Kurs

Kurs or KURS may refer to:

See also

Curonians

The Curonians or Kurs (Curonian: Kursi; German: Kuren; Latvian: kurši; Russian: курши; Lithuanian: kuršiai; Estonian: kuralased; Polish: Kurowie) were a Baltic tribe living on the shores of the Baltic Sea in what are now the western parts of Latvia and Lithuania from the 5th to the 16th centuries, when they merged with other Baltic tribes. They gave their name to the region of Courland (Kurzeme), and they spoke the Old Curonian language. Curonian lands were conquered by the Livonian Order in 1266 and they eventually merged with other Baltic tribes participating in the ethnogenesis of Lithuanians and Latvians. Direct descendants of the Curonians include the Kuršininkai of the Curonian Spit and the so-called Curonian Kings of Courland.

History

The Curonians were known as fierce warriors, excellent sailors and pirates. They were involved in several wars and alliances with Swedish, Danish, Icelandic and Kven Vikings. During that period they were the most restless and the richest of all the Balts.

Kurs (docking navigation system)

Kurs ( Ukrainian and Russian: Курс, Course) is a radio telemetry system used by the Soviet and later Russian space program.

Kurs was developed by the Research Institute of Precision Instruments (NII TP, Russian: НИИ Точных Приборов) before 1985 and manufactured by the Kiev Radio Factory (Ukrainian: Київський Радіозавод).

History

Kurs was the successor to the Igla system and today provides navigation beaconing for Russian space vehicles including the Soyuz spacecraft and Progress spacecraft. Kurs provided the automated docking system for all Russian spacecraft that docked with the Mir space station. When used for docking, the Soyuz or Progress vehicle broadcasts radar pulses from multiple antennas. The variation in strength between the antennas allows the system to compute relative position, attitude, and approach rate. The system is designed for automatic rendezvous and docking, but in an emergency cosmonauts may take command of the vehicle either locally, or from the International Space Station.