Space Exploration and Aerospace Research
Bulgaria is the 6th country in the world to send a man in space: Georgi Ivanov flew on Soyuz 33 in 1979. In 1988 Aleksandar Aleksandrov became the first Bulgarian to conduct experiments on a space station. Bulgaria also supplied many scientific and research instruments for the Soviet space program. Currently the country participates in India's lunar exploration mission, Chandrayaan-1. In 1981 Bulgaria designed and constructed its first artificial satellite: Bulgaria 1300, which a Soviet Vostok-2M rocket inserted into polar orbit. The satellite had a launch weight of 1,500 kilograms, and as of 2009, it continues in operation, gathering information for BAS. The Bulgarian Space Agency also plans to create and send in space a new light-weight satellite — Balkansat — by 2010.
Bulgaria hosts two major astronomical observatories: the Rozhen Observatory, the largest in Southeastern Europe, and the Belogradchik Observatory with three telescopes; as well as several "public astronomical observatories" with planetaria, focused on educational and outreach activities. Astronomer Georgi Mandushev headed the team of scientists, which discovered TrES-4b — the largest known planet to date (next to WASP-17b, and that was in 1 May 2009).
Asen Yordanov (1896–1967), the founder of aeronautical engineering in Bulgaria, worked as an aviator, engineer and inventor; he also contributed to the development of aviation in the United States. He played a significant role in U.S. aircraft development (mostly bomber and carrier-based aircraft) and took part in many other projects. Yordanov created the first Bulgarian airplane, the "Diplan Yordanov-1", in 1915.
Another Bulgarian-American inventor and scientist, Peter Petroff, became best known for his work in NASA. Petroff also invented the first digital watch (1970).
Captain Simeon Petrov of the Bulgarian Air Force invented the world's first purpose-built air-to-surface bomb, which included innovations such as an aerodynamically stabilizing x-tail and an impact detonator. To this day the majority of aircraft bombs in the world follow Petrov's 1912 design. The Bulgarian Air Force deployed the original prototype, thus becoming the first military force in the world to conduct tactical airplane bombing sorties during a full-scale war (in 1912).
Read more about this topic: Science And Technology In Bulgaria
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