Mars Express launch today

mikerich writes "The European Space Agency and the Russian Space Agency will launch the Mars Express spaceprobe today using a Soyuz-Fregat out of Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. Launch is scheduled for 17.45 UT (18.45 BST), so far all preparations have gone smoothly and the forecast is excellent. The launch will be streamed over the Web by ESA. Mars Express consists of two components, a large Martian orbiter which will be searching for sub-surface water and studying the Martian atmosphere. Its seven science packages have been built by teams from Europe, Russia, the United States, Japan, and China. Amongst the science packages is a radar for studying geological structures. Mars Express will map most of the planet in high-resolution colour stereoscopic 3D and perform a high-resolution mineralogical survey of the planet. Mars Express is also carrying the tiny Beagle 2 lander designed by a team led by Professor Colin Pillinger of the Open University. Beagle 2 is Britain's first planetary space probe and designed specifically to look for life using the most advanced techniques currently available. For those in the UK, the story of Beagle 2 is being told on BBC 2 on Monday 2nd June at 23:20." Dan B. writes "The BBC is running an article on the European 'Mars Express', Europe's first interplanetary rocket. This is the first of three probes heading to the Red Planet this Summer, as it nears it's closest point from the Earth in thousands of years."

Comments

watch the launch, live

[dj_paulgibbs]

Not sure if this is a good idea in regards to future slashdotting, but there is going to be a webcam showing the proceedings.

Most intense period of planetary exploration ever

[corleth]

Not only are Mars Express and Beagle 2 going to be joined by two NASA landers, but also the Japanese orbiter, Nozomi. These five missions will complement NASA's Mars Global Surveyor, launched in 1997, and Mars Odyssey, launched in 2001, which are still returning excellent data of the surface of Mars from orbit. This marks not only the beginning of the most intensive period of study of Mars in the history of space exploration, but also the start of a planetary science renaissance.

In addition to these missions, also keep an eye on the NASA/ESA Cassini-Huygens mission to Saturn and Titan, arriving later this year, as well as ESA's SMART-1 mission to the moon to be launched soon. Future plans include NASA's Mercury Messenger, and ESA's Venus Express and Bepi-Columbo.

Alternative to web broadcast

[corleth]

If you have access to Astra 2C satellite reception equipment, I suggest that you link directly in to the ESA television broadcast. The quality should be better and it might help relieve the slashdot effect. The details are as follows:

• Satellite:
• Astra 2C at 19 degrees East
  Reception frequency: 10832 MHz
  Polarisation: Horizontal
  Symbol rate: 22 Msymb/s
  FEC: 5/6
  Service ID: 61950
  Service name: ESA
  TXT: none
  Start of launch transmission: 19:15 CEST (17:15 GMT/UT)

Re:Most intense period of planetary exploration ev

[Eloquence]

Actually, Cassini will enter Saturn's orbit on July 1, 2004.

Re:Where's Ariane?

[corleth]

Cost. The budget was extremely tight and Russia launch cheaper than ESA, even for ESA-run missions. It's a pretty strange state of affairs.

Re:Two space probes enter a bar...

[j-b0y]

I don't think you've got good reasons at all. Yes, ESA is an international organisation, but it isn't the barrel o' pork that NASA is, and it is by comparison, reasonably stream-lined organisation. Maybe not as efficient as a private company, but since there is no data on the efficiency of private compnaies organising a space program, we may never know.

The use of the U.K. Blue Streak launcher by the European Launcher Development Organisation (ELDO) was probably a mistake, but as the basis for developing launcher tech it wasn't a bad start; remember Europe didn't have the experience the US had through the Gemini program and effectively was starting from scratch, since the native expertise was whisked off to the US after WWII to work of the US space program.

I think you'll find that Ariane 4 was actually one of the most successful launchers around.

Had the Cluster project not chosen take to get a free ride on an unqualified launcher, no one would have given a rat's ass about Ariane 501. Unfortunately Arianespace started to believe their own PR...

ESA have always had a small fraction of the budget available to NASA; on that basis they've rather well really.

Re:Where's Ariane?

[Anonymous Coward]

The Ariane rockets are usually carry at least two payloads. The special launch trajectory Mars Express needs would require it to be the only "passenger" aboard, and in that case the Soyuz option was cheaper.

Re:But is the Beagle Horny?

[Becquerel]

especially with one named after a dog

FYI the Beagle2 probe is named after the HMS Beagle that carried Darwin on his world travels, whence he galvanised his ideas on the origin of species

The HMS Beagle though, was named after a dog

Time in the US

[Seekerofknowledge]

I didn't know this at first, so I thought it might help. The launch time is 12:15 pm in EST. Very soon now.

Re:Beagle, ESA and .uk

[meringuoid]

Wonder if NASA ever heard of "economies of scale".

Actually, yes, they did. The basic Mariner design was modified and reused for many of NASA's planetary missions; ESA's reuse of the Express design for Mars and Venus is certainly nothing new.

Success!

[corleth]

The launch went fine. MEx is in Earth orbit. The first major maneuver will be at 20:15 GMT/UT.