Name.

Bastet, the form of the name that is most commonly adopted by Egyptologists today because of its use in later dynasties, is a modern convention offering one possible reconstruction. In early Egyptian, her name appears to have been "b<unk>stt". In Egyptian writing, the second "t" marks a feminine ending but usually was not pronounced, and the aleph "<unk>" () may have moved to a position before the accented syllable, "<unk>bst". By the first millennium, then, "b<unk>stt" would have been something like "*Ubaste" (< "*Ubastat") in Egyptian speech, later becoming Coptic "Oubaste".  What the name of the goddess means remains uncertain. Names of ancient Egyptian deities often were represented as references to associations or with euphemisms, being cult secrets. One recent suggestion by Stephen Quirke ("Ancient Egyptian Religion") explains Bastet as meaning, "She of the ointment jar". This ties in with the observation that her name was written with the hieroglyph for "ointment jar" ("b<unk>s") and that she was associated with protective ointments, among other things. The name of the material known as "alabaster" might, through Greek, come from the name of the goddess. This association would have come about much later than when the goddess was a protective lioness goddess, however, and is useful only in deciphering the origin of the term, alabaster.

Role in ancient Egypt.

Bastet was originally a fierce lioness warrior goddess of the sun worshiped throughout most of ancient Egyptian history, but later she was changed into the cat goddess that is familiar today, becoming Bastet. She then was depicted as the daughter of Ra and Isis, and the consort of Ptah, with whom she had a son Maahes.  As protector of Lower Egypt, she was seen as defender of the king, and consequently of the sun god, Ra. Along with other deities such as Hathor, Sekhmet, and Isis, Bastet was associated with the Eye of Ra. She has been depicted as fighting the evil snake named Apep, an enemy of Ra. In addition to her solar connections, sometimes she was called "eye of the moon".  Bastet was also a goddess of pregnancy and childbirth, possibly because of the fertility of the domestic cat.  Images of Bastet were often created from alabaster. The goddess was sometimes depicted holding a ceremonial sistrum in one hand and an aegis in the other—the aegis usually resembling a collar or gorget, embellished with a lioness head.  Bastet was also depicted as the goddess of protection against contagious diseases and evil spirits.

Bubastis.

Bastet was a local deity whose religious sect was centered in the city that became named, Bubastis. It lay in the Nile Delta near what is known today as Zagazig. The town, known in Egyptian as "pr-b<unk>stt" (also transliterated as "Per-Bastet"), carries her name, literally meaning "House of Bastet". It was known in Greek as "Boubastis" ("Βούβαστις") and translated into Hebrew as "Pî-beset", spelled without the initial "t" sound of the last syllable. In the biblical Book of Ezekiel 30:17, the town appears in the Hebrew form "Pibeseth".

Temple.

Herodotus, an ancient Greek historian who traveled in Egypt in the fifth century BCE, describes Bastet's temple at some length: This description by Herodotus and several Egyptian texts suggest that water surrounded the temple on three (out of four) sides, forming a type of lake known as, "isheru", not too dissimilar from that surrounding the temple of the mother goddess Mut in Karnak at Thebes. These lakes were typical components of temples devoted to a number of lioness goddesses, who are said to represent one original goddess, Bastet, Mut, Tefnut, Hathor, and Sakhmet, and came to be associated with sun gods such as Horus and Ra as well as the Eye of Ra. Each of them had to be appeased by a specific set of rituals. One myth relates that a lioness, fiery and wrathful, was once cooled down by the water of the lake, transformed into a gentle cat, and settled in the temple.  At the Bubastis temple, some cats were found to have been mummified and buried, many next to their owners. More than 300,000 mummified cats were discovered when Bastet's temple was excavated. Turner and Bateson suggest that the status of the cat was roughly equivalent to that of the cow in modern India. The death of a cat might leave a family in great mourning and those who could, would have them embalmed or buried in cat cemeteries—pointing to the great prevalence of the cult of Bastet. Extensive burials of cat remains were found not only at Bubastis, but also at Beni Hasan and Saqqara. In 1888, a farmer uncovered a burial site of many hundreds of thousands of cats in Beni Hasan.

Festival.

Herodotus also relates that of the many solemn festivals held in Egypt, the most important and most popular one was that celebrated in Bubastis in honor of this goddess. Each year on the day of her festival, the town was said to have attracted some 700,000 visitors, both men and women (but not children), who arrived in numerous crowded ships. The women engaged in music, song, and dance on their way to the place. Great sacrifices were made and prodigious amounts of wine were drunk—more than was the case throughout the year. This accords well with Egyptian sources that prescribe that lioness goddesses are to be appeased with the "feasts of drunkenness". A festival of Bastet was known to be celebrated during the New Kingdom at Bubastis. The block statue from the eighteenth dynasty () of Nefer-ka, the wab-priest of Sekhmet, provides written evidence for this. The inscription suggests that the king, Amenhotep III, was present at the event and had great offerings made to the deity.

History.

Bastet first appears in the third millennium BC, where she is depicted as either a fierce lioness or a woman with the head of a lioness. Two thousand years later, during the Third Intermediate Period of Egypt (c. 1070–712 BC), Bastet began to be depicted as a domestic cat or a cat-headed woman.  Scribes of the New Kingdom and later eras began referring to her with an additional feminine suffix, as "Bastet". The name change is thought to have been added to emphasize pronunciation of the ending "t" sound, often left silent.  Cats in ancient Egypt were highly revered, partly due to their ability to combat vermin such as mice, rats (which threatened key food supplies), and snakes—especially cobras. Cats of royalty were, in some instances, known to be dressed in golden jewelry and were allowed to eat from the plates of their owners. Turner and Bateson estimate that during the Twenty-second Dynasty (), Bastet worship changed from being a lioness deity into being predominantly a major cat deity. Because domestic cats tend to be tender and protective of their offspring, Bastet was also regarded as a good mother and sometimes was depicted with numerous kittens.  The native Egyptian rulers were replaced by Greeks during an occupation of Ancient Egypt in the Ptolemaic Dynasty that lasted almost 300 years. The Greeks sometimes equated Bastet with one of their goddesses, Artemis.

Bastet or Bast ( "She of the Ointment Jar", ) was a goddess of ancient Egyptian religion, worshiped as early as the Second Dynasty (2890 BCE). Her name also is rendered as B'sst, Baast, Ubaste, and Baset. In ancient Greek religion, she was known as Ailuros ( "cat").

Bastet (v překladu z egyptštiny „Ta, která je z Bastu“, „Bastijská“) je staroegyptská bohyně zobrazovaná v podobě lvice (později kočky), případně ženy se lví (jiřkovou) hlavou doložená od doby 2. dynastie..


Description.

The plants usually have underground rhizomes or tubers. The leaves are arranged in two rows with the petioles having a sheathing base. The leaf blade is narrow or broad with pinnate veins running parallel to the midrib. The petiole may be winged, and swollen into a pulvinus at the base.  The inflorescence is a spike or panicle, enclosed by spathe-like bracts. The flowers are small and often inconspicuous, irregular, and bisexual, usually with an outer three free sepals and an inner series of three petaloid-like segments, tube-like in appearance. The fruit is either fleshy or a loculicidal capsule.

Taxonomy.

The APG II system, of 2003 (unchanged from the APG system, 1998), also recognizes this family, and assigns it to the order Zingiberales in the clade commelinids in the monocots. The Marantaceae are considered the most derived family in this group due to the extreme reduction in both stamens and carpels.  The family consists of 29 genera with about 570 known species, found in the tropical areas of the world except in Australia. The biggest concentration is in the Americas, with seven genera in Africa, and six in Asia.

Seed dispersal.

Arilated seeds of Marantaceae are dispersed mainly by birds and mammals. In Amazonia, crickets and ants are important secondary dispersers.

Phytochemistry.

Rosmarinic acid can be found in plants in the family Marantaceae such as species in the genera "Maranta" ("Maranta leuconeura", "Maranta depressa") and "Thalia" ("Thalia geniculata").

Rapid plant movement: secondary pollination presentation.

Marantaceae have a distinctive pollination mechanism that is defined by an explosive style movement. It is commonly termed explosive because the action is swift, occurs only one time for each flower, and is irreversible. This quick pollination event plays a significant role in optimizing mating and has been hypothesized to be a factor in the high level of speciation within this family. There are two parts of the floral anatomy that contribute to the explosive pollination mechanism: the style and the hooded staminode.  The secondary pollination presentation begins after a mechanical stimulus is introduced by a pollinator on the trigger appendage of the hooded staminode. Touching this trigger causes the release of the style from the contacted staminode, leading to rapid inward rolling of the style which is no longer being held under high tension. During this quick rolling movement, self pollen (located on top of the style) is deposited on the pollinator while cross-pollen is scooped off the pollinator into the stigmatic cavity. This single action occurs very quickly with the full movement being clocked in at around 0.03 seconds.  There has been debate on the specific mechanism of style release/movement. Many wondered whether the release is initiated physiologically (chemical & electrical) or biomechanically. Markus Jerominek and Regine Claßen-Bockhoff published a study in 2015 outlining their results to their artificial release experiments as well as their electrophysiological measurements on prayer plants. In their artificial release experiments, they tested both the influence of electric impulses and chloroform to investigate whether the style movement can be induced electrically or chemically. As a reference, they used the Venus flytrap and its rapid movement which is known to be initiated by electrical changes of the membrane. To test if rapid style release could be induced by electric signals, a minutien needle was attached to the style and electric impulses were given. To test if the style movement could be released physiologically, chloroform (well known for acting on membranes) was applied to the upper surface of the style. In both artificial release experiments, the Venus flytrap movement was successfully induced but the style movement in Marantaceae was not released. This led them to conclude that the style movement is released biomechanically due to the built tension between the style and hooded staminode contact.  This unique style movement of the Marantaceae secondary pollination presentation provides evidence that not all rapid plant movements are initiated by electrical changes in the membrane.

Uses.

The most well-known species in the family is arrowroot ("Maranta arundinacea"), a plant of the Caribbean, grown in parts of the Caribbean, Australasia, and sub-Saharan Africa for its easily digestible starch known as arrowroot. It is grown commercially in the West Indies and tropical Americas.  Several species of genus "Calathea" are grown as houseplants for their large ornamental leaves, which are variegated in shades of green, white, and pink. Other genera grown for houseplants includes "Stromanthe", "Ctenanthe", and "Maranta".  "Calathea lutea" has tough, durable leaves used to make waterproof baskets, and in the Caribbean and Central America, its leaves are used for roofing. Two Mexican species - "C. macrosepala" and "C. violacea" - have flowers that are cooked and used as vegetables. "C. allouia" or leren, from the West Indies and tropical America, is known as sweet corn root for its edible tuber.  "Schumannianthus dichotomus" is used for weaving mats to use on floors and beds.

