Trip to Guiana 2013!

Hi there! My name is Caspar, I'm 19 years old, living the student life in London, and this Spring holiday I'm off to French Guiana for 10 days to see the newest rocket in the Ariane 5 series! The opportunity came about through a great friend of the family, who works for the European Space Agency, and lives in Rome. Ever since I was a kid I've been in awe of ESA, rockets, having an Italian Godfather (self-proclaimed - the Godfather). And going to space, sort of, well going to see a rocket go into space, is a dream come true.

What is the Ariane 5 rocket?

The Ariane 5 rocket is the latest in the Ariane series. These are ESA (European Space Agency) rockets designed to carry satellites and other payload into orbit around the earth. ESA have been launching Ariane 5 rockets since 1996, but the Ariane series date all the way back to the 1970s. They've carried bits and bobs for the International Space Station, satelites from all over the world,  as well as telescopes and scientific space experiments.


Guiana

French Guiana is a pretty remote place. It’s home to less than 250,000 people and more than 6000 different species of animals, including 700 different types of birds and 500 different types of fish (most of which aren't found anywhere else on earth). More worryingly the country is also home to "unknown" numbers of species of insects, including malaria carrying mosquitos, venomous spiders, and something called the Longhorn Beetle, which can grow up to 8 inches in length....

So why go all the way to French Guiana?

1. It’s close to the equator. This means that as the earth spins there’s lots of free extra velocity for the rocket to pick up as it is launched eastward.

1. It’s one of the most sparsely populated countries in the world. Which means rockets won’t end up coming down on top of people if everything goes terribly wrong.

Some of the activities which I have planned include visiting the rainforest, going to the beach, seeing the space station, and finding out as much as I can about ESA and how, what, why the Ariane rockets work!

Cheers,
Caspar