95-516: Sea Launch Commander is the a U.S. military tracking command telemetry ocean ship with U.S. Flag for Sea Launch (U.S.+ U.K. atom polygon). Base: Nimitz Rd., Los Angeles Area, California, U.S.Con., ≈119°w, Earth.. Sea Launch Commander was commissioned by Sea Launch , after Sea Launch was established in 1995 as a consortium of four companies from Norway , Russia , Ukraine and the United States , managed by Boeing with participation from
190-648: A central lagoon . Important human migrations occurred in the Pacific in prehistoric times. Modern humans first reached the western Pacific in the Paleolithic , at around 60,000 to 70,000 years ago. Originating from a southern coastal human migration out of Africa, they reached East Asia , Mainland Southeast Asia , the Philippines, New Guinea , and then Australia by making the sea crossing of at least 80 kilometres (50 mi) between Sundaland and Sahul . It
285-410: A dining room, recreation and entertainment facilities. Sea Launch Sea Launch was a multinational— Norway , Russia , Ukraine , United States — spacecraft launch company founded in 1995 that provided orbital launch services from 1999 to 2014. The company used a mobile maritime launch platform for equatorial launches of commercial payloads on specialized Zenit-3SL rockets from
380-488: A floating rocket assembly factory while in port, provides crew and customer accommodations and also houses mission control facilities for launches at sea. The ACS is approximately 200 metres (660 ft) long, 32 metres (105 ft) wide, displaces more than 30,000 tonnes (30,000 long tons; 33,000 short tons) and has a cruising range of 33,000 kilometres (21,000 mi). The ACS provides accommodations for up to 240 crew members, customers and VIPs—including medical facilities,
475-413: A former mobile/floating oil drilling rig renamed Odyssey . By 2014, it had assembled and launched thirty-two rockets, with an additional three failures and one partial failure. All commercial payloads were communications satellites intended for geostationary transfer orbit with such customers as EchoStar , DirecTV , XM Satellite Radio , PanAmSat , and Thuraya . The approach Sea Launch LLC used
570-542: Is 4,280 m (14,040 ft; 2,340 fathoms), putting the total water volume at roughly 710,000,000 km (170,000,000 cu mi). Due to the effects of plate tectonics , the Pacific Ocean is currently shrinking by roughly 2.5 cm (1 in) per year on three sides, roughly averaging 0.52 km (0.20 sq mi) a year. By contrast, the Atlantic Ocean is increasing in size. Along
665-562: Is continuing to buy Zenit rockets from Ukraine , and is still promoting its launch services to the international market, even in August 2014. However, in August 2014, Sea Launch conducted a reduction of their staff and removed from operating status both the Commander and Odyssey vessels in order to reduce operating costs during a period where they have no launches scheduled until late 2015. In July 2015, industry experts stated that
760-491: Is not known with any certainty what level of maritime technology was used by these groups – the presumption is that they used large bamboo rafts which may have been equipped with some sort of sail. The reduction in favourable winds for a crossing to Sahul after 58,000 B.P. fits with the dating of the settlement of Australia, with no later migrations in the prehistoric period. The seafaring abilities of pre-Austronesian residents of Island South-east Asia are confirmed by
855-616: Is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions . It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica ) in the south, and is bounded by the continents of Asia and Australia in the west and the Americas in the east. At 165,250,000 square kilometers (63,800,000 square miles) in area (as defined with a southern Antarctic border), this largest division of
950-422: Is then transferred to a horizontal hangar on the self-propelled launch platform. Following rocket tests, both ships then sail about 4,800 km (3,000 mi) to the equator at 154° West Longitude, 0°N 154°W / 0°N 154°W / 0; -154 , in international" waters about 370 km (230 mi) from Kiritimati , Kiribati . The platform travels the distance in about 11 days,
1045-642: The Americas , although evidence for this remains inconclusive. The first contact of European navigators with the western edge of the Pacific Ocean was made by the Portuguese expeditions of António de Abreu and Francisco Serrão , via the Lesser Sunda Islands , to the Maluku Islands , in 1512, and with Jorge Álvares 's expedition to southern China in 1513, both ordered by Afonso de Albuquerque from Malacca . The eastern side of
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#17327831830991140-424: The Americas , more than 25,000 islands, large and small, rise above the surface of the Pacific Ocean. Multiple islands were the shells of former active volcanoes that have lain dormant for thousands of years. Close to the equator, without vast areas of blue ocean, are a dot of atolls that have over intervals of time been formed by seamounts as a result of tiny coral islands strung in a ring within surroundings of