The Marantaceae are a family, the arrowroot family, of flowering plants consisting of 31 genera and around 530 species, defining it as one of the most species rich families in its order. Species of this family are found in lowland tropical forests of Africa, Asia, and the Americas. The majority (80%) of the species are found in the American tropics, followed by Asian (11%) and African (9%) tropics. They are commonly called the prayer-plant family and are also known for their unique secondary pollination presentation.

Marantovité ("Marantaceae") je čeleď jednoděložných rostlin z řádu zázvorníkotvaré ("Zingiberales"). Jsou to vytrvalé byliny s dlouze řapíkatými jednoduchými listy a nepravidelnými květy. Čeleď zahrnuje přes 550 druhů ve 28 rodech a je rozšířena v tropech celého světa s výjimkou Austrálie. Maranta třtinovitá je v tropech pěstována pro škrobnaté oddenky. Různé druhy rodů kalátea a maranta se pěstují jako pokojové rostliny s atraktivním olistěním a někdy i zajímavými květenstvími.


Highway system.

Motorways.

The motorways in Hungary, (abbr. "M"), are defined as two-lane motorways in each direction, with emergency lane. The speed limit is 130 km/h or 80 mph. Their road signs are white on blue.

M1.

The M1 starts from the western part of Budapest, it connects the Hungarian capital with Győr and northwestern part of Hungary, towards Vienna. The motorway is part of the Pan-European Corridor IV, and European route E60, E65 and E75. Average daily traffic is 75,510 near Budapest and 56,421 vehicles/day near Győr. The construction of the motorway began 1964, it took more than thirty years to reach Hegyeshalom and the Austrian border. Its significance has increased since the change of regime in 1990, and today it is the most important western connection in Hungary.  Main junctions:

M3.

The M3 starts from north-eastern part of Budapest, it connects the Hungarian capital with Nyíregyháza and northeast part of Hungary, towards Mukachevo. The motorway is part of the Venice-Trieste-Ljubljana-Budapest-Lviv-Kiev line Central-East Europe Corridor V, and European route E71, E79, E573 and E579. This is one of the most important route of the Hungarian motorway and road network, the southwest-north-eastern diagonal main line of traffic forming part of Budapest. Through Ukraine, Eastern Europe, and through Slovakia, creates a highway connection to the countries of north-eastern Europe.  Main junctions:

M5.

The M5 starts from Budapest, it connects the Hungarian capital with Szeged and southeast part of Hungary, towards Belgrade. It was the third motorway in Hungary that reached the border. The motorway is part of the Pan-European Corridor X, and European route E75. The motorway was built in the 1980s and reached the Serbian border in March 2006.  Main junctions:

M6.

The M6 starts from Budapest (M0-M6 Interchange), it connects the Hungarian capital with Mohács, on the right bank of the Danube in the south, towards Osijek and Sarajevo. The motorway is part of the European route E73. The motorway is planned to reach the Croatian border by 2022.  Main junctions:

M7.

The M1 starts from western part of Budapest, it connects the Hungarian capital with Lake Balaton and southwestern part of Hungary, towards Zagreb. The motorway is part of the Pan-European Corridor V, and European route E71. Average daily traffic is 62,779 near Budapest and 49,273 vehicles/day near Székesfehérvár. The motorway was built in the 1960s and reached the Croatian border in October 2008.  Main junctions:

Expressways.

The expressways in Hungary, (abbr. "M" as well) are defined as dual carriageways with lower standards than that of a motorway, but with the same restrictions. The speed limit is 110 km/h or 70 mph. Their road signs are white on blue.

Fast roads.

The fast roads in Hungary, (abbr. "R") are defined as dual carriageways with lower standards than that of an expressway, but the level intersection (e.g., traffic light node, roundabout) is permissible. The speed limit is also 110 km/h or 70 mph. (Fast road category was ceased in 2018, these roads will become main roads.)

Toll requirements.

The e-vignette user charge system applies to motorcycles, passenger cars and their trailers, as well as cargo vehicles with a maximum permissible gross weight of 3.5 tonnes, campers and buses, and their trailers. These vehicles are authorized to use the Hungarian toll speedway network's roads exclusively with pre-purchased –purchased prior to entering a toll speedway section– road use authorization, i.e. e-vignettes. The amount of toll charges depends on the category of the vehicle and the type of the e-vignette. The category of the motor vehicles must be determined according to the official entry that appears in the vehicle registration certificate, based on the maximum permissible gross weight of the motor vehicle and the number of persons it is allowed to transport.  Hungarian system has 2 main type in terms of salary.  1, "time-based fee" vignettes (E-matrica) with a validity of either 10 days (2975 HUF), 1 month (4780 HUF) or 1 year (42980 HUF). The following motorway sections are toll-free for cars up to 3.5 t:

History.

Development of the overall length (at the end of):

Opening of new motorways.

Construction of new motorways in recent years has been hampered due to corruption scandals and austerity measures as well as owing to new European rules under which old EIA assessments lapsed. In the coming years, the highway network will be expanded first of all near Budapest and border region of Hungary. Construction of non-radial roads continues to be slow.

Controlled-access highways in Hungary are dual carriageways, grade separated with controlled-access, designed for high speeds. The legislation amendments defined two types of highways: motorways () and expressways ().

Celková délka dálnic v Maďarsku je v současné době 1400 km. Nejvyšší povolená rychlost na dálnicích je pro osobní automobily 130 km/h, na rychlostních silnicích pak 110 km/h. Na maďarských dálnicích funguje systém tzv. virtuálních dálničních známek.


Names.

The Mesoamerican ballgame is known by a wide variety of names. In English, it is often called "pok-ta-pok" (or "pok-a-tok"). This term originates from a 1932 article by Danish archaeologist Frans Blom, who adapted it from the Yucatec Maya word. In Nahuatl, the language of the Aztecs, it was called () or (). In Classical Maya, it was known as. In modern Spanish, it is called ('Maya ballgame'), ('Mesoamerican ballgame'), or simply ('Maya ball').

Origins.

It is not known precisely when or where ōllamaliztli originated, although it is likely that the game originated earlier than 1400 BCE in the low-lying tropical zones home to the rubber tree.  One candidate for the birthplace of the ballgame is the Soconusco coastal lowlands along the Pacific Ocean. Here, at Paso de la Amada, archaeologists have found the oldest ballcourt yet discovered, dated to approximately 1400 BCE. The other major candidate is the Olmec heartland, across the Isthmus of Tehuantepec along the Gulf Coast. The Aztecs referred to their Postclassic contemporaries who then inhabited the region as the "Olmeca" (i.e. "rubber people") since the region was strongly identified with latex production. The earliest-known rubber balls come from the sacrificial bog at El Manatí, an early Olmec-associated site located in the hinterland of the Coatzacoalcos River drainage system. Villagers, and subsequently archaeologists, have recovered a dozen balls ranging in diameter from 10 to 22 cm from the freshwater spring there. Five of these balls have been dated to the earliest-known occupational phase for the site, approximately 1700–1600 BCE. These rubber balls were found with other ritual offerings buried at the site, indicating that even at this early date ōllamaliztli had religious and ritual connotations. A stone "yoke" of the type frequently associated with Mesoamerican ballcourts was also reported to have been found by local villagers at the site, leaving open the distinct possibility that these rubber balls were related to the ritual ballgame, and not simply an independent form of sacrificial offering. Excavations at the nearby Olmec site of San Lorenzo Tenochtitlán have also uncovered a number of ballplayer figurines, radiocarbon-dated as far back as 1250–1150 BCE. A rudimentary ballcourt, dated to a later occupation at San Lorenzo, 600–400 BCE, has also been identified.  From the tropical lowlands, ōllamaliztli apparently moved into central Mexico. Starting around 1000 BCE or earlier, ballplayer figurines were interred with burials at Tlatilco and similarly styled figurines from the same period have been found at the nearby Tlapacoya site. It was about this period, as well, that the so-called Xochipala-style ballplayer figurines were crafted in Guerrero. Although no ballcourts of similar age have been found in Tlatilco or Tlapacoya, it is possible that the ballgame was indeed played in these areas, but on courts with perishable boundaries or temporary court markers.  By 300 BCE, evidence for ōllamaliztli appears throughout much of the Mesoamerican archaeological record, including ballcourts in the Central Chiapas Valley (the next oldest ballcourts discovered, after Paso de la Amada), and in the Oaxaca Valley, as well as ceramic ballgame tableaus from Western Mexico (see photo below).

Material and formal aspects.

As might be expected with a game played over such a long period of time by many cultures, details varied over time and place, so the Mesoamerican ballgame might be more accurately seen as a family of related games.  In general, the hip-ball version is most popularly thought of as "the" Mesoamerican ballgame, and researchers believe that this version was the primary—or perhaps only—version played within the masonry ballcourt. Ample archaeological evidence exists for games where the ball was struck by a wooden stick (e.g., a mural at Teotihuacan shows a game which resembles field hockey), racquets, bats and batons, handstones, and the forearm, perhaps at times in combination. Each of the various types of games had its own size of ball, specialized gear and playing field, and rules.  Games were played between two teams of players. The number of players per team could vary, between two to four. Some games were played on makeshift courts for simple recreation while others were formal spectacles on huge stone ballcourts leading to human sacrifice.  Even without human sacrifice, the game could be brutal and there were often serious injuries inflicted by the solid, heavy ball. Today's hip-"ulama" players are "perpetually bruised" while nearly 500 years ago Spanish chronicler Diego Durán reported that some bruises were so severe that they had to be lanced open. He also reported that players were even killed when the ball "hit them in the mouth or the stomach or the intestines".  The rules of ōllamaliztli, regardless of the version, are not known in any detail. In modern-day "ulama", the game resembles a netless volleyball, with each team confined to one half of the court. In the most widespread version of "ulama", the ball is hit back and forth using only the hips until one team fails to return it or the ball leaves the court.  In the Postclassic period, the Maya began placing vertical stone rings on each side of the court, the object being to pass the ball through one, an innovation that continued into the later Toltec and Aztec cultures.  In the 16th-century Aztec ballgame that the Spaniards witnessed, points were lost by a player who let the ball bounce more than twice before returning it to the other team, who let the ball go outside the boundaries of the court, or who tried and failed to pass the ball through one of the stone rings placed on each wall along the center line. According to 16th-century Aztec chronicler Motolinia, points were gained if the ball hit the opposite end wall, while the decisive victory was reserved for the team that put the ball through a ring. However, placing the ball through the ring was a rare event—the rings at Chichen Itza, for example, were set six meters off the playing field—and most games were likely won on points.

