Oct 8 2005
From The Space Library
ESA's CryoSat spacecraft was destroyed during a failed launch from Russia's Plesetsk Cosmodrome. ESA had intended CryoSat as one of a series of Earth-observation spacecraft called Earth Explorers. ESA had built CryoSat to monitor the thickness of land and sea ice, to determine whether climate change is reducing Earth's ice masses. Initial assessments of the launch failure indicated that the rocket launching the satellite had experienced a problem with its on-board flight-control system, a problem that had prevented the rocket's upper stage from separating from its second stage. (ESA, “CryoSat Mission Lost Due to Launch Failure,” ESA news release 44-2005, 8 October 2005. http://www.esa.int/esaCP/SEMR3Q5Y3EE_index_0.html (accessed 14 July 2009); New York Times, “Arctic Study Satellite Crashes into Ocean,” 9 October 2005.)
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