about 11.6"x10.8"x7.7".  It ran for about 16 hours on a non-rechargeable battery and completed its mission successfully.  

Three papers have been published discussing the results from MASCOT in Nature Astronomy, Science, and Journal of Geophysical Research.

Happy birthday, French astronaut Jean-Pierre Haignere!

Jean-Pierre Haignere, born May 19, 1948 in Paris, France, has been in space twice as an astronaut for France's National Centre for Space Studies.

His first flight was aboard Soyuz TM-17 to the space station Mir, launched July 1, 1993.  He returned to Earth July 22 aboard Soyuz TM-16.

His second and final flight was aboard Soyuz TM-29 to Mir in February 1999.  He participated in Mir EO-27 and stayed aboard  for almost 189 days before returning to Earth in August 1999.

Happy birthday, French astronaut Jean-Jacques Favier!

Jean-Jacques Favier, born April 13, 1949 in Kehl, Germany, is a French astronaut for the National Centre for Space Studies (CNES), the French space agency.  He went into space once, aboard Columbia (STS-78) in June-July 1996 as a payload specialist.  He spent almost 17 days in space.

Happy birthday, French astronaut Philippe Perrin!

Philippe Perrin, born January 6, 1963 in Morocco, went into space on the space shuttle Endeavour (STS-111) as mission specialist to the International Space Station in June 2002.  He was an astronaut for the ESA and CNES and spent almost 14 days in space.  He performed 3 EVAs with fellow astronaut Franklin Chang Diaz. 

Columbia (STS-78) launched 1996

Front row (L-R): Terence Henricks, Kevin Kregel

Back row (L-R): Jean-Jacques Favier, Richard Linnehan, Susan Helms, Charles Brady, Robert Thirsk

Mission patch

Space Shuttle Columbia (STS-78), launched June 20, 1996, studied the effects long-duration spaceflight on the human body, in preparation for International Space Station expeditions.

Its crew consisted of Commander Terence Henricks, Pilot Kevin Kregel, Richard Linnehan, Susan Helms, Charles Brady, Jean-Jacques Favier (CNES) and Robert Thirsk (CSA).

When the Solid Rocket Boosters were recovered, analysis showed damage to field joints, probably caused by hot gases.  There was no action with safety, but it was similar damage that caused Challenger to break apart in 1986.

They returned to Earth July 7.

Happy birthday, Space Shuttle astronaut John Fabian!

John McCreary Fabian, born January 28, 1939 in Goose Creek, Texas, is a veteran of two space shuttle missions.  He joined the US Air Force in 1962, and received flight training at Williams Air Force Base in Arizona.

His first mission into space was aboard Challenger (STS-7) in June 1983 as mission specialist.  Sally Ride was on board as the first U.S. female astronaut.  Ronald Reagan, then President, sent Jelly Belly jelly beans with the astronauts, the first jelly beans in space.

Fabian's second and final mission was aboard Discovery (STS-51-G) in June 1985 as mission specialist.  It was the first flight for Shannon Lucid and the only flights for Patrick Baudry (CNES) and Sultan Salman al Saud, the first Arab, first Muslim and first royal astronaut.

Soyuz TM-16 launched 1993

Soyuz TM-16 crew (L-R): Gennadi Manakov, Alexander Poleshchuk

Soyuz TM-16 mission patch

Soyuz TM-16, launched January 24, 1993, was the sixteenth expedition to the space station Mir.  Its crew consisted of  Commander Gennadi Manakov and Alexander Poleshchuk.  They made up the crew of expedition Mir EO-13.  They remained in space for 179 days and returned to Earth in July with Jean-Pierre Haignere, a French astronaut. 

Soyuz TM-7 launched 1988

Soyuz TM-7 crew (L-R):  Jean-Loup Chretien, Alexander Volkov, Sergei Krikalev

Mission patch

Soyuz TM-7, launched November 26, 1988, was the seventh manned mission to the Mir space station.  Its crew consisted of Commander Alexander Volkov, Sergei Krikalev and Jean-Loup Chretien (CNES).  Then French president Francois Mitterand viewed the launch with Pink Floyd's David Gilmour and Nick Mason. 

Chretien became the first non-American/non-Soviet person to conduct an EVA when he went outside Mir with Volkov for 6 hours to install a French experimental structure.

Chretien returned to Earth a month later on Soyuz TM-6, but Volkov and Krikalyov remained on board as part of Mir EO-4 expedition and returned in April 1989 with Valeri Polyakov. 

Happy birthday, French astronaut Jean-François Clervoy!

Jean-Francois Clervoy, born November 19, 1958 in France, is a veteran of three space shuttle flights.  He has represented both the European Space Agency and the National Centre for Space Studies (French space agency). 

His first mission into space was as mission specialist on Atlantis (STS-66) in November 1994.  The mission studied the Antarctic Zone Hole while it was diminishing to study its possible effects on mid-latitudes.