Clothing and gear.

The game's paraphernalia—clothing, headdresses, gloves, all but the stone—are long gone, so knowledge on clothing relies on art—paintings and drawings, stone reliefs, and figurines—to provide evidence for pre-Columbian ballplayer clothing and gear, which varied considerably in type and quantity. Capes and masks, for example, are shown on several Dainzú reliefs, while Teotihuacan murals show men playing stick-ball in skirts. The basic hip-game outfit consisted of a loincloth, sometimes augmented with leather hip guards. Loincloths are found on the earliest ballplayer figurines from Tlatilco, Tlapacoya, and the Olmec culture, are seen in the Weiditz drawing from 1528 (below), and, with hip guards, are the sole outfit of modern-day "ulama" players (above)—a span of nearly 3,000 years.  In many cultures, further protection was provided by a thick girdle, most likely of wicker or wood covered in fabric or leather. Made of perishable materials, none of these girdles have survived, although many stone "yokes" have been uncovered. Misnamed by earlier archaeologists due to its resemblance to an animal yoke, the stone yoke is thought to be too heavy for actual play and was likely used only before or after the game in ritual contexts. In addition to providing some protection from the ball, the girdle or yoke would also have helped propel the ball with more force than the hip alone. Additionally, some players wore chest protectors called "palmas" which were inserted into the yoke and stood upright in front of the chest.  Kneepads are seen on a variety of players from many areas and eras and are worn by forearm-"ulama" players today. A type of garter is also often seen, worn just below the knee or around the ankle—it is not known what function this served. Gloves appear on the purported ballplayer reliefs of Dainzú, roughly 500 BCE, as well as the Aztec players are drawn by Weiditz 2,000 years later (see drawing below). Helmets (likely utilitarian) and elaborate headdresses (likely used only in ritual contexts) are also common in ballplayer depictions, headdresses being particularly prevalent on Maya painted vases or on Jaina Island figurines. Many ballplayers of the Classic era are seen with a right kneepad—no left—and a wrapped right forearm, as shown in the Maya image above.

Rubber balls.

The sizes or weights of the balls actually used in the ballgame are not known with any certainty. While several dozen ancient balls have been recovered, they were originally laid down as offerings in a sacrificial bog or spring, and there is no evidence that any of these were used in the ballgame. In fact, some of these extant votive balls were created specifically "as" offerings.  However, based on a review of modern-day game balls, ancient rubber balls, and other archaeological evidence, it is presumed by most researchers that the ancient hip-ball was made of a mix from one or another of the latex-producing plants found all the way from the southeastern rain forests to the northern desert. Most balls were made from latex sap of the lowland "Castilla elastica" tree. Someone discovered that by mixing latex with sap from the vine of a species of morning glory ("Calonyction aculeatum") they could turn the slippery polymers in raw latex into a resilient rubber. The size varied between (measured in hand spans) and weighed. The ball used in the ancient handball or stick-ball game was probably slightly larger and heavier than a modern-day baseball.  Some Maya depictions, such as the painting above or, show balls or more in diameter. Academic consensus is that these depictions are exaggerations or symbolic, as are, for example, the impossibly unwieldy headdresses worn in the same portrayals.

Ballcourt.

Ōllamaliztli was played within a large masonry structure. Built in a form that changed remarkably little during 2,700 years, over 1,300 Mesoamerican ballcourts have been identified, 60% in the last 20 years alone. Although there is a tremendous variation in size, in general all ballcourts have the same shape: a long narrow playing alley flanked by walls with both horizontal and sloping (or, more rarely, vertical) surfaces. The walls were often plastered and brightly painted. Although the alleys in early ballcourts were open-ended, later ballcourts had enclosed end-zones, giving the structure an -shape when viewed from above. Although the length-to-width ratio remained relatively constant at 4-to-1, there was nonetheless tremendous variation in ballcourt size. The playing field of the Great Ballcourt at Chichen Itza, by far the largest, measures 96.5 meters long by 30 meters wide, while the Ceremonial Court at Tikal was only 16 meters by 5 meters. Across Mesoamerica, ballcourts were built and used for many generations. Although ballcourts are found within most sizable Mesoamerican ruins, they are not equally distributed across time or geography. For example, the Late Classic site of El Tajín, the largest city of the ballgame-obsessed Classic Veracruz culture, has at least 18 ballcourts, while Cantona, a nearby contemporaneous site, sets the record with 24. In contrast, northern Chiapas and the northern Maya Lowlands have relatively few, and ballcourts are conspicuously absent at some major sites, including Teotihuacan, Bonampak, and Tortuguero, although ōllamaliztli iconography has been found there.  Ancient cities with particularly fine ballcourts in good condition include Tikal, Yaxha, Copán, Coba, Iximche, Monte Albán, Uxmal, Chichen Itza, Yagul, Xochicalco, Mixco Viejo, and Zaculeu.  Ballcourts were public spaces used for a variety of elite cultural events and ritual activities like musical performances and festivals, and, of course, the ballgame. Pictorial depictions often show musicians playing at ballgames, while votive deposits buried at the Main Ballcourt at Tenochtitlan contained miniature whistles, ocarinas, and drums. A pre-Columbian ceramic from western Mexico shows what appears to be a wrestling match taking place on a ballcourt.

Cultural aspects.

Proxy for warfare.

Ōllamaliztli was a ritual deeply ingrained in Mesoamerican cultures and served purposes beyond that of a mere sporting event. Fray Juan de Torquemada, a 16th-century Spanish missionary and historian, tells that the Aztec emperor Axayacatl played Xihuitlemoc, the leader of Xochimilco, wagering his annual income against several Xochimilco chinampas. Ixtlilxochitl, a contemporary of Torquemada, relates that Topiltzin, the Toltec king, played against three rivals, with the winner ruling over the losers.  These examples and others are cited by many researchers who have made compelling arguments that ōllamaliztli served as a way to defuse or resolve conflicts without genuine warfare, to settle disputes through a ballgame instead of a battle. Over time, then, the ballgame's role would expand to include not only external mediation, but also the resolution of competition and conflict within the society as well.  This "boundary maintenance" or "conflict resolution" theory would also account for some of the irregular distribution of ballcourts. Overall, there appears to be a negative correlation between the degree of political centralization and the number of ballcourts at a site. For example, the Aztec Empire, with a strong centralized state and few external rivals, had relatively few ballcourts while Middle Classic Cantona, with 24 ballcourts, had many diverse cultures residing there under a relatively weak state.  Other scholars support these arguments by pointing to the warfare imagery often found at ballcourts:

Human sacrifice.

The association between human sacrifice and the ballgame appears rather late in the archaeological record, no earlier than the Classic era. The association was particularly strong within the Classic Veracruz and the Maya cultures, where the most explicit depictions of human sacrifice can be seen on the ballcourt panels—for example at El Tajín (850–1100 CE) and at Chichen Itza (900–1200 CE)—as well as on the from the Classic Veracruz site of Aparicio (700–900 CE). The Postclassic Maya religious and quasi-historical narrative, the Popol Vuh, also links human sacrifice with the ballgame (see below).  Captives were often shown in Maya art, and it is assumed that these captives were sacrificed after losing a rigged ritual ballgame. Rather than nearly nude and sometimes battered captives, however, the ballcourts at El Tajín and Chichen Itza show the sacrifice of practiced ballplayers, perhaps the captain of a team. Decapitation is particularly associated with the ballgame—severed heads are featured in much Late Classic ballgame art and appear repeatedly in the Popol Vuh. There has been speculation that the heads and skulls were used as balls.

Symbolism.

Little is known about the game's symbolic contents. Several themes recur in scholarly writing.

Myth.

Nahua.

According to an important Nahua source, the Leyenda de los Soles, the Toltec king Huemac played ball against the Tlalocs, with precious stones and quetzal feathers at stake. Huemac won the game. When instead of precious stones and feathers, the rain deities offered Huemac their young maize ears and maize leaves, Huemac refused. As a consequence of this vanity, the Toltecs suffered a four-year drought. The same ball game match, with its unfortunate aftermath, signified the beginning of the end of the Toltec reign.

Maya.

The Maya Twin myth of the Popol Vuh establishes the importance of the game (referred to in Classic Maya as "pitz") as a symbol for warfare intimately connected to the themes of fertility and death. The story begins with the Hero Twins' father, Hun Hunahpu, and uncle, Vucub Hunahpu, playing ball near the underworld, Xibalba. The lords of the underworld became annoyed with the noise from the ball playing and so the primary lords of Xibalba, One Death and Seven Death, sent owls to lure the brothers to the ballcourt of Xibalba, situated on the western edge of the underworld. Despite the danger the brothers fall asleep and are captured and sacrificed by the lords of Xibalba and then buried in the ballcourt. Hun Hunahpu is decapitated and his head hung in a fruit tree, which bears the first calabash gourds. Hun Hunahpu's head spits into the hands of a passing goddess who conceives and bears the Hero Twins, Hunahpu and Xbalanque. The Hero Twins eventually find the ballgame equipment in their father’s house and start playing, again to the annoyance of the Lords of Xibalba, who summon the twins to play the ballgame amidst trials and dangers. In one notable episode, Hunahpu is decapitated by bats. His brother uses a squash as Hunahpu's substitute head until his real one, now used as a ball by the Lords, can be retrieved and placed back on Hunahpu's shoulders. The twins eventually go on to play the ballgame with the Lords of Xibalba, defeating them. However, the twins are unsuccessful in reviving their father, so they leave him buried in the ball court of Xibalba.

The ballgame in Mesoamerican civilizations.

Maya civilization.

In Maya Ballgame the Hero Twins myth links ballcourts with death and its overcoming. The ballcourt becomes a place of transition, a liminal stage between life and death. The ballcourt markers along the centerline of the Classic playing field depicted ritual and mythical scenes of the ballgame, often bordered by a quatrefoil that marked a portal into another world. The Twins themselves, however, are usually absent from Classic ballgame scenes, with the Classic forerunner of Vucub Caquix of the Copán ball court, holding the severed arm of Hunahpu, as an important exception.

