Hammaguir
{{About|the Algerian village|the Martian crater|Hammaguir (crater)|the crater on 25143 Itokawa|25143_Itokawa#Craters}}
{{Infobox settlement
|official_name = Hammaguir
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|settlement_type = Village and air base
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|pushpin_map = Algeria
|pushpin_label_position = bottom
|pushpin_mapsize = 300
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|subdivision_type = Country
|subdivision_name = {{flag|Algeria}}
|subdivision_type1 = Province
|subdivision_name1 = Béchar Province
|subdivision_type2 = District
|subdivision_name2 = Abadla District
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|timezone = CET
|utc_offset = +1
|coordinates = {{coord|30|54|N|3|2|W|display=inline,title}}
|elevation_footnotes =
|elevation_m = 744
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Hammaguir (also written Hamaguir and Hammaguira) ({{langx|ar| حماقير}}) is a village in Abadla District, Béchar Province, Algeria, south-west of Béchar. It lies on the N50 national highway between Béchar and Tindouf. The location is notable for its role in French rocketry.{{cite web|last1=Wade|first1=Mark|title=Hammaguira|url=http://www.astronautix.com/h/hammaguira.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160907125943/http://www.astronautix.com/h/hammaguira.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=September 7, 2016|website=Astronautix}}
Hamaguir Airport is located there.{{cite web|title=Hamaguir Airport|url=http://www.ourairports.com/airports/DA11/|publisher=OurAirports|access-date=12 March 2013}}
Role in French rocketry and spaceflight
{{Main|Centre interarmées d'essais d'engins spéciaux}}
Between 1947 and 1967 there was a rocket launch site, the Interarmy Special Vehicles Test Centre (abbreviated CIEES in French), near Hammaguir, used by France for launching sounding rockets and the satellite carrier "Diamant" between 1965 and 1967. The Diamant launch pad at Hammaguir is located at [https://tools.wmflabs.org/geohack/geohack.php?pagename=Diamant_A_Launch_Pad¶ms=30_46_41_N_3_3_14_W 30° 46′ 41″ N, 3° 3′ 14″ W]. The CIEES facility was also used for testing surface-to-air and air-to-air missiles.
The first French satellite Astérix was launched from there in 1965.{{cite web|title=Le CIEES (Centre Interarmées d'Essais d'Engins Spéciaux)|url=http://fuseurop.univ-perp.fr/sahara_f.htm|access-date=12 March 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130115045503/http://fuseurop.univ-perp.fr/sahara_f.htm|archive-date=15 January 2013|language=fr|url-status=dead}}
In honor of its role in the early development of French spaceflight, its name was given to a Martian crater in 1979{{cite web|title=Planetary Names: Crater, craters: Hamaguir on Mars|url=https://planetarynames.wr.usgs.gov/Feature/2337|website=Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature|publisher=Working Group for Planetary System Nomenclature (WGPSN)|access-date=28 April 2018|date=November 17, 2010}} and to an asteroid crater in 2009.{{cite web|title=Planetary Names: Crater, craters: Hammaguira on Itokawa|url=https://planetarynames.wr.usgs.gov/Feature/14551|website=Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature|publisher=Working Group for Planetary System Nomenclature (WGPSN)|access-date=28 April 2018|date=June 15, 2010}}
=Notable Launches=
| class="wikitable"
! style="background:#efefef; align="center" | Date of launch | Satellite | Payload mass | Support rocket | References |
| align="center" |18 October 1963 | align="center" | Félicette (cat) | align="right" | 15 kg | align="center" | Véronique | align="center" | {{Cite AV media |url=http://www.ina.fr/video/CAF93019883 |title=Félicette, la 1ère chatte astronaute |date=15 November 1963 |last=Jouin |first=Georges |type=Video |language=fr |publisher=Radiodiffusion-Télévision Française |access-date=16 May 2018}} |
| align="center" |26 November 1965 | align="center" | Astérix-1 | align="right" | 40 kg | align="center" | Diamant | align="center" | |
| align="center" |8 February 1967 | align="center" | Diadéme-1 | align="right" | 22.7 kg | align="center" | Diamant | align="center" | |
| align="center" |15 February 1967 | align="center" | Diadéme-2 | align="right" | 22.7 kg | align="center" | Diamant | align="center" | |
Climate
Hammaguir has a hot desert climate, with extremely hot summers and cool winters, and very little precipitation throughout the year.
{{Weather box
| location = Hammaguir
| metric first = yes
| single line = yes
| Jan high C = 17.1
| Feb high C = 20.3
| Mar high C = 23.7
| Apr high C = 28.4
| May high C = 33.2
| Jun high C = 38.0
| Jul high C = 42.6
| Aug high C = 41.2
| Sep high C = 35.3
| Oct high C = 28.8
| Nov high C = 21.6
| Dec high C = 17.6
| Jan mean C = 9.8
| Feb mean C = 12.8
| Mar mean C = 16.2
| Apr mean C = 20.6
| May mean C = 25.3
| Jun mean C = 30.0
| Jul mean C = 34.3
| Aug mean C = 33.3
| Sep mean C = 27.9
| Oct mean C = 21.7
| Nov mean C = 15.0
| Dec mean C = 10.7
| Jan low C = 2.5
| Feb low C = 5.3
| Mar low C = 8.8
| Apr low C = 12.9
| May low C = 17.4
| Jun low C = 22.1
| Jul low C = 26.1
| Aug low C = 25.4
| Sep low C = 20.6
| Oct low C = 14.6
| Nov low C = 8.5
| Dec low C = 3.8
| Jan precipitation mm = 5
| Feb precipitation mm = 5
| Mar precipitation mm = 7
| Apr precipitation mm = 5
| May precipitation mm = 4
| Jun precipitation mm = 3
| Jul precipitation mm = 3
| Aug precipitation mm = 4
| Sep precipitation mm = 6
| Oct precipitation mm = 9
| Nov precipitation mm = 11
| Dec precipitation mm = 6
| source 1 = climate-data.org{{cite web|title=Climate data for: Hamaguir|url=http://en.climate-data.org/location/322036/|publisher=climate-data.org|access-date=12 March 2013}}
| date=March 2013}}
References
{{Reflist}}
{{Clear}}
{{Geographic location
|Centre =
|North = Méridja
|Northeast = Béchar
Abadla
Erg Ferradj
|East = Méchraâ Houari Boumédienne
Taghit
|Southeast = Igli
Béni Abbès
Adrar
|South = Tabelbala
|Southwest = Tindouf
|Northwest =
}}
{{Béchar Province}}
{{Spaceport}}
{{Portal|Spaceflight}}
Category:Populated places in Béchar Province