Cosmos

SPASE RESEARCH IN BULGARIA

        The organized participation of Bulgarian scientists in space research started in 1969 when the Scientific Group of Space Physics (SGSP) at the Presidium of the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences was created. Years of creative enthusiasm followed the euphoria caused by mankind's grand success in the peaceful study of space at the time. Yet with the first man flown to space and the first spacecraft landed on the moon, targeted studies began in Bulgaria in the field of probe methods for studying of space plasma. :    In 1972, after launch of first Bulgarian equipment P-1, Bulgaria became the 18th in order space country.
     In 1975, based on the SGSP, the Central Laboratory for Space Research (CLSR) was founded. Soon, Bulgarian scientists gained significant experience through their successful participation in the INTERCOSMOS Program, preparing experiments and designing equip-ment for the satellites INTERCOSMOS - 8 (IK - 8, 1972), IK - 12, 14, 19 and the heavy geophysical rockets VERTICAL - 3, 4, 6, 7, 10.
     In the years that followed, an ever growing number of Bulgarian scientists and institutes joined in the preparation and performance of space experiments. In 1979, the first Bulgarian astronaut flew in space on board of SOYUZ - 33 Space Ship. The research program and equipment for his flight were designed entirely by the suggestions of our scientists ("Spectar-15", "Daga", "Sredets", "Vital"). In 1981, through he two satellites INTERCOSMOS "Bulgaria - 1300", furnished entirely with Bulgarian equipment, and METEOR - PRIRODA, the National Space Program "Bulgaria-1300" was implemented, aimed at studying the ionospheric-magnetospheric relationship and remote sensing of the Earth from space. :    These successful experiments consolidated the priority scientific and scientific-application research areas in the country - space physics, remote sensing of the Earth, and space technology


Space ship "Vega-2"		A photograph of the Halley comet core taken by "Vega-2"

**SATELLITE "BULGARIA-1300"**
SPACECRAFT COMMON NAME - IK BULGARIA 1300 ALTERNATE NAME- INTERCOSMOS BULGARIA 1300, 12645 NSSDC ID - 81 -075A LAUNCH DATA - 08/07/81 LAUNCH SITE - LAUNCH VEHICLE - METEOR SPONSORING COUNTRY/AGENCY BULGARIA BAS Russia INTERCOSMOS INITIAL ORBIT PARAMETERS ORBIT TYPE - GEOCENTRIC EPOCH DATE- 08/08/81 ORBIT PERIOD - 101.9 MIN INCLINATION- 81.2 DEG PERIAPSIS - 825. KM ALT APOAPSIS- 906. KM ALT PERSONNEL PM - A.G. IOSIPHIAN INTERCOSMOS PM - K.B. SERAFIMOV CLSR-BAS PS - M.M. GOGOSHEV CLSR-BAS PS - I.S. KUTIEV CLSR-BAS PS - V.M. BALEBANOV IKI
BRIEF DESCRIPTION The spacecraft contained a set of plasma, particles, fields, and optical experiments that were designed and constructed in Bulgaria. The spacecraft was three-axes stabilized with negative Z-axes pointing toward the center of the earth and X-axes pointing along the velocity vector. The outer skin of the spacecraft, including the solar panels, was coated with a conducting material in order to allow the proper measurement of electric fields and low energy plasma. Both active and passive thermal control were employed. The solar panels supplied 2 kilowatts and batteries were used during eclipse periods. There were two tape recorders, each with a capacity of 60 megabits. The transmitter radiated about 10 w in the 130 MHz band.