Teotihuacan.

No ballcourt has yet been identified at Teotihuacan, making it by far the largest Classic era site without one. In fact, the ballgame seems to have been nearly forsaken not only in Teotihuacan, but in areas such as Matacapan or Tikal that were under Teotihuacano influence.  Despite the lack of a ballcourt, ball games were not unknown there. The murals of the Tepantitla compound at Teotihuacan show a number of small scenes that seem to portray various types of ball games, including:  It has been hypothesized that, for reasons as yet unknown, the stick-game eclipsed the hip-ball game at Teotihuacan and at Teotihuacan-influenced cities, and only after the fall of Teotihuacan did the hip-game reassert itself.

Aztec.

The Aztec version of the ballgame is called "ōllamalitzli" (sometimes spelled "ullamaliztli") and are derived from the word "ōlli" "rubber" and the verb "ōllama" or "to play ball". The ball itself was called "ōllamaloni" and the ballcourt was called a "tlachtli". In the Aztec capital Tenochtitlan the largest ballcourt was called "Teotlachco" ("in the holy ballcourt")—here several important rituals would take place on the festivals of the month Panquetzalitzli, including the sacrifice of four war captives to the honor of Huitzilopochtli and his herald PaInal.  For the Aztecs the playing of the ballgame also had religious significance, but where the 16th-century K ́iche ́ Maya saw the game as a battle between the lords of the underworld and their earthly adversaries, their Aztec contemporaries may have seen it as a battle of the sun, personified by Huitzilopochtli, against the forces of night, led by the moon and the stars, and represented by the goddess Coyolxauhqui and Coatlicue's sons the 400 Huitznahuah. But apart from holding important ritual and mythical meaning, the ballgame for the Aztecs was a sport and a pastime played for fun, although in general the Aztec game was a prerogative of the nobles.  Young Aztecs would be taught ballplaying in the calmecac school—and those who were most proficient might become so famous that they could play professionally. Games would frequently be staged in the different city wards and markets—often accompanied by large-scale betting. Diego Durán, an early Spanish chronicler, said that "these wretches... sold their children in order to bet and even staked themselves and became slaves".  Since the rubber tree "Castilla elastica" was not found in the highlands of the Aztec Empire, the Aztecs generally received balls and rubber as tribute from the lowland areas where it was grown. The "Codex Mendoza" gives a figure of 16,000 lumps of raw rubber being imported to Tenochtitlan from the southern provinces every six months, although not all of it was used for making balls.  In 1528, soon after the Spanish conquest, Cortés sent a troupe of "ōllamanime" (ballplayers) to Spain to perform for Charles V where they were drawn by the German Christoph Weiditz. Besides the fascination with their exotic visitors, the Europeans were amazed by the bouncing rubber balls.

Pacific coast.

Ballcourts, monuments with ballgame imagery and ballgame paraphernalia have been excavated at sites along the Pacific coast of Guatemala and El Salvador including the Cotzumalhuapa nuclear zone sites of Bilbao and El Baúl and sites right at the southeast periphery of the Mesoamerican region such as Quelepa.

Caribbean.

Batey, a ball game played on many Caribbean islands including Cuba, Puerto Rico, and the West Indies, has been proposed as a descendant of the Mesoamerican ballgame, perhaps through the Maya.

The Mesoamerican ballgame was a sport with ritual associations played since at least 1650 BCE by the pre-Columbian people of Ancient Mesoamerica. The sport had different versions in different places during the millennia, and a newer more modern version of the game, "ulama", is still played in a few places by the indigenous population.

Tlachtli (z aztéčtiny, Mayi nazývaná "pok-a-tok", česky někdy také nesprávně "pelota") byla míčová hra, která jako rituál byla součást náboženství v předkolumbovské době u mezoamerických kmenů, jako byli např. Toltékové, Aztékové nebo Mayové. Hra nejspíš pochází od Olméků z 6. století př. n. l., postupně se rozšířila a byla převzata jinými kulturami Mezoameriky, nakonec se dostala i na Karibské ostrovy a na jihozápad Severní Ameriky, kde ji hráli příslušníci Hohokamské kultury v dnešní Arizoně. Moderní verzí této hry je ulama.


Function.

In skin infections, the local Langerhans cells take up and process microbial antigens to become fully functional antigen-presenting cells.  Generally, tissue-resident macrophages are involved in immune homeostasis and the uptake of apoptotic bodies. However, Langerhans cells can also take on a dendritic cell-like phenotype and migrate to lymph nodes to interact with naive T-cells.  Langerhans cells derive from primitive erythro-myeloid progenitors that arise in the yolk sac outside the embryo in the first trimester of pregnancy, and under normal circumstances persist throughout life, being replenished by local proliferation as necessary. If the skin becomes severely inflamed, perhaps because of infection, blood monocytes are recruited to the affected region and differentiate into replacement LCs.  Langerin is a protein found in Langerhans cells, and dendritic cells.

Clinical significance.

Langerhans cell histiocytosis.

In the rare disease Langerhans cell histiocytosis (LCH), an excess of cells similar to these cells are produced. However LCH cells stain positive to CD14 which is a monocyte marker and shows a different, hematopoietic origin for the disorder. LCH can cause damage to skin, bone and other organs.

HIV.

Langerhans cells may be initial cellular targets in the sexual transmission of HIV, and may be a target, reservoir, and vector of dissemination.  Langerhans cells have been observed in foreskin, vaginal, and oral mucosa of humans; the lower concentrations in oral mucosa suggest that it is not a likely source of HIV infection relative to foreskin and vaginal mucosa.

Human papillomavirus.

High-risk human papillomaviruses (HPV) are sexually transmitted viruses causally associated with several cancers including cervical, vaginal, anal, and head and neck cancers that cause significant morbidity and mortality worldwide. Over half of all cervical cancer cases are associated with HPV16, the most common of the cancer-causing high-risk genotypes. During its natural life cycle, HPV16 infects the basal cells of the epithelium and interacts with Langerhans cells within the epithelial layer, which are responsible for initiating immune responses against epithelial invading pathogens. However, HPV does not activate Langerhans cells "in vitro", and this may represent a key mechanism by which HPV evades immune detection "in vivo". Specifically, HPV16 entry into Langerhans cells via the annexin A2/S100A10 heterotetramer results in suppressive signaling and lack of Langerhans cell-mediated immune responses. This Langerhans cell-targeted immune escape mechanism seems to be conserved among different HPV genotypes enabling these viruses to remain undetected in the absence of other inflammatory events. T cells exposed to these inactivated Langerhans cells are not anergic, and can be activated against HPV upon receiving the appropriate stimuli at a later time point.  It was demonstrated that Langerhans cells in HPV-induced cervical lesions were spherical, lacked dendrites, and secreted the suppressive cytokine IL-10 "in vivo". The authors further demonstrated that the number of IL-10 secreting immunosuppressive Langerhans cells, and the amount of IL-10 produced in lesions, corresponded with the severity of histopathology and HPV viral load, providing evidence of an active immunosuppressive mechanism employed by HPV that targets Langerhans cells "in vivo".

Declining function during ageing.

During ageing the capacity of Langerhans cells to migrate declines. This compromises immunity and exposes the skin to infectious diseases and cancer.

History.

Langerhans cells are named after Paul Langerhans, a German physician and anatomist, who discovered the cells at the age of 21 while he was a medical student. Because of their dendrite-like appearance, he mistakenly identified the cells as part of the nervous system.

Langerhans cells (LC) are tissue-resident dendritic cells of the skin, and contain organelles called Birbeck granules. They are present in all layers of the epidermis and are most prominent in the stratum spinosum. They also occur in the papillary dermis, particularly around blood vessels, as well as in the mucosa of the mouth, foreskin, and vaginal epithelium. They can be found in other tissues, such as lymph nodes, particularly in association with the condition Langerhans cell histiocytosis (LCH).

Langerhansova buňka je dendritická buňka hvězdicovitého tvaru nacházející se v pokožce. Zejména se objevuje ve vrstvě stratum spinosum a celkem tvoří asi 2–8 % buněk lidské pokožky. Patří mezi antigen prezentující buňky a jako takové jsou složkou imunitního systému – vystavují antigeny T-lymfocytům. Pomáhají tím bránit tělo před patogeny vstupujícími do těla přes pokožku. Langerhansovy buňky se vyvíjí v kostní dřeni, načež se do pokožky dostanou krevním oběhem.


Origin.

The word "phono" in "phono connector" is an abbreviation of the word "phonograph", because this connector was originally created to allow the connection of a phonograph turntable to a radio receiver, using the radio as an amplifier. This setup was present in most radios manufactured in the 1930s onward by the Radio Corporation of America (RCA), who later marketed a special turntable for 45 RPM records, the model 9JY.  RCA jacks are often used in phono inputs, a set of input jacks usually located on the rear panel of a preamp, mixer or amplifier, especially on early radio sets, to which a phonograph or turntable is attached.

Other uses.

In the most normal use, cables have a standard plug on each end, consisting of a central male connector, surrounded by a ring. The ring is often segmented to provide spring gripping pressure when mated. Devices mount the socket (female jack), consisting of a central hole with a ring of metal around it. The ring on the jack is slightly smaller in diameter and longer than the ring on the plug, allowing the plug's ring to fit tightly over it. The jack has a small area between the outer and inner rings which is filled with an insulator, typically plastic (very early versions, or those made for use as RF connectors, used ceramic).  The RCA connector was initially used for audio signals. As with many other connectors, it has been adopted for uses other than originally intended, including as a DC power connector, an RF connector, and as a connector for loudspeaker cables. Its use as a connector for composite video signals is extremely common, but provides poor impedance matching. RCA connectors and cable are also commonly used to carry S/PDIF-formatted digital audio, with plugs colored orange to differentiate them from other typical connections.  Connections are made by pushing the cable's plug into the female jack on the device. The signal-carrying pin protrudes from the plug, and often comes into contact with the socket before the grounded rings meet, resulting in loud hum or buzz if the audio components do not share a common ground and are powered while making connections. Continuous noise can occur if the plug partially falls out of the jack, breaking the ground connection but not the signal. Some variants of the plug, especially cheaper versions, also give very poor grip and contact between the ground sheaths due to their lack of spring action.  They are often color-coded, yellow for composite video, red for the right audio channel, and white or black for the left channel of stereo audio. This trio (or pair) of jacks can often be found on the back of audio and video equipment. One or more sets are often found on TV sets to facilitate connection of camcorders, other portable video sources and video game consoles. Although nearly all connectors, including analog and S/PDIF audio as well as composite and component video, can use identical 75 Ω cables, sales of special-purpose cables for each use have proliferated. Varying cable quality means that a cheap line-level audio cable might not successfully transfer component video. For digital audio, as long as a connection is successfully made using the cables the sound will remain faithful to the original signal because a digital signal can only be fully received or not received at all. Cables should meet the S/PDIF specification as defined by the international standard IEC 60958-3 for assured performance.  The male plug has a center pin which is 3.175 mm (1/8 inch) in diameter, and is surrounded by an outer shell which is 8.25 mm (1/3 inch) in diameter.

