CloudSat and CALIPSO finally launched
Posted: Fri, Apr 28, 2006, 12:38 PM ET (1638 GMT)
After a week's worth of launch pad delays, a Delta 2 carrying two Earth sciences spacecraft finally lifted off Friday morning. The Delta 2 launched from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California at 6:02 am EDT (1002 GMT) and placed its payloads, the ClousSat and Cloud-Aerosol Lidar and Infrared Pathfinder Satellite Observations (CALIPSO) spacecraft, into polar orbit, the two spacecraft separating from the Delta's upper stage 30 minutes apart starting an hour after launch. The launch had been delayed for the last week because of a litany of issues, ranging from poor weather to a faulty sensor on the rocket to communications problems on the ground. The two spacecraft are designed to study the role of clouds in shaping the planet's climate. CALIPSO, a joint project of NASA and the French space agency CNES, carries a lidar and camera to study clouds and aerosols in the atmosphere; CloudSat has a radar designed to provide a three-dimensional map of cloud cover.
After a week's worth of launch pad delays, a Delta 2 carrying two Earth sciences spacecraft finally lifted off Friday morning. The Delta 2 launched from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California at 6:02 am EDT (1002 GMT) and placed its payloads, the ClousSat and Cloud-Aerosol Lidar and Infrared Pathfinder Satellite Observations (CALIPSO) spacecraft, into polar orbit, the two spacecraft separating from the Delta's upper stage 30 minutes apart starting an hour after launch. The launch had been delayed for the last week because of a litany of issues, ranging from poor weather to a faulty sensor on the rocket to communications problems on the ground. The two spacecraft are designed to study the role of clouds in shaping the planet's climate. CALIPSO, a joint project of NASA and the French space agency CNES, carries a lidar and camera to study clouds and aerosols in the atmosphere; CloudSat has a radar designed to provide a three-dimensional map of cloud cover.
Related Links:
| <<previous article | next article>> |
|
news in brief
|
|
|
|
news links
|
|
Wednesday, January 7
NASA embarks on 3-D movie mission
Variety — 6:33 am ET (1133 GMT) Astronaut tells students about mission
Augusta (ME) Morning Sentinel — 6:33 am ET (1133 GMT) Study: Extra flights could be too risky
Florida Today — 6:32 am ET (1132 GMT) Blast that hurt 7 spurs NASA probe: Dec. 23 incident damages lab on KSC property
Florida Today — 6:32 am ET (1132 GMT) NASA leader to step down: Administrator doesn't expect Obama to re-hire him
Florida Today — 6:31 am ET (1131 GMT) |