MSG-3 spacecraft arrived in CSG

On 13th April 2012 the MSG-3 Spacecraft, loaded on an Antonov 124-100, left Nice Cote d'Azur airport at ca 8:00 am local time for a planned landing at 16:30 local time, Cayenne, French Guyana. A step over was made on  the Sal Island (Amilcar Cabral international airport) in the Cape Verde archipelago to refuel the plane as it was the case before the modern jets were able to cross the Atlantic ocean in one shot.
On our side, all teams arrived at the Felix Eboué airport at 16:00, were very excited when they saw the Antonov at 16:22 flying over the local control tower.

After a 20 kilometer curve over the rain forest, the Antonov lined up  with the taxiway.

Landing was really great to be observed.
With 53 tons of packed equipment for this Launch campaign, the Antonov was not at this maximum load capacity but completely full in volume. Unloading of the containers started from the rear side of the aircraft at around 17:00 local time.

Once loaded, and clearance obtained from customs, the first trucks left immediately for the CSG.
On the front of the aircraft, a ramp was built for unloading of the MSG-3 transport container.
Note the beautiful colours of the sky at dusk. It seems that we had a bit of chance so far with the weather on this special day.

Very carefully, MSG-3 container was slided along the ramp slope. Note the extremely tiny clearance between the top of the container and the cockpit floor.

At ca 20:30, after the container was lifted on the trailer,  the "convoi exceptionnel" (oversize load) was ready to leave the Cayenne airport for its S5C destination at the Kourou space port. This drive lasted roughly two hours:  the speed was not exceeding 50km/h for reducing shocks, and, en route, some technical stops were made.

When the convoy arrived in CSG (ca 23:10), the rain started to fall heavily,...again! The trailer entered backwards in the S5C Airlock. Note that some precautions with respect to cleanliness were taken: e.g. protective material under the truck wheels

Unloading the trailer was completed at 01:15am  (on Saturday 14/04/2012).
It was definitely a long day for the Thales (TAS) and the CSG support teams. Then, everybody returned to respective hotels for a short night.

Activities continued early this morning starting with the several usual meetings. Transport Container was eventually open ca 12:00.  So far, the baby looks in good shape and having survived the journey.

At Launch Day minus 44, the real campaign can start!

ESA meet ESA

On 11th April, we had a short informal meeting with Joel the Head of the ESA office at the Centre Spatial Guyanais (CSG) to introduce ourselves. He gave us a warm welcome.
Even if ESA is a key player of the CSG space port in Kourou, most of our daily contacts in CSG are with CNES and Arianespace.

Our ESA colleagues permanently based in Guyana are located in Neptune, one of the first building erected at the CSG which can easily be recognised by its nice paintings on the facade.

Though some of these paintings have been slightly damaged by natural erosion, the motives remains very expressive. The text written on the white strip in the middle cannot be read anymore. Was it a fairy tale about space?
Paintings likely represent various allegories or simply an illustration of the non readable fable. This type of art technique is frequently found in other space centers like in Baikonur for instance.
Here below are three close up views of this facade as examples.

 

...Who dares to put legend?

The Iracoubo church: an Easter excursion

Form Kourou you follow the N 1 road (Route Nationale 1) heading to Saint Laurent du Maroni for roughly 1 hour. Once you have crossed the Counamama river and passed the police control after the bridge, you will have reach Iracoubo: the village is limited to a single straight street sided by few poor houses. Nothing special. But what will strike you, looking a bit further, is the oversized church with its red roof at the end of the village.

The church was build in 1887 by a French priest, Father Prosper Raffray, with the financial support of the local population (ca 500). At the time the access to the village was only possible by the river, the road did not exist.

What makes in fact this church outstanding is the indoors decoration. First because the fine paintings are remarkable at first glance, second because it was the masterpiece of a prisoner: Pierre Huguet, "matricule 23.492"!

The picture below gives a flavour of the extremely high quality of this naïve art.