Disadvantages.

One problem with the RCA connector is that, when connecting the male into the female, the inner 'hot' (signal) connection is made before the 'cold' (ground) connection has been guaranteed; this often produces a loud buzz. The "hot" signal wire and signal ground provided by an RCA connection implement an unbalanced connection. A true balanced connection is generally preferred in certain applications, particularly professional settings, because it allows for the use of long cables while reducing susceptibility to external noise.  Using RCA connectors, each signal requires its own plug. Even the simple case of attaching a cassette deck may need four of themtwo for stereo input and two for stereo output. In any common setup this quickly leads to a disarray of cables and confusion in how to connect them. This situation is made worse if one considers more complex signals like component video (a total of three for video and two for analog audio or one for digital coaxial audio).  There have been attempts to introduce combined audio/video connectors for direct signals, but in the analog realm none of these has ever become common, with the exception of Europe where the SCART connector was very successful. For a time the 5-pin DIN connector was popular for bi-directional stereo connection between A/V equipment, but it has been entirely displaced on modern consumer devices. Though RF modulators inherently transmit combined A/V signals in video applications, they depend on broadcast television systems and RF connectors which are not universal worldwide; RF signals are also generally inferior to direct signals due to protocol conversion and the RF limitations of the three major analog TV systems (NTSC, PAL and SECAM).  Before HD television became a standard, nearly all TV sets, VCRs, and DVD players sold in Europe had SCART connectors, although these are sometimes supplemented by RCA and/or RF connectors. SCART-RCA adapters also exist, which usually allow input of composite video and stereo audio. Outside Europe, separate RCA connectors are usually used, supplemented by RF connectors for backward compatibility and simplicity. Although mini-DIN connectors are used for S-Video connections, composite video, component video, and analog audio (mono or stereo) all use RCA connectors unless the signals are sent via SCART. In the digital realm, however, combined A/V connectors are gaining ground; HDMI is commonly used today for consumer electronics, and DisplayPort, a potential competitor to HDMI, is often found on home computers and peripherals.

Color coding in consumer equipment.

Plugs and sockets on consumer equipment are conventionally color-coded to aid correct connections. The standard colors for the various signals are shown below; however, beyond 7.1 audio, the standard has degraded to a more general white/yellow, red/blue, and green/yellow color scheme for each cable respectively.  Stereo audio applications use either black and red, grey and red or white and red RCA connectors; in all three cases, red denotes right. White or purple may also be replaced by black. Some older tape recorders, and equipment like receivers designed to connect to them, use a 5-pin DIN connector to connect left and right for record and playback with a single cable. Adapters between this connector and RCA connectors have used white and red for left and right channel recording, and blue (or sometimes black) and yellow for playback, but this is not universal. Most modern equipment with RCA connectors for recording devices simply uses white and red for all stereo pairs, whether record or playback.  While these are the standard colors found on commercially made products, cables with different-colored connectors may be used, as long as the cable itself is compatible with the application (for example, cables with 75 ohms impedance for video and SPDIF).

An RCA connector, sometimes called a phono connector or (in other languages) Cinch connector, is a type of electrical connector commonly used to carry audio and video signals. The name "RCA" derives from the Radio Corporation of America, which introduced the design by the early 1940s for internal connection of the pickup to the chassis in home radio-phonograph consoles. It was originally a low-cost, simple design, intended only for mating and disconnection when servicing the console. Refinement came with later designs, although they remained compatible.

Cinch (konektor RCA) je standard pro připojení audio, video nebo digitálního přenosu. Cinch se rozděluje na vidlici (neboli samec) a konektor (neboli samice). Konektor je většinou zabudován v zařízení nebo prodlužovacím či propojovacím kabelu a vidlice je koncovka, která se do konektoru vsouvá. Cinch na rozdíl od jacku vede maximálně dvojici kontaktů a oproti jacku má ve stereo režimu dvakrát zem. Cinch se využívá i v elektro soupravách, tam se nazývá MultiPort (toto označení pochází od společnosti TK Electro)


Early life.

Frank Carlton Serafino Feranna, Jr. was born on December 11, 1958 in San Jose, California. He is of Italian ancestry on his father's side. Sixx was partially raised by his single mother, Deana Richards, and by his grandparents after his father left the family. Feranna later moved in with his grandparents after his mother abandoned him. Feranna relocated several times while living with his grandparents. Feranna's uncle, husband of Deana's sister Sharon, is Don Zimmerman, producer and president of Capitol Records. Feranna had one full biological sister, Lisa (born with Down syndrome; died circa 2000) and has one (half) brother Rodney Anthony Feranna (born 1966) and a half-sister Ceci.  Feranna grew up listening to Deep Purple, Harry Nilsson, The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, Elton John, Queen, Black Sabbath and later discovered T. Rex, David Bowie, and Slade. While living in Jerome, Idaho, Feranna's youth years turned out to be a troubled one, as he became a teenage vandal, broke into neighbors' homes, shoplifted, and was expelled from school for selling drugs. His grandparents sent him to live with his mother, who had moved to Seattle. Feranna lived there for a short time, and learned how to play the bass guitar having bought his first instrument with money gained from selling a guitar he had stolen.

Career.

Early career, Sister, London (1975–1979).

At the age of 17, Feranna moved to Los Angeles, and began various jobs such as working at a liquor store and selling vacuum cleaners over the phone while he auditioned for bands. He eventually joined the band, Sister, led by Blackie Lawless, after answering an ad in "The Recycler" for a bass player. Soon after recording a demo, Feranna was fired from Sister along with bandmate Lizzie Grey.  Feranna and Grey formed the band, London, soon afterwards, in 1978. During this time, Feranna legally changed his name to Nikki Sixx. After a number of lineup changes, London added former Mott the Hoople singer Nigel Benjamin to the group recording a 16-track demo in Burbank. After the departure of Benjamin, along with the failure to find a replacement, Sixx departed London. The group would go on to feature Sixx's former Sister bandmate Blackie Lawless (later of W.A.S.P.), Izzy Stradlin (then of Hollywood Rose, later of Guns N' Roses) and drummer Fred Coury (later of Cinderella). In 2000, a number of the London demos recorded with Sixx were included on "London Daze" by Spiders & Snakes, led by former London guitarist Lizzie Grey.

Mötley Crüe (1981–2015).

In 1981, Sixx founded Mötley Crüe alongside drummer Tommy Lee. They were later joined by guitarist Mick Mars through an ad in the local newspaper, and singer Vince Neil, with whom Lee had attended high school. The band self-recorded their debut album, "Too Fast for Love", which was subsequently released in November 1981 on the band's own Leathür Records label. After signing with Elektra Records, they re-released the same album. The band then went on to record and release "Shout at the Devil", raising the band to national fame. They issued three more albums during the 80's, "Theatre of Pain" in 1985, "Girls, Girls, Girls" in 1987, and "Dr. Feelgood" in 1989. The latter ended up being their most successful record, staying in the charts for 114 weeks after its release.  During his time with Mötley Crüe, Sixx became addicted to heroin. He is quoted in "The Heroin Diaries" as saying: "Alcohol, acid, cocaine... they were just affairs. When I met heroin it was true love." He estimates he overdosed "about half a dozen times". On December 23, 1987, Sixx overdosed on heroin and was reportedly declared clinically dead for two minutes before a paramedic revived him with two syringes full of adrenaline. After releasing the compilation album, "Decade of Decadence", in 1991, Neil left the group, and was replaced by John Corabi, who formerly served with The Scream. They released one self titled album with Corabi, in 1994, before firing him in 1996. Afterwards, they reunited with Neil, with whom they released "Generation Swine" in 1997.  Sixx had become controversial for an October 30, 1997 incident at Greensboro Coliseum, in which during a Mötley Crüe concert, he used racial epithets while goading the audience to physically attack a black security guard for repeatedly attacking a female fan. In May 2001, Sixx addressed the issue, and claimed he had apologized to the victim of the incident.  In 1999, Tommy Lee left the group to form Methods of Mayhem. He was replaced by former Ozzy Osbourne drummer, Randy Castillo, with whom they released the album, "New Tattoo", in 2000. The group went on hiatus soon after before reuniting in 2004, during which Sixx declared himself sober. A 2001 autobiography entitled "The Dirt" packaged the band as "the world's most notorious rock band". The book made the top ten on "The New York Times" Best Seller list and spent ten weeks there.  In 2006, Mötley Crüe completed a reunion tour, featuring all four original members, and embarked on a co-headlining tour with Aerosmith, called The Route of All Evil. In April 2008, the band announced the first "Crüe Fest", a summer tour, that featured Sixx's side project, Buckcherry, Papa Roach and Trapt. On June 24, 2008, Mötley Crüe released their ninth and final studio album, "Saints of Los Angeles", with Sixx credited as either writer or co-writer on all tracks. The band officially retired in 2015.  Sixx wrote most of Mötley Crüe's material, including tracks such as "Live Wire", "Home Sweet Home", "Girls, Girls, Girls", "Kickstart My Heart", "Wild Side", "Hooligan's Holiday" and "Dr. Feelgood". In the 1990s, all four members began contributing to the material on the albums.

58 (2000).

In 2000, Sixx formed the internet based side project 58 with producer Dave Darling, guitarist Steve Gibb (formerly of Black Label Society and Crowbar) and drummer Bucket Baker. They released one single, titled "Piece of Candy", and their debut album, "Diet for a New America", also in 2000 through Sixx's Americoma label and Beyond Records. The group did not tour, and was described by Sixx as "strictly an artistic thing."

Brides of Destruction (2002–2004).

