CloudSat and CALIPSO finally launched
Posted: Fri, Apr 28, 2006, 1:38 PM ET (1738 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
|
|
Thursday, March 19
Firefly Aerospace Selected for the 2025 Robert J. Collier Trophy
National Aeronautic Association — 5:22 am ET (0922 GMT) Satellite development begins for EUMETSAT Polar System – Sterna
EUMETSAT — 5:22 am ET (0922 GMT) Minotaur IV rocket motor stacking at Vandenberg's Space Launch Complex-8
US Space Force — 5:20 am ET (0920 GMT) MDA Space awarded contract with Canadian Department of National Defence to deliver Ground-Based Optical Capability for Space Surveillance
MDA — 5:18 am ET (0918 GMT) Rocket Lab wins record contract with US Department of War
Radio New Zealand — 5:17 am ET (0917 GMT) |