A second look shows the freedom the artist took with the representation of the Christian symbols. In a classical church the central nave is sided by two others representing the Trinity. At the Iracoubo church, the left and right naves are dedicated to the Mary  and Joseph.

A look at the ceiling of the central nave confirms this impression:

Finally, even more strange, is the painting below which gives in fact a rare representation of the "father and Child", telling likely more about the own artist's history rather than the wish to perform an academical “Madonna-like” work.

After his death in Cayenne in 1936, Father Prosper Raffray was buried  in Iracoubo in recognition for what he accomplished for the local people. 

About Pierre Huguet, the artist, we don’t know in fact much, but his beautiful painting remain in Iracoubo.

Le Bouyon Wara

The “Bouyon wara”  is a creole spelling to say the “Bouillon d’Awara” (Awara broth). It is a special dish which belongs to the Easter/Pentecost tradition in French Guyana. It can only be prepared when the fruit of the Awara palm tree (Astrocaryum Vulgare) is ripe and this happen at this very period of the year.

 The Awara  fruit  is yellow/orange and looks more or less like a large date. Heavy clusters are hanging under the leaves at the top of the tree.  It can be eaten raw. The bone of the fruit is large, the flesh, rich in vitamin A  has an apricot-like taste and the skin is not edible. The root has depurative properties, but if one looks into more details, this palm tree has still other  pharmaceutical properties.

The principle of this recipe is to prepare a soup made of crushed Awara fruits  in a large pot. The pot is set outdoors on an open wood fire and covered with a large corrugated  plate. Pieces of  smoked chicken and fish as well as pork (pig tails and groins) are added in this preparation. Then it is cooked for several hours. The final preparation looks thick and orange. If  the taste is not frankly spicy, it is slightly salted and  the dominant taste is the smoked resulting mostly from the long cooking. Rice is usually served as a side dish.

One can easily realise that the complete preparation of this broth will take all together more than a day:  preparation and crushing of the fruit for 100 litres of  broth, cutting the meat and fish and the very long stewing up to 36 hours!.

When eventually it is ready, separate dishes may be prepared form the main pot: one for the pork, one for the chicken one for the bacon and one for the fish as represented below:

 As said above, the bouillon wara is a tradition and therefore a unique opportunity to gather all the family like today for Easter, or to organise a nice social event within friends.

Never forget this old saying: "if you eat the Awara broth, in Guyana you will come back!"

Safety before all

On April 6th, first comers of the MSG team had to perform a theoretical safety training. This is an obligation for all personnel that have to work on the CSG site. This need is quite easy to understand as long as many catastrophic hazards linked, among others, to the use of  pyrotechnics, gas and chemical products can arise any time if efficient controls are not put in place.
The safety of personnel and hardware is a essential concern at CSG.

The safety classroom in S5E

The slide show was led by Vincent (CSG), then, after a review of all potential dangers, various alarms, evacuation ways, we learnt how to put and breathe into protective masks.

A safety drill (real time exercise) will be foreseen in a near future.

After the theory, a dedicated visit to the S5B, which is the dedicated area where the filling of Spacecrafts with ergols (or propellant) take place, was performed.

A group picture of the trainees, from left to right: Stefano (ESA), Christian (EUMETSAT), Cyril (ESA), Francois (ESA), Jean Claude (EUMETSAT), Shaf (ESA), Rudiger (EUMETSAT)

A French Guiana Almanach

This message will be updated regularly during our stay in French Guiana. It will release short information comparable to what one can find in an Almanach like weather, anecdotes, or simply a single ad-hoc picture.

The weather in French Guyana is Equatorial/Rainforest type.
During our campaign, the expected temperatures for April, May and June should range from 23 deg. C (min.) to 28 deg. C (max). The average Rain fall (in millimeters) should be: April; 380, May: 510 and June:390. Spring is therefore the rainy season, compared to 50 mm of rain fall  in October which represents the driest month.