Brides of Destruction were formed by Sixx and Tracii Guns in Los Angeles 2002 initially with the name Cockstar after Mötley Crüe went on hiatus and Guns left L.A. Guns. Sixx also invited former Beautiful Creatures guitarist DJ Ashba to join the group however he declined to focus on his solo band, ASHBA. Ashba would eventually join Sixx in.  After a few lineup changes, that included Sixx's former Mötley Crüe bandmate John Corabi, keyboardist Adam Hamilton and drummer Kris Kohls of Adema, the group was composed of Sixx, Guns, singer London LeGrand and drummer Scot Coogan formerly of Ednaswap and Annetenna.  They were advised by radio programmers that the name Cockstar would not be announced on air. They briefly adopted the moniker Motordog before settling on Brides of Destruction.  They entered the studio with producer Stevo Bruno to begin recording what would become "Here Come the Brides". The Brides played their first show opening for Mudvayne and Taproot on November 14, 2002 at the Ventura Theatre in California.  After signing a deal with Sanctuary Records, the group released "Here Come the Brides" in 2004, with the album debuting at number 92 on the "Billboard" 200 selling over 13,000 copies. A tour of the US, Europe, including an appearance at Download Festival in the United Kingdom, and Australia followed.  On October 25, 2004, it was announced that the group were to go on hiatus while Sixx reunited with Mötley Crüe for a reunion tour. The group continued without Sixx, however, with Guns adding former Amen bassist Scott Sorry to the group as Sixx's replacement. The second Brides of Destruction album, titled "Runaway Brides", released in 2005 featured three songs co-written by Sixx during the "Here Come the Brides" sessions.

Sixx:A.M. (2006–2017).

Sixx formed his own group known as Sixx:A.M. in 2006, initially to record an audio accompaniment to his autobiography "", with friends producer/songwriter James Michael and guitarist DJ Ashba (Guns N' Roses, formerly of Beautiful Creatures and BulletBoys). They recorded and released "The Heroin Diaries Soundtrack" in August 2007 through Eleven Seven. The single, "", received a high ratio of radio and video play peaking at number 2 on the Mainstream Rock Tracks.  The band made their live debut at the Crash Mansion on July 16, 2007. They performed five songs from the album, with former Beautiful Creatures drummer Glen Sobel filling in on the drums. On April 15, 2008, Sixx:A.M. announced they would be touring as part of Mötley Crüe's "Crüe Fest". The tour began on July 1, 2008, in West Palm Beach, Florida. During Crüe Fest, Papa Roach drummer Tony Palermo served as a touring drummer for the band. A deluxe tour edition of "The Heroin Diaries Soundtrack" was released on November 25, 2008, which included a bonus live EP entitled "Live Is Beautiful", which features recorded performances from the band's summer tour.  In April 2009, both Sixx and Michael confirmed that the band was in the studio, recording new material. Sixx added that the new material was "inspiring. it feels like we may have topped ourselves on this album coming up, and can't wait for you to hear what it sounds like."  In 2010, the group continued recording the album with plans to release it by the late 2010/early 2011 with the group bringing in Paul R. Brown to shoot the video for the album's first single. During an interview in July, Sixx stated that the album was almost finished. "This Is Gonna Hurt", the band's second studio album, was released on May 3, 2011. A third studio album, "Modern Vintage", was released in 2014. "Prayers for the Damned" and "Prayers for the Blessed" were released in 2016.  The band went on hiatus in 2017, with other members DJ Ashba and James Michael forming a new band, Pyromantic.

Other work.

In 1989, Sixx was a featured guest artist on the album "Fire and Gasoline" by Steve Jones, formerly of the Sex Pistols. Sixx co-wrote and performed on the song, "We're No Saints". In 1991, Sixx played bass on "Feed My Frankenstein" on Alice Cooper's "Hey Stoopid" album. Sixx co-wrote the track "Die For You", along with Cooper and Mötley Crüe guitarist Mick Mars. In 2002, Sixx played on Butch Walkers first solo album "Left of Self Centered". In 2005, he collaborated with the Norwegian singer Marion Raven on two songs, "Heads Will Roll" and "Surfing the Sun", for Raven's debut album, "Here I Am". A new version of "Heads Will Roll" appeared on Raven's 2006 EP "Heads Will Roll" and on her 2007 U.S. debut album, "Set Me Free". In 2006, he was one of the songwriters for Meat Loaf's long-awaited album, "".  In September 2007, Sixx released a book titled "", a collection of his journal entries from 1986 and 1987 (when his heroin addiction was at its most dangerous). Written with British journalist Ian Gittins, it presents the present-day viewpoints of his bandmates, friends, ex-lovers, caretakers, business associates and family as they respond to specific passages. The book debuted at #7 on "The New York Times Best Seller list". Along with Big & Rich (John Rich and Big Kenny Alphin), and James Otto, Sixx co-wrote "Ain't Gonna Stop" for Otto's 2008 "Sunset Man" CD on Warner Bros/Raybaw Records. In September 2011, Sixx is scheduled to appear on the live streaming video site backBEAT.

Equipment.

Signature basses.

Sixx is most often seen playing Gibson Thunderbird basses. Between 2000 and 2003 Gibson produced the Nikki Sixx Signature Blackbird. The Gibson Blackbird was for all intents and purposes a standard Thunderbird bass, but with a satin black finish, Iron Crosses on the fretboard instead of dots, an Iron Cross behind the classic Thunderbird logo, and Nikki Sixx's 'opti-grab' (a metal loop installed behind the bridge for hooking the little finger onto while playing). What also made this bass interesting was the lack of volume or tone controls, being replaced by a single on/off switch. Although subtle, this helped give this Blackbird more tone and a higher output. This model was discontinued in 2003, but has recently been put back in production as the Epiphone Nikki Sixx Blackbird. Cosmetically the Epiphone Blackbird is identical to the Gibson original, but with a bolt-on single ply neck, solid mahogany body, different pickups and lower grade parts and manufacturing. The Epiphone model still kept the 'opti-grab,' designed and made first by his bass technician Tim Luzzi, and single on/off switch of the Gibson original. In 2008, Gibson announced a 'limited run' new Nikki Sixx signature bass. Like the original it features a neck through design made of mahogany and walnut, with maple 'wings' to form the body. Unlike the original 'Blackbird' bass, a clear'satin black cherry' finish is given to the instrument, with red'slash' X's on the 3rd, 5th, 7th and 12th frets. A mirror pickguard is also applied, with a red signature and two X's (6 x's on the whole bass) is also a new addition. Unlike the Gibson Blackbird, the new signature featured volume and tone controls, the 'opti-grab', and an on/off switch.

Other basses.

His inspiration to use the Gibson Thunderbird came from Pete "Overend" Watts of Mott the Hoople and John Entwistle of The Who. His first Gibson Thunderbird was a white 1976 model. He would light it on fire with pyro gel during early Mötley Crüe shows, (when they were still a club band) and it finally just disintegrated. He used Fender Precision basses and Rickenbacker basses before he had his first Thunderbird.  Early on, he was sponsored by B.C. Rich, and used Mockingbird & Warlock basses. He used Hamer Firebird basses during the tour for "Theatre of Pain", in either plain black or plain white, while some of them had finishes that suited his stage outfits. After that, he used Spector basses during "Girls, Girls, Girls" and "Dr. Feelgood". These Spector basses were shaped like Thunderbirds, and usually are commonly called Spectorbirds. Sixx owned at least eight Spectorbirds. All eight had an opti-grab, designed and made by Tim Luzzi, 1 volume knob, P & J pickups, 24 frets and Spector bass "Crown" inlays. He used four during the tour for "Girls, Girls, Girls", two black ones and one with a 101 Dalmatians finish, all of which had the Gibson Thunderbird Non-Reverse body type. One of the black basses had a large skull painting covering most of the body. He also used one in a buckeye burl finish with the reverse body style. It had an orange Harley-Davidson Crüe sticker where the Thunderbird logo usually is. These all had black hardware. For "Dr. Feelgood " he used five Spectorbirds, two in sunburst and one in a natural finish. He also used a white one with a Non-Reverse style body, covered in small black stickers and a sticker saying Dancing on Glass. He also used a plain black Spectorbird with a reversed body style, which he smashed at the Make A Difference Foundation Moscow Music Peace Festival in Moscow.  During the 1990s, Sixx started using 12-string basses made in Japan by the Hiroshigi Kids Guitar Company. He owns at least five: a black one with red lettering and white binding, a black one with gold binding, a black one with white lettering and white binding, a red one with "Helter Skelter" written on it, and a green one. The red and green ones have dragon inlays on the body. He also used four- and five-string Epiphone Non-Reverse Thunderbirds for the "Generation Swine" tour and would usually smash one after his bass solo. He has also used Ernie Ball Music Man StingRay 5 basses, most notably while on tour with Brides of Destruction and the two newly recorded songs for the 1998 Mötley Crüe album, "Greatest Hits".  He also has used Fender Precision Basses, particularly when smashing basses at the end of a set. They are usually black Squier Precision Basses with white pickguards. He previously used Ampeg amplifiers with Ampeg 8 x 10" loaded cabinets made with real wood, but had switched to Basson cabinets prior to their going out of business. The Basson cabinets were notoriously heavy (typically running 230–250 lbs), using medium density fiberboard covered with indoor-outdoor carpeting and loaded with Chinese Firestorm 1075 speakers (10"/75 oz magnets) and neoprene surrounds. Many of these cabinets were painted red with latex paint to match tour themes. Basson gave Sixx the cabinets in a marketing move to sell to metal-playing bassists, a very limited market. Basson went out of business in 2010. While recording "The Heroin Diaries Soundtrack", he used a 1959 Fender Precision, which was amplified via 1964 Fender Bassman. Sixx also uses Audiotech Guitar Products Source Selector 1X6 Rack Mount Audio Switcher.

Personal life.