1235-547: The Baikonur Cosmodrome in early 2011, while sea-based launches to be resumed in September 2011. Sea Launch emerged from bankruptcy effective October 27, 2010. Energia Overseas Limited, a Russian corporation, is majority owner of the reorganized entity, with Boeing and other American companies retaining minority shares. In 2013, Boeing sued RSC Energia, PO Yuzhnoye and KB Yuzhnoye . According to Boeing
1330-520: The Bering Sea in the Arctic to the northern extent of the circumpolar Southern Ocean at 60°S (older definitions extend it to Antarctica 's Ross Sea ), the Pacific reaches its greatest east–west width at about 5°N latitude , where it stretches approximately 19,800 km (12,300 mi) from Indonesia to the coast of Colombia – halfway around the world, and more than five times
1425-601: The Pacific War ; however, by the end of that war, Japan was defeated and the U.S. Pacific Fleet was the virtual master of the ocean. The Japanese-ruled Northern Mariana Islands came under the control of the United States. Since the end of World War II, many former colonies in the Pacific have become independent states . The Pacific separates Asia and Australia from the Americas. It may be further subdivided by
1520-738: The Sirena Deep , is also located in the Mariana Trench. The western Pacific has many major marginal seas , including the Philippine Sea , South China Sea , East China Sea , Sea of Japan , Sea of Okhotsk , Bering Sea , Gulf of Alaska , Gulf of California , Mar de Grau , Tasman Sea , and the Coral Sea . In the early 16th century , Spanish explorer Vasco Núñez de Balboa crossed the Isthmus of Panama in 1513 and sighted
1615-725: The Southern Hemisphere . The North Equatorial Current , driven westward along latitude 15°N by the trade winds , turns north near the Philippines to become the warm Japan or Kuroshio Current . Turning eastward at about 45°N , the Kuroshio forks and some water moves northward as the Aleutian Current , while the rest turns southward to rejoin the North Equatorial Current. The Aleutian Current branches as it approaches North America and forms
1710-710: The Southwest Pacific around Oceania . The Pacific Ocean's mean depth is 4,000 meters (13,000 feet). Challenger Deep in the Mariana Trench , located in the northwestern Pacific, is the deepest known point in the world, reaching a depth of 10,928 meters (35,853 feet). The Pacific also contains the deepest point in the Southern Hemisphere , the Horizon Deep in the Tonga Trench , at 10,823 meters (35,509 feet). The third deepest point on Earth,
1805-685: The Strait of Magellan to the Philippines , the explorer indeed found the ocean peaceful; however, the Pacific is not always peaceful. Many tropical storms batter the islands of the Pacific. The lands around the Pacific Rim are full of volcanoes and often affected by earthquakes . Tsunamis , caused by underwater earthquakes, have devastated many islands and in some cases destroyed entire towns. The Martin Waldseemüller map of 1507
1900-818: The Western Hemisphere . The Southern Pacific Ocean harbors the Southeast Indian Ridge crossing from south of Australia turning into the Pacific-Antarctic Ridge (north of the South Pole ) and merges with another ridge (south of South America) to form the East Pacific Rise which also connects with another ridge (south of North America) which overlooks the Juan de Fuca Ridge . For most of Magellan's voyage from
1995-777: The World Bank (up to $ 175 million, of these up to $ 100 million in Russia and up to $ 75 million in Ukraine) and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (up to $ 65 million). Sea Launch has a reciprocal agreement with Arianespace and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries through the Launch Services Alliance , providing assurance in case either company's system is not able to launch a payload for reasons of reliability, capacity, backlog, or otherwise. This
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#17327831830992090-673: The World Ocean and the hydrosphere covers about 46% of Earth's water surface and about 32% of the planet's total surface area, larger than its entire land area (148,000,000 km (57,000,000 sq mi)). The centers of both the Water Hemisphere and the Western Hemisphere , as well as the oceanic pole of inaccessibility , are in the Pacific Ocean. Ocean circulation (caused by the Coriolis effect ) subdivides it into two largely independent volumes of water that meet at
2185-583: The crab claw sail ) – it is likely that the progressive development of these technologies were related to the later steps of settlement into Near and Remote Oceania. Starting at around 2200 BCE, Austronesians sailed southwards to settle the Philippines . From, probably, the Bismarck Archipelago they crossed the western Pacific to reach the Marianas Islands by 1500 BCE, as well as Palau and Yap by 1000 BCE. They were
2280-991: The equator , the North Pacific Ocean and the South Pacific Ocean (or more loosely the South Seas ). The Pacific Ocean can also be informally divided by the International Date Line into the East Pacific and the West Pacific , which allows it to be further divided into four quadrants, namely the Northeast Pacific off the coasts of North America , the Southeast Pacific off South America , Northwest Pacific off Far Eastern / Pacific Asia , and
