Pegasus launches IRIS
Posted: Fri, Jun 28, 2013, 8:17 AM ET (1217 GMT)
A Pegasus rocket successfully launched on Thursday evening a small NASA satellite designed to study the Sun. The Pegasus XL rocket was released by its L-1011 carrier aircraft off the coast of California and ignited its rocket motors at 10:27 pm EDT Thursday (0227 GMT Friday), placing the 200-kilogram Interface Region Imaging Spectrograph (IRIS) spacecraft into sun-synchronous orbit 13 minutes later. IRIS will study a region of the Sun's atmosphere that heats the solar corona to temperatures of millions of degrees. The launch is the 42nd for the Pegasus, dating back more than two decades; there are currently no future Pegasus launches scheduled.
A Pegasus rocket successfully launched on Thursday evening a small NASA satellite designed to study the Sun. The Pegasus XL rocket was released by its L-1011 carrier aircraft off the coast of California and ignited its rocket motors at 10:27 pm EDT Thursday (0227 GMT Friday), placing the 200-kilogram Interface Region Imaging Spectrograph (IRIS) spacecraft into sun-synchronous orbit 13 minutes later. IRIS will study a region of the Sun's atmosphere that heats the solar corona to temperatures of millions of degrees. The launch is the 42nd for the Pegasus, dating back more than two decades; there are currently no future Pegasus launches scheduled.
Related Links:
| <<previous article | next article>> |
|
news in brief
|
|
FAA restricts hours for commercial launches during shutdown
Posted: Sun, Nov 9 9:05 AM ET (1405 GMT) China postpones Shenzhou-20 return on orbital debris concerns
Posted: Sun, Nov 9 8:58 AM ET (1358 GMT) |
|
news links
|
|
Sunday, November 9
With Ariane 6, Arianespace successfully launches Copernicus Sentinel-1D satellite
Arianespace — 10:17 am ET (1517 GMT) Copernicus Sentinel-1D Earth observation satellite successfully launched
Thales Alenia Space — 10:16 am ET (1516 GMT) Sentinel-1D: the radar that never sleeps
Airbus Group — 10:14 am ET (1514 GMT) From Orbit to Flight Test: Thomas Pesquet Joins Airbus
Airbus Group — 10:14 am ET (1514 GMT) Ageing stars may be destroying their closest planets
Royal Astronomical Society — 10:13 am ET (1513 GMT) |
