View source for Engineering:Vesta (rocket)

{{Short description|1960s French sounding rocket}}
{{Infobox rocket|name=Vesta|image=Vesta french sounding rocket.jpg|caption=Vesta 1|height=10.2 m|mass=5.1 tons|stages=1|country-origin=France|derivatives=|sites=CIEES, [[Organization:Guiana Space Centre|Guiana Space Centre]]|stage1thrust=160 kN|payload=500 Kg|diameter=1 m|alt-height=|status=}}The '''Vesta''' sounding rocket, conceived in 1962 by the ''Laboratoire de Recherches Balistiques et Aérodynamiques'' (LRBA), a specialized French Army research facility focused on liquid-propelled rocket development.<ref name=":02">{{Cite web |last=Serra |first=Jean-Jacques |date=2008-06-14 |title=Veronique and Vesta |url=http://fuseurop.univ-perp.fr/lrba_e.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071020121341/http://fuseurop.univ-perp.fr/lrba_e.htm |archive-date=2007-10-20 |access-date=2023-08-26 |website=Rockets in Europe}}</ref><ref name=":1">{{Cite web |last=Capdevila |first=Didier |title=CHRONOLOGIE ARIANE » VERONIQUE ET VESTA |url=http://www.capcomespace.net/dossiers/espace_europeen/espace_francais/veronique_vesta.htm |access-date=2023-08-26 |website=Capcom Espace}}</ref><ref name=":2">{{Cite web |last=Wade |first=Mark |title=Vesta |url=http://astronautix.com/v/vesta.html |access-date=2023-08-26 |website=astronautix.com}}</ref> The initial letter "V" in its name is derived from the city of Vernon.

It was the outcome of an initiative by [[Organization:CNES|CNES]] with the purpose of enabling transportation of more substantial experiments to greater altitudes than the Véronique sounding rocket, also created by the LRBA and in active service at the time.<ref name=":02" /><ref name=":1" />

== Technical details ==
[[File:CNES Vesta rockets.png|thumb|Vesta rockets|left|200x200px]]
Operated by a 160&nbsp;kN thrust engine using a combination of [[Chemistry:Nitric acid|nitric acid]] and [[Chemistry:Turpentine|turpentine]] as propellants, the Vesta rocket was 10.2 meters tall with a diameter of 1 meter.<ref name=":2" /><ref>{{Cite web |last=Wade |first=Mark |title=Vesta-1 |url=http://astronautix.com/v/vesta-1.html |access-date=2023-08-26 |website=astronautix.com}}</ref> Weighing 5.1 tons excluding its payload, Vesta had the capability to send a 500&nbsp;kg to an altitude of 400&nbsp;km.<ref name=":02" /><ref name=":1" /><ref name=":2" />

== Launches ==
Between 1965 and 1969 a total of five Vesta rockets were launched.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |last=Krebs |first=Gunter D. |title=Vesta |url=https://space.skyrocket.de/doc_lau/vesta.htm |access-date=2023-08-26 |website=Gunter's Space Page |language=en}}</ref> These launches took place from both CIEES and [[Organization:Guiana Space Centre|Kourou]].<ref name=":02" /><ref name=":1" /><ref name=":2" /><ref name=":0" /> The first two launches primarily served as validation tests for the rocket's operation,<ref name=":02" /> whereas the subsequent three carried out scientific experiments.<ref name=":1" /><ref name=":2" />

A pig-tailed macaque named ''Martine'' was launched on March 7, 1967, and another named ''Pierette'' on March 13.<ref name=":1" /> These suborbital flights reached {{convert|243|km|mi|abbr=on}} and {{convert|234|km|mi|abbr=on}}, respectively. Martine became the first monkey to survive more than a couple of hours after flying above the international definition of the edge of space. ([[Astronomy:Ham (chimpanzee)|Ham]] and [[Engineering:Enos (chimpanzee)|Enos]], launched earlier by the United States, were chimpanzees).<ref>{{Cite book |last=Burgess |first=Colin |url=https://archive.org/details/Animalsinspace |title=Animals in Space: From Research Rockets to the Space Shuttle |last2=Dubbs |first2=Chris |date=2007 |publisher=Springer |isbn=978-0-387-49678-8 |series=Physics and Astronomy |location=New York |page=[https://archive.org/details/Animalsinspace/page/n420 387] |doi=10.1007/978-0-387-49678-8}}</ref>
{| class="wikitable sortable"
|+Vesta launches<ref name=":02" /><ref name=":1" /><ref name=":2" /><ref name=":0" />
!Date
!Site
!Vehicle
!Mission
!Apogee
!Results
|-
|15 October 1965
|CIEES
|Vesta 01
|FU123 Technology
|187&nbsp;km
|{{Success}}
|-
|25 October  1965
|CIEES
|Vesta 03
|FU123 Technology
|109&nbsp;km
|{{Partial success}}
|-
|7 March 1967
|CIEES
|Vesta 04
|FU147 Biology
|243&nbsp;km
|{{Success}}
|-
|13 March 1967
|CIEES
|Vesta 05
|FU147 Biology
|234&nbsp;km
|{{Success}}
|-
|8 November 1969
|[[Organization:Guiana Space Centre|Kourou]]
|Vesta 02
|FU189 Astronomy
|204&nbsp;km
|{{Partial success}}
|}

== See also ==

* French space program
* Véronique
* [[Engineering:Diamant|Diamant]]

== References ==
{{Reflist}}{{French rockets}}
[[Category:Experimental rockets]]

{{Sourceattribution|Vesta (rocket)}}