2375-540: The "Land Launch" system is based on a modified version of the Sea Launch vehicle, the three stage Zenit-3SL mod.B rocket. Land Launch's Zenit 3SLB vehicle addresses the launch needs of Block DM (syncom, U.S.), Block Boeing witch TDRSS, commercial satellites weighing up to 3.5 metric tons (3.9 short tons ). The two stage Zenit 2 (first stage LV "Energia) is also available for lifting payloads up to 13 metric tons (14 short tons) to LEO low Earth orbits . The first launch
2470-908: The Atlantic, the Strait of Magellan was at times patrolled by fleets sent to prevent the entrance of non-Spanish ships. On the western side of the Pacific Ocean the Dutch threatened the Spanish Philippines . The 18th century marked the beginning of major exploration by the Russians in Alaska and the Aleutian Islands , such as the First Kamchatka expedition and the Great Northern Expedition , led by
2565-533: The Atlantic. The andesite line is the most significant regional distinction in the Pacific. A petrologic boundary, it separates the deeper, mafic igneous rock of the Central Pacific Basin from the partially submerged continental areas of felsic igneous rock on its margins. The andesite line follows the western edge of the islands off California and passes south of the Aleutian arc , along
2660-735: The Chilean coast, the South Equatorial Current divides; one branch flows around Cape Horn and the other turns north to form the Peru or Humboldt Current . The climate patterns of the Northern and Southern Hemispheres generally mirror each other. The trade winds in the southern and eastern Pacific are remarkably steady while conditions in the North Pacific are far more varied with, for example, cold winter temperatures on
2755-591: The Chinese government was considering the purchase of the Sea Launch command ship and launch platform assets, but this was not confirmed by either company or Chinese government officials. In September 2015, Boeing won a court judgement against the Russian and Ukrainian partners within Sea Launch. The decision set up a court trial planned for November 2015 where Boeing would argue that it was not properly reimbursed for US$ 356 million of expenses incurred while operating
2850-844: The Danish-born Russian navy officer Vitus Bering . Spain also sent expeditions to the Pacific Northwest , reaching Vancouver Island in southern Canada, and Alaska. The French explored and colonized Polynesia , and the British made three voyages with James Cook to the South Pacific and Australia, Hawaii , and the North American Pacific Northwest . In 1768, Pierre-Antoine Véron , a young astronomer accompanying Louis Antoine de Bougainville on his voyage of exploration, established
2945-679: The Moluccas, between 1525 and 1527, Portuguese expeditions encountered the Caroline Islands , the Aru Islands , and Papua New Guinea . In 1542–43 the Portuguese also reached Japan. In 1564, five Spanish ships carrying 379 soldiers crossed the ocean from Mexico led by Miguel López de Legazpi , and colonized the Philippines and Mariana Islands . For the remainder of the 16th century, Spain maintained military and mercantile control, with ships sailing from Mexico and Peru across
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3040-657: The NSS-8 launch failure, Hughes Network Systems switched the launch of SPACEWAY-3 from a Sea Launch Zenit-3SL to an Ariane 5 . Repairs of the launch platform were completed in September 2007. The Sea Launch platform underwent repairs in Canada, docked near CFB Esquimalt , just west of Victoria, British Columbia , and departed on July 31, 2007. Both vessels returned to their home Nimitz military port in Long Beach, California , U.S. During project development in 1998 Boeing
3135-802: The Pacific Ocean to the Philippines via Guam , and establishing the Spanish East Indies . The Manila galleons operated for two and a half centuries, linking Manila and Acapulco , in one of the longest trade routes in history. Spanish expeditions also arrived at Tuvalu , the Marquesas , the Cook Islands , the Solomon Islands , Vanuatu , the Marshalls and the Admiralty Islands in the South Pacific. Later, in
3230-518: The Pacific Ocean's irregular western margins lie many seas, the largest of which are the Celebes Sea , Coral Sea , East China Sea (East Sea), Philippine Sea , Sea of Japan , South China Sea (South Sea), Sulu Sea , Tasman Sea , and Yellow Sea (West Sea of Korea). The Indonesian Seaway (including the Strait of Malacca and Torres Strait ) joins the Pacific and the Indian Ocean to
3325-512: The Pacific in recorded history. They were part of a Spanish expedition to the Spice Islands that would eventually result in the first world circumnavigation . Magellan called the ocean Pacífico (or "Pacific" meaning, "peaceful") because, after sailing through the stormy seas off Cape Horn , the expedition found calm waters. The ocean was often called the Sea of Magellan in his honor until
3420-540: The Philippines already in 7000 BCE. Additional earlier migrations into Insular Southeast Asia, associated with Austroasiatic-speakers from Mainland Southeast Asia, are estimated to have taken place already in 15000 BCE. At around 1300 to 1200 BCE, a branch of the Austronesian migrations known as the Lapita culture reached the Bismarck Archipelago , the Solomon Islands , Vanuatu , Fiji , and New Caledonia . From there, they settled Tonga and Samoa by 900 to 800 BCE. Some also back-migrated northwards in 200 BCE to settle