Sixx was engaged to Denise "Vanity" Matthews in 1987. In his autobiography, "", Sixx described his toxic relationship with Matthews. "Vanity came and went during different periods of my addiction. She was a wild black chick who had sung with Prince: she'd also been his lover for a while. At the time I thought of Vanity as a disposable human being, like a used needle. Once its purpose was fulfilled it was ready for the trash, only to be dug up if you were really desperate...We became drug buddies: sometimes, you could even just about call us boyfriend and girlfriend. Vanity also taught me how to really freebase: the first time I based was with Tommy when Mötley just started and only a few times after that. So up until then, I’d been mostly snorting or injecting. But as soon as she showed me the real ins and outs of cooking up a good rock...it was love. Not her. The drug."  From May 1989 to November 1996, Sixx was married to his first wife, "Playboy" Playmate Brandi Brandt; they have three children: Gunner Nicholas Sixx (born January 25, 1991), Storm Brieann Sixx (born April 14, 1994), and Decker Nilsson Sixx (born May 23, 1995).  One month after the divorce from Brandt, Sixx married his second wife, another "Playboy" Playmate, actress Donna D'Errico. Sixx and D'Errico have one daughter, Frankie-Jean Mary Sixx (born January 2, 2001). D'Errico has a son, Rhyan Jacob (born 1993), from a previous relationship. They separated shortly after their daughter's birth, and reconciled months later when Sixx completed rehab. They separated again on April 27, 2006 and divorced in June 2007, with D'Errico claiming irreconcilable differences.  Sixx dated tattoo artist Kat Von D from 2008 to 2010. A few months after their breakup, Sixx and Von D were spotted back together. Sixx was featured on an episode of Von D's reality television show "LA Ink" in 2008, in which Von D gave him a tattoo of Mick Mars, lead guitarist of Mötley Crüe. On August 25, 2010, Sixx issued a statement that their relationship had dissolved. It was reported on October 19, 2010 that Nikki and Kat had gotten back together. On October 27, 2010 Kat Von D confirmed to "USA Today" that indeed she and West Coast Choppers owner Jesse James were still together, debunking original reports that she and Sixx had reconciled. On November 4, 2010 Sixx was spotted at the "Call of Duty: Black Ops" Launch Party in Santa Monica, California with Courtney Bingham, whom he has been dating ever since and they now live together. On November 26, 2012, Nikki revealed to the public that he proposed to Courtney while vacationing in St. Barts. They were married on March 15, 2014.  Bingham gave birth to their first child together, Ruby Sixx on July 27th, 2019. Sixx announced the birth through social media.  Sixx practices Transcendental Meditation, as he considers it an important self-help technique.

Radio shows.

Launched on February 8, 2010, "Sixx Sense with Nikki Sixx" broadcasts Monday through Friday from 7 p.m. to midnight local time on rock/alternative music stations. Each night, host Nikki Sixx discusses music and lifestyle topics as he gives listeners a backstage look at the world and mind of a rock star. Sixx was joined by co-host Kerri Kasem, from its first episode until March 28, 2014. On April 2, it was announced that radio personality Jenn Marino would be joining the show in Kasem's place. The show is based in Dallas, Texas in a studio in the Northpark Center.  Starting on May 7, 2012, KEGL in Dallas/Fort Worth, Texas moved the show to mornings, making it the only station to carry the show in the mornings at 6 to 10 AM local time instead of the evening's time slot. The show is customized for the Dallas/Fort Worth listeners for broadcast in the mornings on KEGL. Sixx said that bringing Sixx Sense to mornings "has always been our goal. Who better to start your morning with than a rock star and a hot chick? It's a dream come true to have a morning show on one of America's best rock stations." however, one year later, Sixx Sense returned to evenings at KEGL. In addition, recent episodes of "Sixx Sense" air 24/7 on its own iHeartRadio streaming page.  "The Side Show with Nikki Sixx" is a two-hour original weekend program. Airing Saturday or Sunday between 6 a.m. and midnight local time, Nikki Sixx will air top-charting songs, showcase new and emerging artists, and welcome guests from the worlds of music and entertainment. In October 2017 Sixx announced he would step down from "Sixx Sense" on December 31, 2017.

Running Wild in the Night.

With the formation of Sixx:A.M. and the release of "The Heroin Diaries", Nikki Sixx teamed up with an already existing charity known as the Covenant House and created his own branch called Running Wild in the Night. In addition to partially funding the services the Covenant House provides on its own, Sixx's division also provides a creative arts and music program. Sixx has negotiated with people in his industry to provide the program with musical instruments and software.  A Portion of the profits from Sixx:A.M.’s album "The Heroin Diaries Soundtrack" and his autobiography, "The Heroin Diaries: A Year in the Life of a Shattered Rock Star" is donated to help the Covenant House. He continues to auction off personal items to fund Running Wild in the Night. As of April 2009, he had raised over $100,000.

Nikki Sixx (born Frank Carlton Serafino Feranna Jr.; December 11, 1958) is an American musician, songwriter, radio host, and photographer, best known as the co-founder, bassist, and primary songwriter of the band Mötley Crüe. Prior to forming Mötley Crüe, Sixx was a member of Sister before going on to form London with his Sister bandmate Lizzie Grey. In 2000, he formed side project group 58 with Dave Darling, Steve Gibb and Bucket Baker issuing one album, titled "Diet for a New America", the same year while, in 2002, he formed the hard rock supergroup Brides of Destruction with L.A. Guns guitarist Tracii Guns. Formed in 2006, initially to record an audio accompaniment to Sixx's autobiography "", his side band features songwriter, producer, and vocalist James Michael and guitarist DJ Ashba.

Nikki Sixx (* jako Frank Carlton Serafino Feranna, Jr.; 11. prosince 1958, San José, Kalifornie, USA) je americký hudebník, baskytarista, fotograf a zakladatel heavy metalové skupiny Mötley Crüe. Pravým jménem Frank Feranna (po svém otci), které si v šestnácti letech změnil, aby svého otce ze svého života odškrtnul.


Development.

Background.

During the early 1950s, the British government had identified the need to develop its own series of ballistic missiles due to advances being made in this field, particularly by the Soviet Union and the United States. A British programme to develop such a missile, named Blue Streak, was promptly initiated; however, there were key questions over the then-relatively unknown scenario of what such a vehicle would encounter when attempting re-entry to the atmosphere, there were fears that such a vehicle might simply burn up like a meteor and therefore be unachievable. Accordingly, during 1955, the Black Knight research rocket programme was commenced for this purpose. Following several launches, the Black Knight became to be regarded as a successful programme, having produced a relatively low cost and reliable rocket, and thus there was impetus present to proceed with further development of the platform.  On 13 April 1960, the Defence Minister Harold Watkinson announced the cancellation of Blue Streak as a military programme, and went on to state that: "the Government will now consider with the firms and other interests concerned, as a matter of urgency, whether the Blue Streak programme could be adapted for the development of a launcher for space satellites." While development of the Blue Streak missile continued with the view of using it as a capable satellite launcher, the rate of work was substantially slowed. Aerospace author C.N Hill wrote that this declaration had been made: "Mainly, I suspect, to minimise the political damage that ensued from the [Blue Streak] decision".  In 1957, a proposed design, known as Black Prince, was put forward by Desmond King-Hele and Doreen Gilmour of the Royal Aircraft Establishment (RAE) during 1957. As envisioned by this proposal, an expendable launch system could be developed using a mix of preexisting and in-development assets; the multi-stage launcher was to be formed of a Blue Streak first stage, a Black Knight (or later a Black Arrow) second stage, and a military solid rocket as a third stage.  In 1960, the Royal Aircraft Establishment at Farnborough was given the job of considering how the Blue Streak missile could be adapted as a satellite launching vehicle, in conjunction with other rocket stages. Accordingly, the 1957 concept design for a combined Blue Streak-Black Knight launcher was put forward once again, and this time received a favourable appraisal; the project was assigned the rainbow code of "Black Prince"; in official documentation, the platform was referred to as the "Blue Streak Satellite Launch Vehicle" (BSSLV). However, it was quickly recognised that the programme's cost would be a major issue, one estimate of the total development costs would have been equal of half of the Britain's university budget.  Along with the high costs involved, it was becoming clear that, due to British military satellites already being delivered by American launchers and the domestic science community being perceived as lacking the funding to conduct multiple major research satellite programmes at once, that domestic demand for such a launcher was not guaranteed. Accordingly, it was decided that it would be preferable for other nations to be involved in the programme in order to share the burden of the costs and to be predisposed to making use of the launcher. Diplomatic approaches were made to various nations, however it became obvious that the members of the Commonwealth of Nations alone were not prepared to provide the necessary backing for such a programme.

Collaboration.

As early as 1961, Peter Thorneycroft, the Minister of Aviation, had been giving some thought on the topic of a joint European project, the main intention of this ambition being to not waste the advanced development of the Blue Streak, and to also not leave space exploration to the Americans and Russians. Britain also made diplomatic approaches to various European nations, the most significant of these being to France. Overtures between the British Government and the French Government on potential cooperation on missile research, and specifically on the potential use of the Blue Streak as early as 1957. Britain and France came to a mutual agreement to serve as the join lead nations on the envisioned programme, while also recognising that other partner nations would be necessary.  Both France and Britain approached various other nations to join on the collaborative programme, however negotiations with interested nations were often protracted, in part due to there having been a prevailing attitude of scepticism; author C.N. Hill stated that "many countries thought that the U.K. was seeking to foist an obsolescent launch vehicle on them, and making them pay the costs". The participation of many nations hinged upon gaining the endorsement of Germany, who was eventually won over and chose to participate. As a result of this diplomacy, it was decided to proceed with the formation of the European Launcher Development Organisation (ELDO) group.  Headquartered in Paris, the founding members of the ELDO were Belgium, France, the United Kingdom, Italy, the Netherlands and West Germany; while Australia, Spain, Switzerland, Norway, and Sweden had chosen to decline participation. The ELDO not only served the purpose of harnessing Blue Streak, but also fulfilled ambitions to produce a European rival to the American and Soviet launchers being developed and deployed at that time. In response to the rise of the ELDO initiative, work on the competing Black Prince launcher gradually came to a halt as attention from the British government drifted towards European collaboration.  Following the study of various designs and concepts, the ELDO arrived at a three-stage approach which was given the designation "Eldo A", this was later formally named as "Europa". According to Hill, the Black Prince and Europa were comparable launchers capable to delivering similar performance and roughly the same payloads, the overlap leaving little room for both programmes. However, there was criticisms that Europa would take longer to deliver than the Black Prince launcher for no significant improvement, while suffering from the same core economic problem of being too expensive for scientific satellites while too small for commercial communications satellites.  In January 1965, the French thought the initial three-stage rocket design would not be sufficiently advanced to carry the size of payloads required, while another rocket - referred to as "Eldo B" - which featured liquid hydrogen-fuelled second and third stages, came to be viewed as being a superior design, partly due to reduce the cost of the project via the elimination of transition test launchers. It would still use the Blue Streak as the first stage. The ELDO later disagreed, but the French would ultimately get their way when Eldo B became the foundation for the later Ariane launcher, which would first launch in 1979.

