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Mars Express launch today

Posted by Hemos on from the send-it-up-there dept.

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."

11 of 183 comments (clear)

  1. Shit by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Troll

    I just watched it launch it went pretty high up and then I think it exploded?! WTF I don't know what happend they havent updated it again, and now whne i reload the video, I'm getting pre-launch video, can someone confirm this.

    1. Re:Shit by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Troll

      Yeah, I was watching it launch too. I think half of slashdot was, imagine the fun.

      I don't think it exploaded, I think that's the boosters ( I might be wrong), cause now they are (as you said) showing only pre-launch video again (which must be recorded?).

      Also, the launch time is wrong it was launched not UT 5, but kazakistan time 5.

    2. Re:Shit by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Troll

      BBC Radio just said the mission is faliure and that they'd have more information about it in a few mins. No word on the web site, waiting for tv. Is BBC America saying anything about the explosion?

    3. Re:Shit by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Troll

      Got this update on my Orange TXT messanger.

      "Mars Express lanch end @ 24s n to lanch. 8te 4 more inf"

    4. Re:Shit by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Troll

      no survivors.

      sorry.

  2. Two space probes enter a bar... by Trurl's+Machine · · Score: 0, Troll

    One of the recent Mars probes was lost due to a simple math error in metric/Anglosaxon unit conversion. That was NASA's blunder. I wonder what sort of blunders will result from this British/ESA/Russian/Japanese/American/Whatever cooperation...

    1. Re:Two space probes enter a bar... by Alan+Partridge · · Score: -1, Troll

      oh do fuck off

      --
      That was classic intercourse!
  3. Units by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Troll

    Let's just hope the Brits don't regret not having adopted the metric system yet.

  4. Re:Most intense period of planetary exploration ev by LiquidCoooled · · Score: 0, Troll

    Not content with screwing up our atmospehere with junk, mankind once again shows his inate ability to devistate the natural unblemished landscape of other worlds.

    Scientists should think about the consequences of their actions, and give as much thought to the cleanup operation as to the getting there. (Sounds a little like programmers and documentation ;))

    --
    liqbase :: faster than paper
  5. Great, more useless space debris by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Troll

    NASA really needs to get their shit together. Over the last 20 years, the vast majority of the space flights have ended with something exploding. It's only been, what six months since their last crash? Yeah, sounds about right. They really need to stop running Windows.

  6. REALPLAYER? by Illserve · · Score: -1, Troll

    I hope that damned thing crashes into the sun and a pox on their children.