Liftoff! NASA Launches Twin Probes to Study Earth's Radiation Belts
Source: space.com
An unmanned rocket turned night into day early Thursday (Aug. 30) as two heavily armored NASA spacecraft finally launched into orbit study Earth's harsh radiation belts after a week of delays.
The twin Radiation Belt Storm Probes launched at 4:05 a.m. EDT (0805 GMT) today from Florida's Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, lighting up the predawn sky as it soared into space atop an unmanned United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket. The liftoff had been planned for Aug. 23, but it was pushed back two days due to technical glitches, and then another five days to avoid foul weather from Tropical Storm Isaac.
"It was a wonderful event, a very smooth countdown," NASA launch manager Tim Dunn said after the launch, adding that the Atlas 5 gave NASA's newest science satellites "a great ride." "We're all thrilled. Just excited as can be," Dunn added.
After a 60-day commissioning period on orbit, the new radiation-tracking spacecraft will begin the science phase of their two-year mission, which aims to help scientists understand how Earth's two doughnut-shaped Van Allen radiation belts affect our planet's space weather.
Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/liftoff-nasa-launches-twin-probes-study-earths-radiation-083437203.html
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She and her friends are a lot smarter than me.