3515-409: The Sea Launch Zenit-3SL rocket carrying NSS-8 and 500 tons of fuel exploded on (flight) launch. Available imagery shows a fireball much larger than the launch platform at sea level. Since the launch pad platform is vacated by all engineers during the automated launch process, there were no injuries. On February 1, 2007, Sea Launch released a statement detailing its status. It is believed that
3610-490: The Sea Launch launch system. This litigation was decided in favor of Boeing on May 12, 2016. As of December 2015, Roscosmos and Energia were attempting to find a buyer for the Sea Launch assets, due to the high cost of infrastructure maintenance of approximately US$ 30 million per year. In September 2016, S7 Group, owner of S7 Airlines announced they were purchasing Sea Launch. The launch and assembly ship Sea Launch Commander arrived in Russia on March 17, 2020, and
3705-528: The United States. Significant contributions to oceanographic knowledge were made by the voyages of HMS Beagle in the 1830s, with Charles Darwin aboard; HMS Challenger during the 1870s; the USS Tuscarora (1873–76); and the German Gazelle (1874–76). In Oceania, France obtained a leading position as imperial power after making Tahiti and New Caledonia protectorates in 1842 and 1853, respectively. After navy visits to Easter Island in 1875 and 1887, Chilean navy officer Policarpo Toro negotiated
3800-416: The andesite line and include New Guinea, the islands of New Zealand, and the Philippines. Some of these islands are structurally associated with nearby continents. High islands are of volcanic origin, and many contain active volcanoes. Among these are Bougainville , Hawaii, and the Solomon Islands. The coral reefs of the South Pacific are low-lying structures that have built up on basaltic lava flows under
3895-408: The andesite line. Within the closed loop of the andesite line are most of the deep troughs, submerged volcanic mountains, and oceanic volcanic islands that characterize the Pacific basin. Here basaltic lavas gently flow out of rifts to build huge dome-shaped volcanic mountains whose eroded summits form island arcs, chains, and clusters. Outside the andesite line, volcanism is of the explosive type, and
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3990-409: The arctic, icing from October to May can present a hazard for shipping while persistent fog occurs from June to December. A climatological low in the Gulf of Alaska keeps the southern coast wet and mild during the winter months. The Westerlies and associated jet stream within the Mid-Latitudes can be particularly strong, especially in the Southern Hemisphere, due to the temperature difference between
4085-409: The assets of Sea Launch. Launch services were to potentially be provided by S7 Sea Launch, a US subsidiary. However, after moving the two former Sea Launch ships from California to Vladivostok , the S7 Group chairman stated that the program was indefinitely suspended. As of 2020, a replacement for the Zenit launch vehicle, with its Ukrainian first stage, was expected to be years away. Sea Launch
4180-421: The base of a counter-clockwise circulation in the Bering Sea . Its southern arm becomes the chilled slow, south-flowing California Current . The South Equatorial Current , flowing west along the equator, swings southward east of New Guinea , turns east at about 50°S , and joins the main westerly circulation of the South Pacific, which includes the Earth-circling Antarctic Circumpolar Current . As it approaches
4275-500: The command ship in about eight days. With the platform ballasted to its launch depth of 22 m (72 ft), the hangar is opened, the rocket is mechanically moved to a vertical position, and the launch platform crew evacuates to the command ship which moves about five kilometres (3.1 mi) away. Then, with the launch platform unmanned, the rocket is fueled and launched. The final ten seconds before launch are called out simultaneously in English and Russian . On January 30, 2007,
4370-451: The companies refused to pay more than $ 350 million following the joint venture's bankruptcy filing in 2009. In mid-2014, following the 2014 Russian military invasion in Ukraine and the subsequent unrest in the eastern part of the country , there were a number of Russian media reports that indicated Sea Launch may be planning to inactivate the Odyssey launch platform. The company formally denied those reports in June 2014, indicating it
4465-559: The company was acquired by Russian interests. (1995 to 2010) (2010 to 2018) The project was helped by Hughes Space and Communications , which in 1995 signed the first contract for 10 launches and 10 options, valued at $ 1 billion, and Space Systems/Loral , which then signed a five-launch contract. Total cost of the project has been reported at $ 583 million in 1996. Chase Manhattan arranged about $ 400 million in loans in 1996. Loans were later guaranteed against political instability in Russia and Ukraine through 2012 by
4560-407: The detriment of the corporation’s core activities in 2010-2013. Lopota does not admit guilt, and the Russian Prosecutor General's Office has already twice rejected charges against him. In November 2023, the Investigative Committee again brought charges, this time reducing the amount from 9 billion rubles to 4.2 billion rubles. Using existing Zenit infrastructure at the military Baikonur Cosmodrome ,
