Jun 30 2003
From The Space Library
The German-Russian Eurockot Launch Services' Rockot launch vehicle, a modified Russian ballistic missile, lifted off from Russia's Plesetsk Cosmodrome carrying nine satellites and nanosatellites. The Rockot booster fired its Breeze upper stage twice, the first time releasing the 145-pound (66-kilogram) Czech Micromeasurements of Satellite Acceleration (MIMOSA) satellite into orbit and, the second time, leaving the Canadian Microvariability and Oscillation of Stars (MOST) scientific satellite and six Japanese, Danish, and U.S. nanosatellites in a Sun-synchronous orbit. A mock-up of a Russian Earth observation satellite that remained attached to the upper stage would gather mission data before de-orbiting. The Czech Astronomical Institute had launched MIMOSA to gather data on the density of Earth's upper atmosphere, using a sensitive accelerometer designed to detect slight drag forces. President of the Canadian Space Agency Marc Garneau described the 113-pound (51.3-kilogram) MOST as “the world's smallest space telescope,” with an aperture of just 15 centimeters (6 inches), about the size of Galileo's telescope. Using an ultra-high-precision attitude-control system, the craft would very finely point toward targets, such as neighboring stars, studying how stars eject gas into the interstellar medium and seeking data to answer fundamental questions about the universe. Students had designed the two Japanese nanosatellites~CubeSat XI-IV and CUTE-1~to test various space technologies in flight. Three more student-built nanosatellites deployed via a launch tube~the Canadian CANX-1and the Danish AAU CubeSat and DTUSAT~would image stars. Quakesat, an American photo-imaging nanosatellite, would conduct an earthquake detection experiment. (Spacewarn Bulletin, no. 597, 1 August 2003, http://nssdc.GSFC.nasa.gov/spacewarn/spx597.html (accessed 12 December 2008); Stephen Clark, “Rockot Booster Successfully Launches 9 Payloads,” Spaceflight Now, 30 June 2003; Peter B. de Selding, “Rockot Delivers Multiple Satellites to Earth Orbit from Russia,” Space.com, 30 June 2003, http://www.space.com/missionlaunches/rockot_launch_030630.html (accessed 15 December 2008).
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