Jul 16 2000
From The Space Library
The first of two Cluster spacecraft launches took place from Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. NASA and the European Space Agency had formed a partnership to develop and build the exploration craft, designed to travel around the Earth in a tetrahedral formation, collecting data on solar wind. Space officials planned to launch two additional Cluster craft one month after the first two had entered their orbiting pattern. With four satellites launched and flying in formation, scientists expected to harvest data about the "turbulent battle" raging between Earth's magnetic field and the solar winds blowing at an estimated rate of 1-2 million miles (1.6-3.2 million kilometers) per hour. Researchers also hoped the new information would help scientists understand other interactions between the Earth and the Sun. Each of the four Cluster spacecraft carried instruments to measure the patterns of electrons and the presence of protons and helium, as well as instruments to monitor the characteristics of electronic fields, solar wind, and plasma waves.
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