The Ariane-5 rocket carrying the SMART-1 Moon exploration probe and two commercial satellites was set to blast off from the European Space Agency (ESA) launch center at Kourou, in French Guiana on the northeast coast of South America, between 8: 02 p. m. and 8: 21 p. m. (9: 02 p. m.
EDT and 9: 21 p. m. ).
Described by ESA as an important instrument “to unravelling some of the secrets of our neighboring world,” SMART-1 will begin a 15-month journey to reach lunar orbit and search for signs of water and ice and provide data on the still uncertain origin of the Moon.
The 370 kg (815 lb) probe is also intended to demonstrate innovative technologies such as solar-electric propulsion that will be needed for future deep-space missions. “Thirty-five years after Apollo and the Russian missions, there remains much we don’t know about the Moon,” David Southwood, ESA’s Director of Scientific Programs, told a news conference in Kourou. “With SMART-1 we can test propulsion in deep-space orbit. The next step, I hope, will be a Mars mission,” he said. ESA has hailed SMART-1 as an example of a ‘faster, better, cheaper’ mission costing only 110 million euros ($126 million) — about one-fifth of a major ESA science mission. It is designed to operate in lunar orbit for up to 30 months.
The rocket will also carry an INSAT 3-E satellite for the Indian Space Research Organization and e-bird for the Paris-based satellite operator Eutelsat. Originally scheduled for launch earlier in the year, the mission was postponed due to technical problems aboard INSAT 3-E. At 11 a. m. EDT, Juan had maximum sustained winds of 85 mph, up about 5 mph from Friday. The fifth hurricane of the Atlantic season was centered about 645 miles south of Halifax, Nova Scotia, moving north-northwest at near 7 mph.
The Essay on Space Exploration Orbited The Earth
People have been venturing out into the universe for many years now. In addition to satellites, both women and men astronauts have traveled into space to collect data about the universe. The first human being, the first animal, and the first spacecraft in orbit, were all achievements of the Soviet Union. In 1958 a group known as The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) was founded. ...
Weak hurricane-force winds were forecast to slam into parts of Nova Scotia late Sunday, but Juan would likely lose strength quickly over the colder waters in the north Atlantic, said hurricane specialist Stacy Stewart at the National Hurricane Center in Miami. ”The winds are going to be more of an impact factor” than the rain, said Chris Sisko, a meteorologist at the hurricane center. Canadian officials have issued rain and wind warnings for Nova Scotia and hurricane-force wind warnings for the waters surrounding the province, he said. Forecasters said the hurricane, the 10 th named storm of the Atlantic hurricane season, might gain some strength before reaching the north Atlantic, Stewart said. Hurricane Gustav clipped Nova Scotia last year, but caused little damage. Meanwhile, a tropical depression remained poorly organized out in the Atlantic, far from land.
Its center was about 1, 200 miles east-northeast of the Lesser Antilles in the northeastern Caribbean. The Atlantic hurricane season began June 1 and runs through Nov. 30. On the Net:.
