Friday Space News
Poster: Aron Schatz
Posted on April 28, 2006 at 9:01:36 PM
SPHERES to arrive at ISS soon.
Hubble snaps comet breakup.
CALIPSO finally launches.
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The two other SPHERES mini-satellites will arrive on separate upcoming shuttle missions. The trio will then practice manoeuvres such as docking, which in this case means sticking together via Velcro pads. Each mini-satellite is powered by 16 AA batteries, and uses compressed carbon dioxide for propulsion, shooting out tiny puffs to propel it along at a few centimetres per second. The SPHERES will fly within the station's US Destiny laboratory and Unity node.
Hubble snaps comet breakup.
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Comet 73P/Schwassmann-Wachmann 3 orbits the Sun every 5.4 years and was seen to brighten and separate into four large fragments in 1995. Now more than three dozen fragments have been found. Its orbit will reach its closest point to Earth on 12 May 2006, and in recent weeks, astronomers have observed more brightening events, suggesting the fragments themselves are breaking into smaller pieces.
CALIPSO finally launches.
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A Boeing Delta II rocket carrying the CloudSat and CALIPSO satellites blasted off at 0302 PDT (1002 GMT) from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, US. Launches have been scrubbed daily for the past seven days due to technical or weather problems. NASA was limited in part because the mission had a very narrow 1-minute launch window.