4655-408: The diameter of the Moon. Its geographic center is in eastern Kiribati south of Kiritimati , just west from Starbuck Island at 4°58′S 158°45′W / 4.97°S 158.75°W / -4.97; -158.75 . The lowest known point on Earth – the Mariana Trench – lies 10,911 m (35,797 ft ; 5,966 fathoms ) below sea level. Its average depth
4750-402: The difference between temperatures aloft and sea surface temperatures is the greatest; however, each particular basin has its own seasonal patterns. On a worldwide scale, May is the least active month, while September is the most active month. November is the only month in which all the tropical cyclone basins are active. The Pacific hosts the two most active tropical cyclone basins , which are
4845-434: The east and the islands of Kiribati in the southeast. Melanesia, to the southwest, includes New Guinea , the world's second largest island after Greenland and by far the largest of the Pacific islands. The other main Melanesian groups from north to south are the Bismarck Archipelago , the Solomon Islands , Santa Cruz , Vanuatu , Fiji and New Caledonia . The largest area, Polynesia , stretching from Hawaii in
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#17327831830994940-423: The east coast of Russia contrasting with the milder weather off British Columbia during the winter months due to the preferred flow of ocean currents . In the tropical and subtropical Pacific, the El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO) affects weather conditions. To determine the phase of ENSO, the most recent three-month sea surface temperature average for the area approximately 3,000 km (1,900 mi) to
5035-403: The eastern edge of the Kamchatka Peninsula , the Kuril Islands , Japan, the Mariana Islands , the Solomon Islands , and New Zealand's North Island . The dissimilarity continues northeastward along the western edge of the Andes Cordillera along South America to Mexico, returning then to the islands off California. Indonesia, the Philippines, Japan, New Guinea, and New Zealand lie outside
5130-410: The eighteenth century. Magellan stopped at one uninhabited Pacific island before stopping at Guam in March 1521. Although Magellan himself died in the Philippines in 1521, Spanish navigator Juan Sebastián Elcano led the remains of the expedition back to Spain across the Indian Ocean and round the Cape of Good Hope , completing the first world circumnavigation in 1522. Sailing around and east of
5225-487: The equator into northern (North Pacific) and southern (South Pacific) portions. It extends from the Antarctic region in the South to the Arctic in the north. The Pacific Ocean encompasses approximately one-third of the Earth's surface, having an area of 165,200,000 km (63,800,000 sq mi) – larger than Earth's entire landmass combined, 150,000,000 km (58,000,000 sq mi). Extending approximately 15,500 km (9,600 mi) from
5320-469: The equator, which can have a salinity as low as 34 parts per thousand, is less salty than that found in the mid-latitudes because of abundant equatorial precipitation throughout the year. The lowest counts of less than 32 parts per thousand are found in the far north as less evaporation of seawater takes place in these frigid areas. The motion of Pacific waters is generally clockwise in the Northern Hemisphere (the North Pacific gyre ) and counter-clockwise in
5415-406: The failure was caused by a foreign object being ingested by the engine turbopump, causing the rocket to crash immediately. On February 3, 2007, photographs of the damage were posted on internet forums. The launch platform damage is mostly superficial, though blast deflectors underneath the launch platform were knocked loose and were lost when they fell into the sea. In March 2007, shortly after
5510-450: The first and second stages); by Energia in Kaliningrad, USSR Moscow , Russia ( Block DM-SL for third stage); and by Boeing in Seattle , United States (payload fairing and interstage structure). Sea Launch rockets were assembled in Long Beach , California . The typical assembly was done on board the Assembly and Command Ship (the payload is first tested, fueled and encapsulated in the nearby Payload Processing Facility). The rocket
5605-420: The first completely documented European landing in Australia (1606), in Cape York Peninsula , and Abel Janszoon Tasman circumnavigated and landed on parts of the Australian continental coast and arrived at Tasmania and New Zealand in 1642. In the 16th and 17th centuries, Spain considered the Pacific Ocean a mare clausum – a sea closed to other naval powers. As the only known entrance from
5700-420: The first humans to reach Remote Oceania , and the first to cross vast distances of open water. They also continued spreading southwards and settling the rest of Maritime Southeast Asia , reaching Indonesia and Malaysia by 1500 BCE, and further west to Madagascar and the Comoros in the Indian Ocean by around 500 CE. More recently, it is suggested that Austronesians expanded already earlier, arriving in
5795-418: The floating spaceport Sea Launch to operation. He said that before its handover to the company S7 all space launch control equipment was dismantled. Sea Launch was founded by four companies from four countries, which shared the original ownership of offshore Cayman Islands -registered Sea Launch. Ship "Sea Launch" registered Monrovia after reorganising from Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2010, a majority share of
