Swarm mission control ready for triple launch

[jakeXT]

After months of intensive training, the Swarm mission control team are ready for liftoff on Friday. The team will carefully shepherd the trio of magnetic explorers through their critical launch and early orbit phase, ready to react to any problem.

The data from this new mission, planned to last four years, will be used to study the mysteries of Earth's magnetic field, its interactions with the solar wind and relation to global change.

At 12:02 GMT on 22 November, a Rockot launcher will climb into the sky, soaring high above Plesetsk, Russia, 800 km north of Moscow. Some 91 minutes later, the Swarm trio will be released into orbit at 490 km.

That moment will mark the culmination of years of careful preparation capped by months of intensive training at ESOC, ESA's European Space Operations Centre in Darmstadt, Germany.

http://phys.org/news/2013-11-swarm-mission-ready-triple.html

[jakeXT]

1. Esa's satellite Swarm launch to map Earth's magnetism

The trio of European Space Agency (Esa) satellites left the Plesetsk Cosmodrome at 12:02 GMT, riding a Rockot vehicle.

They are expected to be deployed at an altitude of 490km, in a polar orbit, shortly after 13:30 GMT.

Swarm's data should help scientists understand better how the field is generated, and why it appears to be weakening.

The strength has fallen by some 15% in the past two centuries. The movement of the north geomagnetic pole has also accelerated.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-25028502