Wednesday April  4th, 2012
28 deg. C at arrival at Rochambeau airport (Félix Eboué since 1/1/12) 15:00 (local time), overcast, heavy rains when arriving 2 hours later in Kouron at CSG.

Francois picking up his badge the the CSG security gate

Thursday April 5th
Partly cloudy, sun and rain episodes, wind gusts.

First encounters :-)

Friday April 6th: Good Friday, Karfreitag, Vendredi Saint
Heavy rain the whole day. 122 mm in 24 hours of water fell in the Kourou area (France-Guyane source). As a consequence, water was released from the "Petit Saut" dam creating some flooding in the area. Many fire brigade interventions took place to help people in danger.

Collecting water for the weekly wash up (Kourou le vieux bourg)?

Saturday 7th April, Heavy rains

Did we discover a country more rainy than Holland?

A swimming pool is building up opposite to the ESA and Eumtsat offices...(S5C)

Sunday 8th April: Paques, Easter, Ostern

still...Heavy rains

Fishermen on the Counamama river, preparing nets before fishing

Monday 9th April:

Partly cloudy, nice sunny episodes

Ganoderma lucidum, Ganodermataceae. Observed in Sinnamary, French Guyana

Tuesday 10th April:

Partly cloudy, very warm and sunny at lunch time

Green lezard ? on a green blind :-)

Wednesday 11th April:

Cloudy, rain in the afternoon

It is not Mars, but just the reddish natural color of the Guyana soil given by the Laterite

Thursday 12th April:
Rainy, :-( and wind gusts in the morning

As from tonight,  I have a got a watch dog at my bungalow :-)

Friday 13th April:
Cloudy, Heavy rains at the end of the day

Artist models of the Ariane 5 rocket

Saturday 14th April:
Cloudy

Dead butterfly after S5C transit hall disinfection before unpacking

Sunday 15th April:
Cloudy, and then heavy rain... again, thunderstorms

A short walk in the rain forest

Monday 16th April:

Slightly cloudy, but sun at last! ...but heavy rain in the evening

View of the hotel bungalow just before leaving to CSG

Tuesday 17th April:
Slightly overcast, mostly sunny... heavy rain in the evening

 Local newspaper alerts about the increasing risk of lepidopterism

Wednesday 18th April:
Cloudy, sun episode, heavy rain in the night

Credits Shaf: Heliconia  (Heliconia Psittacorum), Petit balisier at Montsynnéri

Thursday 19th April
Cloudy and windy:
Old saying: 

En Guyane. il n'y a que: 

que bruit qui court,
que la viande qui est nerveuse,
que le bois qui travaille,
que la forêt qui est vierge !

Friday 20th April:
Sunny, light clouds

Sous le ciel de Guyane:  MSG-3 flag floating at CSG

Saturday 21st April:
Mostly sunny, light wind

After the lepidopterism,... A flew epidemy :-(

Sunday 22nd April:
Sunny

Results of the 1st round of the Presidential election in Kourou (97300):
8235 registered voters, 4853 valid votes (58,93%), 3382 abstention (41,07%), 

F. Hollande 1830 (39,35%)

N. Sarkozy 1142 (24,55%)

M. Le pen 638 (13,72%)

J-L Mélenchon 379 (8,15%)

F. Bayrou 374 (8,04%)

All others candidates below 5% each, 202 null or blank ballots 4,16%

Monday 23rd April:

Cloudy , windy, rain episodes

Acoupa rouge, Cynoscion acoupa, Sciaenidées (weakfish) the most common fish in Guyanese restaurants

Tuesday 24th April:
Overcast, windy and rainy

Post office at Iracoubo

Wednesday 25th April:
Heavy rain early morning, cloudy 

Tembé Patoé (from creole language, literally carved tray): Wall decoration with symbolic meaning

Thursday 26th April:
Rain early morning, Sunny episodes

Ruddy darter, Sympetrum rouge sang,  Libellulidae, French Guiana

Friday 27th April:
Completely overcast, strong winds on the coast, rain!

