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| | | | | | | Kon-Tiki adventure in space age style
3 November 2003
| Welcomed in the traditional Polynesian manner, Raphaëla le Gouvello celebrated her arrival on Sunday 2 November 2003, in the harbour of Papeete, Tahiti
Credits: C.Durocher/Tahitipresse | |  |  | |
| | | | | Raphaëla le Gouvello just after arrival on 2 November in the harbour of Papeete on Tahiti after her 89 days solo windsurf-voyage crossing the Pacific Ocean
Credits: Durocher/Sipa pour Paris Match | | | | |
| | | | | Raphaëla le Gouvello, who crossed the Pacific single-handed on a windsurfer, with the aid of space technology
Credits: Gilles Martin Raget (Méditerrannée 2002) | | | | |
| | | | | Raphaëla le Gouvello leaving the Chorillos, the port of Lima in Peru on 5 August 2003, at the start of her lone windsurfing voyage across the Pacific
Credits: Photos Odyssée du Vent - Raphaëla Le Gouvello | | | | |
| | | | | Raphaëla le Gouvello on the surfboard she used to cross the Pacific Ocean. It is a specially built board, designed by Guy Saillard from Ploemeur. Overall length is 7.80 metres with 6.80 in the water, mid-ship width is 1.30 metres and the total weight is approximately 550 kg. It is built of epoxy resin and carbon fibre with airex foam and internal partitions in honeycomb. 12-volt batteries are mounted within a watertight compartment inside the board together with VHF-radio, GPS-navigation system and the Iridium satellite telephone. Flexible solar cells are mounted on top of the board to reload the batteries – the solar cells have been derived from technology originally developed for European spacecraft. On the rear of the board is seen a round grey item – this is the special airbag which has been constructed using pyrotechnic charges, ESA technology from the European launcher Ariane. If the board capsizes it can inflate the large airbag in about a tenth of a second and tip the board back over again
Credits: Photos Odyssée du Vent - Raphaëla Le Gouvello | | | | |
| | | | | Raphaëla Le Gouvello spotted by helicopter on Thursday 30 October 2003 outside Tahiti
Credits: C.Durocher/Tahitipresse | | | | |
| | | | Raphaëla’s surfboard and space technology
| Raphaëla Le Gouvello sailed the last few days before her arrival on Sunday 2 November 2003 at Tahiti with very little wind. Here she is seen on Wednesday 29 October 2003, 220 km from her destination.
Credits: C.Durocher/Tahitipresse | | | | |
| | | | | The airbag system on Raphaëla Le Gouvello’s windsurfer is seen here in tests done in France after mounting of the final version on the board. The first picture illustrates how the inflated airbag system blocks a complete 180-degree turnover. The second and third picture illustrates how Le Gouvello manages to recover the surfboard alone without too much force. The airbag using ESA technology is inflated within seconds and has a total inflated volume of 170 litres, sufficient to control the 550 kg heavy board.
Credits: Photos Odyssée du Vent - Raphaëla Le Gouvello | | | | |
| | | | | Franco Malerba, Italian astronaut on the space Shuttle mission STS-46 as payload specialist, is here seen during the hardware familiarity training session at the Johnson Space Centre, 11 March 1992, prior to the STS-46 mission from 31 July to 8 August 1992
Credits: NASA | | | | |
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| | More about... Airbag to keep windsurfer safe on 8000 km voyageFrench windsurfer arrives in TahitiThe routeRaphaëla Le Gouvello homepageOther space technology transfer successes Nuna II breaks all records in the World Solar Challenge!Winning racer backed by space technologyESA helps Sun-fearing kidsSpace tech keeps Pescarolo on track at Le MansNew pyjamas could prevent cot deathsBringing the coldness of space to the SaharaSpace technology for McLaren at the British Grand PrixRelated links ESA's Technology Transfer ProgrammeTechnology Transfer - Down to Earth
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