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#17327831830995890-423: The great "Southern Sea" which he named Mar del Sur (in Spanish). Afterwards, the ocean's current name was coined by Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan during the Spanish circumnavigation of the world in 1521, as he encountered favorable winds on reaching the ocean. He called it Mar Pacífico , which in Portuguese means 'peaceful sea'. Top large seas: Across the continents of Asia, Australia and
5985-439: The incorporation of the island into Chile with native Rapanui in 1888. By occupying Easter Island, Chile joined the imperial nations. By 1900 nearly all Pacific islands were in control of Britain, France, United States, Germany, Japan, and Chile. Although the United States gained control of Guam and the Philippines from Spain in 1898, Japan controlled most of the western Pacific by 1914 and occupied many other islands during
6080-417: The islands in the world. There are about 25,000 islands in the Pacific Ocean. The islands entirely within the Pacific Ocean can be divided into three main groups known as Micronesia , Melanesia and Polynesia . Micronesia, which lies north of the equator and west of the International Date Line , includes the Mariana Islands in the northwest, the Caroline Islands in the center, the Marshall Islands to
6175-519: The islands of eastern Micronesia (including the Carolines , the Marshall Islands , and Kiribati ), mixing with earlier Austronesian migrations in the region. This remained the furthest extent of the Austronesian expansion into Polynesia until around 700 CE when there was another surge of island exploration. They reached the Cook Islands , Tahiti , and the Marquesas by 700 CE; Hawaiʻi by 900 CE; Rapa Nui by 1000 CE; and finally New Zealand by 1200 CE. Austronesians may have also reached as far as
6270-418: The launch system itself, in other words, the equipment needed for bringing the rocket to and placing it at the launch pad and automatically fueling the tanks, all this is done through Russian technologies," Borisov said. In June 2020, the CEO of Russia’s space corporation Roscosmos, Dmitry Rogozin, said in his column in Forbes magazine that Russian specialists would have to exert considerable efforts to restore
6365-490: The majority ownership of Sea Launch by a Russian company. Some time after 2018, she has been moved to a port on the east coast of Russia. While docked in Long Beach in 2013, Sea Launch Commander served as a filming location for the Marvel film Captain America: The Winter Soldier , portraying the fictional S.H.I.E.L.D. vessel Lemurian Star . The Assembly and Command Ship—or ACS, and subsequently named Sea Launch Commander —was an all-new, purpose-built vessel that serves as
6460-468: The north to New Zealand in the south, also encompasses Tuvalu , Tokelau , Samoa , Tonga and the Kermadec Islands to the west, the Cook Islands , Society Islands and Austral Islands in the center, and the Marquesas Islands , Tuamotu , Mangareva Islands , and Easter Island to the east. Islands in the Pacific Ocean are of four basic types: continental islands, high islands, coral reefs and uplifted coral platforms. Continental islands lie outside
6555-485: The northern Philippines , but also earlier groups associated with Austroasiatic-speakers , resulting in the modern peoples of Island Southeast Asia and Oceania. A later seaborne migration is the Neolithic Austronesian expansion of the Austronesian peoples . Austronesians originated from the island of Taiwan c. 3000 –1500 BCE. They are associated with distinctive maritime sailing technologies (notably outrigger boats , catamarans , lashed-lug boats, and
6650-433: The northwestern Pacific and the eastern Pacific. Pacific hurricanes form south of Mexico, sometimes striking the western Mexican coast and occasionally the Southwestern United States between June and October, while typhoons forming in the northwestern Pacific moving into southeast and east Asia from May to December. Tropical cyclones also form in the South Pacific basin , where they occasionally impact island nations. In
6745-399: The ocean was encountered by Spanish explorer Vasco Núñez de Balboa in 1513 after his expedition crossed the Isthmus of Panama and reached a new ocean. He named it Mar del Sur ("Sea of the South" or "South Sea" ) because the ocean was to the south of the coast of the isthmus where he first observed the Pacific. In 1520, navigator Ferdinand Magellan and his crew were the first to cross
6840-562: The ocean's surface. One of the most dramatic is the Great Barrier Reef off northeastern Australia with chains of reef patches. A second island type formed of coral is the uplifted coral platform, which is usually slightly larger than the low coral islands. Examples include Banaba (formerly Ocean Island) and Makatea in the Tuamotu group of French Polynesia . The volume of the Pacific Ocean, representing about 50.1 percent of