His next flight was aboard Atlantis (STS-84) to the space station Mir in May 1997.  He flew with birthday twin and fellow astronaut Eileen Collins.

Clervoy's third and last mission was on Discovery (STS-103) as mission specialist in December 1999.  It was a repair mission to the Hubble Space Telescope and the last solo flight of Discovery.

Happy birthday, French astronaut Michel Tognini!

Michel Tognini, born September 30, 1949 in Vincennes, France, has gone into space on Soyuz and space shuttle missions.  He was selected by France's space agency, the National Center for Space Studies (CNES), in July 1986. 

His first flight was aboard Soyuz TM-15 in July 1992 to the space station Mir.  He stayed on board for about two weeks before returning on Soyuz TM-14.

His second and final mission in space was aboard Columbia (STS-93) as mission specialist in July 1999.  The mission lasted just under 5 days.

Atlantis (STS-86) launched 1997

Front row (L-R): Michael Bloomfield, James Wetherbee, Wendy Lawrence; 

Back row: Jean-Loup Chrétien, Scott Parazynski, Vladimir Titov, Michael Foale.

(This picture must have been taken after the flight since Wolf is not in it.)

Mission patch

Space Shuttle Atlantis (STS-86), launched September 25, 1997, was the seventh shuttle mission to Mir and the last before Atlantis was taken out of service for maintenance and upgrades.  Its crew consisted of Commander James Wetherbee, Pilot Michael Bloomfield, Vladimir Titov (Roscosmos), Scott Parazynski, Jean-Loup Chretien (National Center for Space Studies), Wendy Lawrence and David Wolf.

Wolf replaced Michael Foale as the resident U.S. astronaut on Mir, the decision made only the night before the launch by NASA Administrator Daniel Goldin.  There had been political pressure on NASA to discontinue American astronauts on Mir after problems during Foale's residence and his predecessor Jerry Linenger. 

Parazynski and Titov conducted one EVA for about 5 hours.

The crew, with Foale instead of Wolf, landed October 6.

Hayabusa 2, Japanese space probe, arrived at asteroid Ryugu

Hayabusa 2, a Japanese space probe launched in December 2014, has arrived at the near-Earth object/asteroid Ryugu.  The probe will follow the asteroid for a few months, studying it to find possible landing sites for four small probes to touch down to explore the surface.

One of the probes, Mobile Asteroid Surface Scout, or MASCOT, was developed by the German Aerospace Center and Centre National d'études Spatiales (CNES). 

Hayabusa 2 will study the asteroid until December 2019, after which it will return to Earth with samples from the asteroid in December 2020.

Soyuz TM-15 launched 1992

Soyuz TM-15 crew (L-R): Michel Tognini, Anatoly Solovyev, Sergei Avdeyev

Mission patch

Soyuz TM-15, launched July 27, 1992, was the fifteenth mission to the Mir space station.  Its crew consisted of  Commander Anatoly Solovyev, Sergei Avdeyev and Michel Tognini (CNES). 

Tognini is a National Center for Space Studies astronaut and took part in the mission as a joint project between Russia and France.

Columbia (STS-93) launched 1999

STS-93 crew (L-R): Eileen Collins, Steven Hawley, Jeffrey Ashby, Michel Tognini, Catherine Coleman.

STS-93 mission patch

Space Shuttle Columbia blasted off July 23, 1999 with the first female commander of any shuttle mission.  Its crew consisted of Commander Eileen Collins, Pilot Jeffrey Ashby, Michel Tognini (Centre National d'etudes Spatiales, CNES), Steven Hawley and Catherine Coleman.

The mission's primary objective was to deploy the Chandra X-ray Observatory, the most sophisticated of its kind ever built.

After this flight, Columbia went out of service for upgrading and did not fly again until 2002 (STS-109).

The crew returned to Earth July 28.

Atlantis (STS-66) launched 1994, first flight for Jean-Francois "Billy Bob" Clervoy

(L-R): Jean-Francois Clervoy, Scott Parazynski, Curtis Brown, Jr., Joseph Tanner, Donald McMonagle, Ellen Ochoa

Space Shuttle Atlantis (STS-66) blasted off November 3, 1994 from Kennedy Space Center.  It was the first flight for astronauts Joseph Tanner, Scott Parazynski, and Jean-Francois Clervoy, astronaut from the National Centre for Space Studies, the French space agency.  It was also the second flight for the first Latina in space, Ellen Ochoa. 

Clervoy's fellow astronauts nicknamed him "Billy Bob" since they had trouble pronouncing his name.

The crew took advantage of the timing to study the hole in ozone over the Antarctic.  For the next 14 years, Atlantis' flights were dedicated to Mir or the International Space Station until the repair mission to the Hubble Telescope  in 2009.

Atlantis landed at Edwards Air Force Base November 14.