Local products: Best jam ever in the Galaxy!

Saturday 28th April:
Cloudy, sunny and rain episodes

 Dish antennas (Kourou) or  CryoSat-2 reminiscence ?

Sunday 29th April:

Cloudy, heavy rain, sunny by end of the day

 Ramboutan (Nephelium lappaceum), Cacao market

Monday 30th April: 
Light clouds, no wind 

Tuesday 1st May:
Sunny day, at last!

Swimming pool at the hotel mercure at sunrise

Wednesday 2nd May:
Few clouds, sunny

Green iguane (Iguana iguana, Iguanidae), Montsinnery

Thursday 3rd May:

Heavy rain in the morning, then sunny episodes...

Cayenne, place des palmistes

Friday 4th May:

Rain in the morning, then sunny episodes.

Credits Stéfane

Sunrise at Hotel de Roches, Kourou, French Guiana

Saturday 5th May:
light clouds

Motives of a Hmong embroidery (Cacao)

Sunday 6th May:
Overcast in the morning , then sunny day
Results of the 2nd round of the Presidential election in Kourou (97300):
8237 registered voters, voting 5306 (64,42%), 4999 valid votes, abstention 2931 (35,58%)

F. Hollande 2984 (59,69%)

N. Sarkozy 2015 (40,31%)

307 null or blank ballots 5,79%

Monday 7th May:
Overcast, rain in the evening

Babana tree (Musa, Musaceae), Hotel Mercure, Kourou

Tuesday 8th May:
Overcast, then sunny, heavy rain in the night

Singe capucin brun, brown capuchin (Cebus Apella, Cebideae). Ile Royale, French Guiana

Wednesday 9th May:
Very humid, slightly overcast

Place Gaston Monnervile, Kourou

Thursday 10th May:
Heavy rains in the morning, and in the evening. Sunny episodes in between.

La Halle aux poissons (Fish market) early morning, Vieux Bourg, Kourou

Friday 11th May:
Cloudy and windy

Birth of a coconut tree, Ile Saint Joseph, French Guiana

Saturday 12th May:
Windy and sunny
At last a sunny day!, but we work today...

Ariane 5 rocket at the entrance of the CSG

Sunday 13th May:
Windy and cloudy, violent storm in the evening

Mante religieuse, European Mantis (Mantis Religiosa), Kourou

Monday 14th May:
Cloudy and rainy

Fishing boat docked along the Kourou river, Kourou

Tuesday 15th May:
Light wind, Lightly overcast, sunny episodes
Successful VA206 launch

Agouti (Agouti, Dasyprocta, Dasyproctidae), Ile du Salut, French Guiana

Wednesday 16th May:
Heavy rains in the morning
Christiane Taubira, borned in Cayenne, is appointed as Garde de Sceaux, Ministre de la Justice (Minister of Justice) in the new French government.

Blason de Cayenne, Cayenne blazon

Thursday 17th May:
Cloudy and rainy
Ascension, Himmelfahrt, Вознесе́ние Госпо́дне 

Tour Dreyfus (Dreyfus tower), pointes de roches, Kourou

used to communicate in the pre-radio days with the Salvation islands via semaphore

Friday 18th May: 
Sunny, very windy

Fiddler crab, Winkkerkrabben, Uca Pugnax Ocypodidae, Kourou river estuary,

Saturday 19th May:
Overcast

Giant beetle, Scarabé (Scarabaeoideae), Roura

Sunday 20th May:
Some clouds but mostly sunny

Odile...

Odile rêve au bord de l’Île,

Lorsqu’un crocodile surgit ;

Odile a peur du crocodile

Et, lui évitant un « ci-gît »,

Le crocodile croqua Odile.

Caï raconte ce roman,

Mais sans doute Caï l’invente.

