Posted on 08/21/2018 6:48:34 AM PDT by BenLurkin
The liftoff of a European satellite to measure global wind fields has been delayed 24 hours to Wednesday in hopes of a better weather forecast at the Vega rocket’s launch base in French Guiana, officials announced Monday.
The European Space Agency’s Aeolus satellite is ready for launch aboard a solid-fueled Vega rocket, the smallest booster in Arianespace’s fleet, to begin a three-year science mission to monitor wind speeds in Earth’s atmosphere.
Officials from Arianespace, ESA and CNES — the French space agency — convened Monday for a launch readiness review. Managers confirmed the readiness of the four-stage Vega launcher and the Aeolus spacecraft, but unfavorable high-altitude winds predicted during at Tuesday’s launch time prompted a 24-hour delay.
Liftoff of the Aeolus mission is now scheduled for Wednesday at an instantaneous launch opportunity set for 2120:09 GMT (5:20:09 p.m. EDT; 6:20:09 p.m. French Guiana time), assuming the upper level wind conditions improve.
“Wind conditions in the atmosphere along the launcher’s trajectory are among the flight safety elements taken into account for every Arianespace mission,” Arianespace said in a statement Monday.
Officials familiar with Vega launch operations said the upper level winds violated safety limits established to ensure debris from an in-flight mishap will fall away from populated areas.
(Excerpt) Read more at spaceflightnow.com ...
Weather satellite launch delayed because of ........ weather.......
A satellite! I thought they were bringing back the Chevy Vega.
Some fun facts....
We need to know them to 6 decimal places........................
I used to drive a Vega. Good car until the fenders rusted off.
And we need to continue knowing them. Satellites degrade; better measuring technology becomes available. Sane people try to launch the new satellite before the old one is completely useless.
>>I used to drive a Vega. Good car until the fenders rusted off.<<
I always wondered why Vegas didn’t get the ame rap as Pintos with the gas tank thing (which was fake news).
Same car with different indicia.
Yeah, like a low-budget version of Musk launching a Tesla....
So they’re bringing back the Plymouth Satellite instead??
How DID we ever become the bread basket of the world without knowing the speeds of the wind ?
Go ahead and wallow in ignorance.
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