Rising costs and restructuring.

By April 1966, the project's estimated costs had increased to £150 million from an initial estimate of £70 million. By this point, hopes amongst several of the participants were not high that Europa would be suitable for the envisioned task; the Italians wanted to abandon the ELDO and instead participate in a single European space organisation that would not be as nationally divided as the ELDO. The first launch had been originally planned for November 1966; however, the first two-stage launch occurred in August 1967, while the full three stages (Europa 1) performed its first combined launch in November 1968.  During the mid 1960s, Britain had been contributing 40 per cent of the programme's costs. In early June 1966, the British government (Fred Mulley) decided it could not afford the cost of Europa and sought to leave the ELDO organisation - one of the few European organisations by which point it had become a lead player. Britain's contribution was reduced to 27 per cent. This was also at a time when satellite technology was on the verge of changing the world. However, the soon-to-be-common geosynchronous satellites necessitated being positioned at an altitude of 22,000 miles (35 400 km) above Earth, which was far beyond the performance of Europa 1, being capable of launching satellites to a 125 miles (200 km) altitude.  In November 1968, a European Space Conference held in Bonn decided on a proposal to merge the ELDO with the ESRO, forming a pan-European space authority by early 1970; known as the European Space Agency (ESA), this organisation would not be formed until 1975. Britain was lukewarm to the idea and did not believe that Europe could launch satellites economically. By 1970, the French launch base in French Guiana had cost £45 million, and in that year France became the most important partner in the project, then planning to build two-thirds of the rocket as well as owning the launch site. Although only on paper, Britain's involvement in the project has been much reduced, after being largely responsible (with an Australian launch site) for getting the entire project going in the first place. However, all of the launchers, to the very end of the programme, were completely dependent on the British rocket used for the first stage.  By 1970, the project was under a perceived economic threat from America's offer to fly satellites for foreign powers on a reimbursable basis. That agreement had been signed between ESRO and NASA on 30 December 1966 and by 1970 it was becoming clear that the advantage in having a national launch vehicle was insufficient to justify the cost. In 1972, NASA approved development of the reusable Space Shuttle, which at that time was largely perceived to eventually offer greater savings over the launching of satellites using an expendable system. These hopes the Shuttle delivering lower costs would ultimately prove to be hollow. By 1971, over £250 million had been spent on the Europa programme; the Europa 2 itself cost over £4 million.  On 27 April 1973, Europa was abandoned. On 21 September 1973, the legal agreement for the L3S, which later became known as the Ariane 1, was signed. Under this agreement, the Europa III was formally cancelled, while the L3S would be developed as a multinational project. From the onset, this new launcher was to be developed for the purpose of sending commercial satellites into geosynchronous orbit, unlike many other competing launchers, which had been typically developed for other purposes and subsequently adapted, such as ballistic missiles.

Division of labour.

Workshare on the programme was a politically charged matter. Tasks were to be distributed between nations: the United Kingdom would provide the first stage (derived from the Blue Streak missile), France would build the second and Germany would construct the third stage. It would carry a satellite, which would be designed and manufactured in Italy, and weighted roughly a ton. The telemetry was to be developed by the Netherlands, while Belgium was to develop the downrange ground guidance system.  By 1969, the ELDO was beginning to realize that dividing work up by country led to not enough overall collaboration and had resulted in a disjointed framework of planning. This disjointed structure has been accredited as having been responsible for the lack of successful launch. In affect, there had been no single authority or group that was entirely responsible or in control of Europa. Notably, in November 1971, the West Germans publicly blamed the failure and explosion of Europa 2 upon immense divisions within ELDO.

Programme stages.

The Europa programme was divided into 4 separate projects intended to follow each other in succession. Ultimately, only two of these projects would have any launches conducted, the third project being cancelled while the fourth remained a case study only:

Design.

Payloads.

The payload for the rocket was overseen by the European Space Research Organization - ESRO. Satellites were proposed to be launched by 1969 or 1970, in a circular polar orbit at an altitude of 125 miles (200 km). ESRO organised the development of early satellites such as ESRO 2B (Iris), built by Hawker Siddeley Dynamics and Engins Matra.  In 1967, it was decided the payloads were to be launched by 1970 from French Guiana, not Australia. In April 1969, Britain decided to invest in a satellite television project by the European Broadcasting Union.  By the early 1970s the French-German Symphonie communications satellite were in production, but by then Europa was cancelled in November 1971.

First stage.

It was tested three times in 1964, and also in 1965, with a dummy upper stages in 1965. It was assisted by the British National Committee for Space Research. The chief project engineer of the rocket's assembly at the space projects division of Hawker Siddeley Dynamics was Dr Geoffrey Pardoe, also the project manager of Blue Streak from 1956 to 1960 (when under de Havilland). In August 1965, the Blue Streak was tested (static firing trial) with (complete full-weight) dummy upper stages at RAF Spadeadam (the site was owned by Rolls Royce), with first successful firing on 23 September 1965 lasting 135 seconds. Five days later the site was visited by the Minister of Aviation, Roy Jenkins.  In January 1966, it had been transported to Adelaide, Australia, for launches later that year. Also in the UK in 1967 the go-ahead had been given for the UK's (separately developed) three-stage Black Arrow rocket launcher (made by Westland Aircraft, with Bristol Siddeley rocket engines developed at the Rocket Propulsion Establishment at Westcott, Buckinghamshire) - Britain did not need to rely on Europa, and Black Arrow would be ready first. Britain then withdrew from ELDO, to concentrate on the Black Arrow, but was committed to supplying ELDO with two Blue Streak rocket stages a year until 1976. At this time in 1969, Britain was spending £30 million a year on space, controlled from the Space Division of the Ministry of Technology. Britain was still dealing with, and funding, ESRO.  Due to Britain's withdrawal in 1968, ELDO in June 1969 had other ideas than staying with the Blue Streak launcher for Europa's first stage, to give technical work to countries that were still (loyally) part of the organisation. Unfortunately, few other European countries had sufficiently advanced technical knowledge of rockets at that time. The Blue Streak had worked much more successfully than the other engine stages. Nonetheless Blue Streak, ELDO's most successful rocket to that date, was replaced. On 28 April 1970 at a meeting in Paris, ELDO replaced the Blue Streak with the French-made Diamant. Britain's most significant involvement with the project came to an end. The following year Britain would put its own rocket programme, Black Arrow, (prematurely) out of operation.  By 1970 Hawker Siddeley's Blue Streak launcher had cost £100 million to develop. It was still planned to be used on Europa until 1973, when Diamant would be used as the first stage. Blue Streak was used for the Europa 2's one and only launch on 5 November 1971.

Second stage.

The French had developed rockets through their Véronique, which was originally planned to be the second stage.  The Coralie was to be tested at Colomb-Béchar in the Béchar Province of western Algeria. Tests began in December 1965 at Vernon, Eure in France, west of Paris. The first successful firing was on 28 November 1966 in northern Africa.  Société Européenne de Propulsion (SEP), at Vernon, would later develop the Viking main engines for Ariane.

Third stage.

This was made in Germany by Entwicklungsring Nord (ERNO Raumfahrttechnik GmbH), based in Bremen, from 1969. The German consortium itself was known as Arbeitsgemeinschaft Satellitenträgersystem (ASAT), which consisted of ERNO and MBB. Although assembled by ERNO in Bremen, the engine was made by Société d'Etudes pour la Propulsion par Réaction (SEPR), part of Snecma in Villaroche.  On 2 July 1969, on a launch at Woomera of the three-stage 108 foot (33 m) rocket, the "Astris" third stage failed to light, after the other two had successfully fired.  After the third stage, an apogee kick motor would be used to put a satellite into a synchronous orbit.  ERNO would later develop the second stage for the Ariane launcher, at the Vereinigte Flugtechnische Werke (VFW) factory in Bremen, later owned by Daimler Benz Aerospace then DaimlerChrysler Aerospace (DASA).

Operational history.

The first test took place at 9.14am local time on 5 June 1964 at Woomera. Thrust was terminated after 147 seconds, 6 seconds earlier than planned. The point of impact was 625 miles (1000 km) from the launch site, instead of the intended 950 miles (1500 km). It reached a height of 110 miles (180 km) and a maximum speed of. Near space is considered to be around 60–70 miles (90–110 km). The craft's structure was built by Hawker Siddeley Dynamics and the rocket engine were the Rolls-Royce RZ.2. At this stage the French and German rocket stages were mere fibre-glass scale models.  The first full-size launch, weighing in total 104 tons, took place at Woomera on 24 May 1966, with dummy upper stages. Tests were conducted by Australia's Weapons Research Establishment and the French Laboratoire de Recherche en Balistique et Aérodynamique (based at Vernon). After two minutes and fifteen seconds, six seconds short of the planned flight, the rocket was destroyed as it was thought (by an impact predictor) to be veering west of the planned trajectory. However, the rocket was exactly on courses and inaccurate readings had been picked up by a radar station 120 miles (190 km) away.  Two-stage testing was planned for June 1967. At 11.12pm GMT on 30 November 1968, the first three-stage Europa 1 launcher put a 550 lb (250 kg) Italian satellite-model into orbit.  The first launch from French Guiana on 5 November 1971 was also the first launch of the four-stage Europa 2. It exploded over the Atlantic after three minutes. It landed in the sea 302 miles (486 km) from the launch site, and had reached a height of 40 miles (65 km).  Overall, the Europa programme had been heavily marred by technical problems. Although the first stage (the British Blue Streak) had launched successfully on each occasion, either the second or third stage would fail during every launch, preventing a fully successful launch from ever having been achieved. This disappointing performance heavily contributed to work on the programme being terminated.

The Europa rocket was an early expendable launch system of the European Launcher Development Organisation (ELDO), which was the precursor to the European Space Agency (ESA). It was developed with the aim to delivering space access technology, and more specifically to facilitate the deployment of European-wide telecommunication and meteorological satellites into orbit.

Europa byla nosná raketa, vyvíjená ve spolupráci několika západoevropských zemí. Vývoj probíhal pod záštitou multinárodního konsorcia "European Launcher Development Organisation" (ELDO). O vývoji rakety bylo rozhodnuto na konferenci konané na začátku roku 1961 ve Strasbourgu, kde se sešlo dvanáct evropských zemí k projednání britsko-francouzského návrhu na společný vývoj nového kosmického nosiče. Jedinou neevropskou zemí byla Austrálie, která byla přizvána výměnou za povolení využít její základnu Woomera Missile Range.