Odile alors serait vivante,

Et, dans ce cas-là, Caï ment.

Un autre ami d’Odile, Alligue

Pour faire croire à cette mort,

Se démène, paye et intrigue,

D’aucuns disent qu’Alligue a tort.

de Jean COCTEAU

Black Caïman (Alligatoridae), Kaw swamp

Monday 21st May: 
Overcast and then sunny episodes

New world vulture, Urubu, on the Bank of the Kourou river

Tuesday 22nd May:
Rather sunny, short rain episodes.

Vestiges of the prisoners debarking wharf on the kourou river, Les Roches district, Kourou

Wednesday 23rd May:
Heavy rain early morning, overcsat then sunny in the day with rain episodes. No wind.

Start line of the Marathon de l'espace (Space marathon), Hotel des Roches, Kourou

Thursday 24th May:
Overcast, but just look the weather forecast below, simply amazing!

...Better to be in Holland those days!  Enjoy the Dutch summer for our friends there!

Friday 25th May:
Overcast, Heavy rain and sunny episodes

 Aspect of the Kourou new market  in the Vieux Bourg

Saturday 26th May:
Rather sunny

 Red Ginger, Alpinia purpurata, Montsinnery, French Guyana

Sunday 27th May:  
Sunny :-)
Pentecost, Pentecôte, Pfinksten, 

Church of Tonnegrande village (presently in renovation)

Monday 28th May:
Sunny and heavy rains after lunch

 Private garage exit, Saint Laurent du Maroni, close to the stadium...

Tuesday 29th May:
25C*, completely overcast
*all temperatures below are taken at 6:45 am at hotel mercure, Kourou

Roucou, Bixa Orellana, Bixaceae

Wednesday 30th May:
25C, sunny, few clouds, stormy weather with thunderstorm, heavy rain in the night

 Sunset on the on the "les Hattes" beach, near Mana

Thursday 31st May:
26C, rather sunny, few clouds

Pirogue race on the Mana river at Pentacost

Friday 1st June:
26C, overcast, windy then sunny epidodes

 Fruit basket at breakfast, Hotel Le Samana, Mana

Saturday 2nd June:
26C, few clouds, rather sunny, slight breeze

 Gros yeux or Four eyed fish (Anableps, Anabelplidae), Kourou river

Sunday 3rd June:
26C, mostly sunny, slight breeze
Fêtes des mères,  Mother's day, Muttertag,

Tyran Quiquivi, Great Kiskadee, Pitangus sulphuratus, Kourou

Monday 4ht June:
24C, Rather sunny despite few rain episodes

 Spot-legged turtle (Rhinoclemmys punctularia), Kourou

Tuesday 5th June:
Heavy rains early morning, overcast, then nice sunny episodes

Cinnamon, black peppper, curry powder, chili pepper, on sale at the Kourou market

Wednesday 6th June:
26C, Windy, overcast, rain

Beach at Remire

Thursday 7th June:
26C, cloudy, windy, Dutch type of rain :-), rare sun epiosdes

 Mangrove landscape along the bank of the Malmanoury crique (Malmanoury river), CSG, Kourou

Friday 8th June:
25C, Very foggy in the morning, no wind, mostly rainy

 Allegory of Justice painted on wall along the Sinnamary town hall

Saturday 9th June:
Mostly cloudy

 Freshly squeezed juices at the saturday Cayenne market

Sunday 10th June:
Rather sunny
Abolitionism Day (official celebration In French Guiana)

Temporary picture: Statue at the Carrefour Vidal at Remire

Monday 11th June:
24C, Heavy rain in the morning, rain in the afternoon and rain in the evening!