6935-582: The other shareholders. She was built by Kvaerner Govan Ltd at Govan shipyard in Glasgow , Scotland , and launched in 1997. In the fall of 1997, the ship sailed for Russia, where special equipment for handling rocket components and for commanding and controlling launches was installed and tested. She arrived in Long Beach, California , on July 13, 1998, after a voyage through the Panama Canal. The first rocket launch controlled by Sea Launch Commander
7030-417: The platform. Funding was not confirmed at the time of the release. Borisov indicated that before the floating spaceport left its port Long Beach, California, the United States in accordance with its laws removed all equipment from the command ship and the floating platform. "It’s mostly equipment responsible for positioning, based on GPS technologies. We will be able to replace it with GLONASS solutions. As for
7125-446: The provider of the Sea Launch service, Sea Launch Co. LLC, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. Sea Launch asserted that it would "continue to maintain all normal business operations after the filing for reorganization." On August 6, 2010, Energia, which already owned 25% of Sea Launch, announced it planned to acquire a controlling interest of 85% in the company. As a result, the company planned to begin land-based launches from
7220-581: The quest for Terra Australis ("the [great] Southern Land"), Spanish explorations in the 17th century, such as the expedition led by the Portuguese navigator Pedro Fernandes de Queirós , arrived at the Pitcairn and Vanuatu archipelagos, and sailed the Torres Strait between Australia and New Guinea, named after navigator Luís Vaz de Torres . Dutch explorers, sailing around southern Africa, also engaged in exploration and trade; Willem Janszoon , made
7315-517: The rocket can travel to the equator for launch, which increases payload capacity. Sea Launch mothballed its ships and put operations on long-term hiatus in 2014, following the Russian invasion of Ukraine . By 2015, discussions on disposition of company assets were underway, and the Sea Launch partners were in a court-administered dispute about unpaid expenses that Boeing claims it incurred. In September 2016, S7 Group, owner of S7 Airlines , purchased
7410-524: The same time United States Customs Service attempted to block Sea Launch from bringing Zenit-3SL rockets (classified as missiles) into California for assembly without a munitions import licence. The matter was settled in the company's favour. Also in 1998, 16 member states of the South Pacific Forum issued a communiqué asking the United States to suspend the project indefinitely until and unless their environmental concerns are remedied. It
7505-675: The second stage of the rocket. A second rocket failed to launch on January 30, 2007, when Zenit-3SL exploded on the launch pad with the Boeing 702 NSS-8 satellite on board, seconds after engine ignition. All Sea Launch missions to date have used the custom-designed three-stage Zenit-3SL launch vehicle, capable of placing up to 6,000 kg (13,000 lb) of payload into geosynchronous transfer orbit. Sea Launch rocket components are manufactured by SDO Yuzhnoye / PO Yuzhmash in Dnepropetriwsk, USSR Dnipro , Ukraine ( Zenit rocket for
7600-505: The settlement of Buka by 32,000 B.P. and Manus by 25,000 B.P. Journeys of 180 kilometres (110 mi) and 230 kilometres (140 mi) are involved, respectively. The descendants of these migrations today are the Negritos , Melanesians , and Indigenous Australians . Their populations in maritime Southeast Asia , coastal New Guinea , and Island Melanesia later intermarried with the incoming Austronesian settlers from Taiwan and
7695-504: The southeast of Hawaii is computed, and if the region is more than 0.5 °C (0.9 °F) above or below normal for that period, then an El Niño or La Niña is considered in progress. In the tropical western Pacific, the monsoon and the related wet season during the summer months contrast with dry winds in the winter which blow over the ocean from the Asian landmass. Worldwide, tropical cyclone activity peaks in late summer, when
7790-804: The tropics and Antarctica, which records the coldest temperature readings on the planet. In the Southern hemisphere, because of the stormy and cloudy conditions associated with extratropical cyclones riding the jet stream, it is usual to refer to the Westerlies as the Roaring Forties, Furious Fifties and Shrieking Sixties according to the varying degrees of latitude. The ocean was first mapped by Abraham Ortelius ; he called it Maris Pacifici following Ferdinand Magellan 's description of it as "a pacific sea" during his circumnavigation from 1519 to 1522. To Magellan, it seemed much more calm (pacific) than
7885-586: The west, and Drake Passage and the Strait of Magellan link the Pacific with the Atlantic Ocean on the east. To the north, the Bering Strait connects the Pacific with the Arctic Ocean . As the Pacific straddles the 180th meridian , the West Pacific (or western Pacific , near Asia) is in the Eastern Hemisphere , while the East Pacific (or eastern Pacific , near the Americas) is in
7980-534: The width of the Pacific with precision for the first time in history. One of the earliest voyages of scientific exploration was organized by Spain in the Malaspina Expedition of 1789–1794. It sailed vast areas of the Pacific, from Cape Horn to Alaska, Guam and the Philippines, New Zealand, Australia, and the South Pacific. Growing imperialism during the 19th century resulted in the occupation of much of Oceania by European powers, and later Japan and
