Russia launches radio astronomy satellite
Posted: Tue, Jul 19, 2011, 6:48 AM ET (1048 GMT)
A Zenit rocket successfully launched a long-delayed Russian radio astronomy satellite on Monday. The Zenit-3M rocket lifted off from the Baikonur Cosmodrome at 10:31 pm EDT Sunday (0231 GMT Sunday) carrying the Spektr-R satellite, releasing the satellite into a highly elliptical orbit about three and a half hours later. The satellite will deploy a 10-meter antenna to allow astronomical observations at radio wavelengths. In an orbit that takes the spacecraft from 1,000 to 330,000 kilometers from the Earth, Spektr-R will be used in radio interferometry observations that will permit extremely high resolution observations. The Spektr-R concept dates back to the 1970s, and was originally planned for launch in the mid-2000s before suffering construction delays.
A Zenit rocket successfully launched a long-delayed Russian radio astronomy satellite on Monday. The Zenit-3M rocket lifted off from the Baikonur Cosmodrome at 10:31 pm EDT Sunday (0231 GMT Sunday) carrying the Spektr-R satellite, releasing the satellite into a highly elliptical orbit about three and a half hours later. The satellite will deploy a 10-meter antenna to allow astronomical observations at radio wavelengths. In an orbit that takes the spacecraft from 1,000 to 330,000 kilometers from the Earth, Spektr-R will be used in radio interferometry observations that will permit extremely high resolution observations. The Spektr-R concept dates back to the 1970s, and was originally planned for launch in the mid-2000s before suffering construction delays.
Related Links:
| <<previous article | next article>> |
|
news in brief
|
|
|
|
news links
|
|
Tuesday, August 11
Russia rolling out Starlink-style network faster than expected, Kyiv says
Reuters — 5:00 am ET (0900 GMT) Musk: Starlink To Grow Beyond 100,000 Satellites With Higher Throughput
Aviation Week — 5:00 am ET (0900 GMT) U.S. space and missile defense at center stage in Huntsville, Alabama
Washington Times — 4:57 am ET (0857 GMT) Voyager Wins Space Force Tactical Data Link Comms Work
Aviation Week — 4:55 am ET (0855 GMT) Kepler Selects Rocket Lab's Neutron for First Dedicated Launch as Network Expansion Accelerates
GlobeNewswire — 4:54 am ET (0854 GMT) |