Ara rouge, Scarlet Macaw, (Psittacidae), Oiapoque river

Tuesday 12th June:
24C, overcast and frequent rain episodes

 Growing babana clusters at the hotel..(see 7th of May)

Wednesday 13th June:
24C, overcast

Giant Ameiva, Ameiva Ameiva, (Teiidae), CSG, Kourou

Thursday 14th June:
24C, rather sunny

 Guyenese landscape: swamp on RN2 between PK 86 and 87

Friday 15th June:
25C, rather sunny, rain around lunch time

Jaguar, Zoo of Monsinery

Saturday 16th June:
24C, overcast, heavy rains in the night

Engoulvent pauraqué/Parauque's egg, CSG, Kourou

Sunday 17th June:
Overcast, windy, many short rain episodes.
Fêtes des pères, Father's day, Vatertag,

Wild Vanilla fruits in the CSG forest, Kourou

Monday 18th June:
28C, Overcast with sunny episodes

Ipe, Ebene verte (Tabebuia serratifolia), CSG, Kourou

Tuesday 19th June:
26C, rather sunny

Credits: Stéfane

 Venus and Jupiter (top) planets observed at dawn from Kourou (Hotel des Roches)

Wednesday 20th June:
 25C, sunny day!

 Crique Malmanoury (Malmanoury river), CSG, Kourou

Thursday 21st June:
26C, Overscat, short rain light rain episode

Lobster claw, Heliconia Rostrata (Heliconiacaea)

Friday 22nd June:
24C,  Overcast, few sunny episodes

Night buterfy (still to be identified), CSG, Kourou

Saturday 23rd June:
Overcast with sunny episodes

At the banana stand on the saturday Kourou market (local production)

Sunday 24th June:
Heavy rain early morning, then many sunny episodes

Old poster reminding the start of the interior air transport in French Guiana (Air Guyane)

Monday 25th June:
25C, rather sunny

Guyenese ananas (Bromeliaceae), long shape, extremely juicy and sweet

Tuesday 26th June:
25C, Slightly overcast, mostly sunny

Cattle in open fields in Guatemala district, Kourou

Wednesday 27th June:
Rainy in the morning, heavy rains in the evening

UFO: Unidentified flying object :-) at EPCU

Thursday 28th June:
Slightly clouded

 View on the Maroni river at Saint Laurent du Maroni. Suriname on the other bank

Friday 29th June:
25C, lighly clouded, rather sunny

(old?) blason of the Roura city, reflecting the diversity of the origins of its population

Saturday 30th June:
Storm with thunder in the night (02:00am), then rather sunny, large clouds at the end of the day

Unidentified mega bug  (20cm large) at EPCU, CSG, Kourou

Sunday 1st July:
Sunny!

Mercerie JV, Quatier Simarouba Kourou: Little objects used by Guyenese girls to manufacture necklaces or decorate their braids

Monday 2nd July:
24C, Overcast

Arbre canon, Cecropia Obtusa, Uticaceae, everywhere...

Tuesday 3rd July:
24C, mostly sunny

Red-breasted blackbird/Sturnelle militaire (Sturnella Militaris), Kourou

Wednesday 4th July:
Mostly sunny

Canne Congo (Costus Scaber, Costaceae), Oyapock river, French Guiana

Thursday 5th July: Launch day
Mostly sunny, few clouds in the morning

Credits: Shaf

Singe ecureuil, Common squirrel monkey (Cebidae), French Guiana

Friday 6th July:
Mostly sunny

Credits: Shaf
Hummingbird, Green violetar (Colibri Thalassinus Trochilidae), in front of an Hibiscus (Hibiscus Rosa Sinensis) flower

Saturday 7th July
Rain in the morning, Overcast with sunny episodes

Credits: Jean-Claude

An ananas has grown in a pot just opposite his Hotel bungalow 

Sunday 8th July
Light clouds, sunny episodes in the morning, then cloudy, heavy rain late in the afternoon and in the night.

The French Guiana national best known beverage brand!

Monday 9th of July.
Rainy. 
Travel back to Europe

Credits Stéfane

Cloudy morning on the sea as seen from Hotel des Roches

End of theMSG-3 launch campaign