8075-434: The world's oceanic water, has been estimated at some 714 million cubic kilometers (171 million cubic miles). Surface water temperatures in the Pacific can vary from −1.4 °C (29.5 °F), the freezing point of seawater, in the poleward areas to about 30 °C (86 °F) near the equator. Salinity also varies latitudinally, reaching a maximum of 37 parts per thousand in the southeastern area. The water near
8170-599: Was established in 1995 as a consortium of four companies from Norway , Russia , Ukraine and the United States , managed by Boeing with participation from the other shareholders. The first rocket was launched in March 1999. On March 17, 2006, it was announced that Jim Maser , the President and General Manager of Sea Launch, would leave the company to join SpaceX as President and Chief Operating Officer. In June 2009,
8265-820: Was fined US$ 10 million by the United States Department of State for technical violations of the Arms Export Control Act in handling of missile technology while dealing with its foreign Sea Launch partners. This is the largest civil penalty of its kind, although it could have been as much as US$ 102 million. The Sea Launch project was suspended for two months during the investigation. The Department of State found that between January 1994 and January 1998 Boeing illegally exported "defense articles" and "defense services", although no national security breaches were determined. The violations were uncovered by Boeing's internal investigation. At about
8360-614: Was in March 1999. The ship originally carried colors representing the majority ownership of Sea Launch by a Ukrainian company. Following a 2009 bankruptcy of the company, Energia —which already owned 25% of Sea Launch—acquired a controlling interest of 85% in the Sea Launch company and therefore in Sea Launch Commander . As a result, the company planned to begin land-based launches from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in early 2011, while sea-based launches were to resume in September 2011. The ship currently carries colors representing
8455-408: Was launched on March 27, 1999, and the first commercial satellite on October 9, 1999. Sea Launch has launched 36 rockets with 32 successes and 1 partial success as of March 2019. The first failure, of a Hughes -built communications satellite owned by ICO Global Communications , occurred on the second commercial launch on March 12, 2000, and was blamed on a software error that failed to close a valve in
8550-663: Was moored at the Slavyanka Shipyard after customs procedures. The launch platform Odyssey arrived at the shipyard on March 30. In August 2020, Deputy Prime Minister Yuri Borisov told the media on the sidelines of the Army-2020 forum that the floating spaceport Sea Launch, currently based at Russia’s Slavyanka port in the Primorye Territory, will be restored. The news release indicated it would require about 35 billion rubles (roughly $ 470 million) to restore
8645-638: Was mostly criticized by the island nation of Kiribati . The project was criticized in 1997 by International Transport Workers' Federation (ITWF) for registering its ocean vessels in Liberia . In May 1999 Sea Launch reached an agreement with the ITWF, which allows crew members to use ITWF inspectors. In Russia, since 2014, a criminal investigation has been ongoing against the former president of RSC Energia , Vitaly Lopota. Investigators accuse him of illegally repaying Sea Launch’s debts and purchasing its shares to
8740-509: Was on April 28, 2008, (04.28.2008) when a Zenit-3SLB launched Spacecom Ltd's AMOS-3 spacecraft from LC 45/1 (launch pad) at Baikonur. Advantages of equatorial launch site: Advantages of ocean-based over a conventional land-based launch platform: Sea Launch LLC was awarded the Space Foundation 's Space Achievement Award in 2000. Pacific Ocean Main five oceans division: Further subdivision: The Pacific Ocean
8835-583: Was the first to show the Americas separating two distinct oceans. Later, the Diogo Ribeiro map of 1529 was the first to show the Pacific at about its proper size. (Inhabited dependent territories are denoted by the asterisk (*), with names of the corresponding sovereign states in round brackets. Associated states in the Realm of New Zealand are denoted by the hash sign (#).) Territories with no permanent civilian population. The Pacific Ocean has most of
8930-461: Was to assemble the launcher on a purpose-built ship Sea Launch Commander in Nimitz Rd., Long Beach, California , USA. The assembled spacecraft was then positioned on top of the self-propelled Odyssey floating launch platform and moved to the equatorial Pacific Ocean for launch, with the Sea Launch Commander serving as tracking, command & telemetry (TCT) center. The movable system means
9025-431: Was used for the first time in 2004 when Arianespace's Ariane 5 had to reschedule a group of launches for reliability reasons. In 1999, shortly after the company was founded, the Sea Launch consortium claimed that their launch-related operating costs would be lower than a land-based equivalent due in part to reduced staff requirements. The platform and command ship have 310 crew members. The first demonstration satellite
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