OrbitalHub

Credits: ESA

A Rockot launch vehicle lifted off from the Plesetsk Cosmodrome in northern Russia on November 2, 2009, at 02:50 CET. Rockot carried to orbit two new ESA satellites: SMOS and PROBA-2.

SMOS was released by the Breeze-KM upper stage some 70 minutes after the launch. After arriving at a lower orbit, the upper stage released Proba-2 around three hours after the launch.

The Soil Moisture and Ocean Salinity (SMOS) mission, which is the second Earth Explorer Opportunity mission to be developed as part of ESA’s Living Planet Program, will provide global maps of moisture over the Earth’s landmasses and salinity over the oceans. These observations will improve our understanding of hydrology and ocean circulation patterns.

PROBA-2 is part of an ESA program called In-Orbit Technology Demonstration Program, which is dedicated to the demonstration of innovative technologies. The PROBA-2 payload consists of scientific instruments that will make observations of the Sun in the ultraviolet portion of the spectrum and will measure certain properties of the plasma surrounding the spacecraft.

A Rockot launch vehicle lifted off from the Plesetsk Cosmodrome in northern Russia on November 2, 2009, at 02:50 CET. Rockot carried to orbit two new ESA satellites: SMOS and PROBA-2.

The Soil Moisture and Ocean Salinity (SMOS) mission will provide global maps of moisture over the Earth’s landmasses and salinity over the oceans. PROBA-2 is a mission dedicated to the demonstration of innovative technologies. PROBA-2 payload consists of scientific instruments that will make observations of the Sun in the ultraviolet portion of the spectrum and will measure certain properties of the plasma surrounding the spacecraft.

Read more about SMOS…

Read more about PROBA-2…

The H-II Transfer Vehicle (HTV) was unberthed from the ISS on October 31, 2009. The HTV is scheduled to re-enter the Earth\’s atmosphere on November 2, 2009.

Read more about HTV…

Ares I is the crew launch vehicle that will be used to deliver the Orion spacecraft to LEO. Ares I is a two-stage rocket, 94 m long and 5.5 m in diameter, that can deliver a 25,000 kg payload to LEO. The Ares I-X test vehicle lifted off on October 28th, 2009, at 15:30 UTC, from Kennedy Space Center, Launch Pad 39B.

Read more about Constellation…

Credits: NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center Conceptual Image Lab

Carnival of Space #125 is hosted by Robert Simpson at Orbiting Frog.

This week you can read about superconducting magnets used to enable hyperdrive propulsion, the LCROSS mission, surprising early results from the IBEX mission, the Kepler mission, variable stars, affordable microgravity research on the International Space Station, and much more.

Credits: ESA/AOES Medialab

On November 13, 2009, the Rosetta spacecraft will swing by Earth for the last time. This maneuver will provide the boost needed by the spacecraft to reach the outer Solar System. The critical swingby events are described on ESA’s web site.

Rosetta’s mission began on March 2nd, 2004, when the spacecraft lifted off from Kourou, French Guiana. In order to optimize the use of fuel, the probe has a very complicated trajectory to reach its final target, the comet 67/P Churyumov-Gerasimenko. The long trajectory includes three Earth-gravity assists (2004, 2007, and 2009) and one at Mars (2007). The probe uses the gravity wells of Earth and Mars to accelerate to the speed needed for the rendezvous with the comet.

Read more about Rosetta…