From: Amara Graps (amara@amara.com)
Date: Fri Dec 13 2002 - 15:29:06 MST
While I was in crunch mode this week, analyzing Earth rocket booster slag
particles and natural micrometeoroid debris for an ESA-related project,
a rocket exploded.
This is a rather special rocket -
Wednesday, December 11, 2002
http://www.cnn.com/2002/TECH/space/12/11/ariane.rocket.reut/
"The explosion was the fourth failure of an
Ariane-5 rocket in its 14-mission history.
The failure could halt Ariane-5 flights for
an indefinite period. "
This is Bad Bad Bad news !!!
The Ariane 5 is supposed to carry the Rosetta spacecraft to be
launched *mid January*. There is only a two week window for that launch,
for the spacecraft to make its intended target (comet- landing,
orbit.....)
Now those plans are up in the air. (There is a dust instrument
and an infrared instrument and many more. I think every European
planetary scientist and many many U.S. planetary scientists has been
involved to some amount with Rosetta during the last 10-15 years in
this Rosetta mission. This is a major effort in the worldwide
planetary science community.)
Other Ariane explosions:
June 4, 1996 Ariane 5 destruction (first flight, carrying Cluster)
http://www.cnn.com/WORLD/9606/04/rocket.explode/
(other Ariane failures have occured after this one)
-- through December 2002: Max-Planck-Institut für Kernphysik, Cosmic Dust Group, Heidelberg, Deutschland from January 2003: Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, Istituto di Fisica dello Spazio Interplanetario, Roma, Italia
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