Rockot launches ESA satellites
Posted: Mon, Nov 2, 2009, 1:03 PM ET (1803 GMT)
A Russian Rockot vehicle placed two European satellites into orbit early Monday. The Rockot booster lifted off from the Plesetsk Cosmodome in northern Russia at 8:50 pm EST Sunday (0150 GMT Monday) and placed into low Earth orbit the SMOS and Proba-2 satellites for the European Space Agency. SMOS (Soil Moisture and Ocean Salinity) is a 650-kilogram ESA satellite designed to measure moisture levels in soil and salinity levels in oceans to better understand global climate. The 135-kilogram Proba-2 spacecraft is a technology demonstration mission, testing technologies ranging from star trackers to thrusters.
A Russian Rockot vehicle placed two European satellites into orbit early Monday. The Rockot booster lifted off from the Plesetsk Cosmodome in northern Russia at 8:50 pm EST Sunday (0150 GMT Monday) and placed into low Earth orbit the SMOS and Proba-2 satellites for the European Space Agency. SMOS (Soil Moisture and Ocean Salinity) is a 650-kilogram ESA satellite designed to measure moisture levels in soil and salinity levels in oceans to better understand global climate. The 135-kilogram Proba-2 spacecraft is a technology demonstration mission, testing technologies ranging from star trackers to thrusters.
Related Links:
| <<previous article | next article>> |
|
news in brief
|
|
|
|
news links
|
|
Sunday, March 21
Military sites could help launch SA into space
The Times (South Africa) — 9:42 am ET (1342 GMT) New Mexico residents have yet to book spaceflights
Las Cruces (NM) Sun-News — 9:42 am ET (1342 GMT) The dotcom millionaires launching their own private space race
The Guardian — 9:37 am ET (1337 GMT) NASA jobs in limbo
Galveston Daily News — 9:33 am ET (1333 GMT) Satellite sending solar-storm data to CU
Denver Post — 9:32 am ET (1332 GMT) |