Lift off for Cluster II
The European Space Agency's Cluster II mission is now underway after a successful launch from Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. On Sunday 15 July, a Soyuz-Fregat launch vehicle provided by the French-Russian Starsem consortium lifted off with FM 6 and FM 7 - the first pair of Cluster II satellites. 'Approximately 90 minutes into the mission, the rocket's Fregat fourth stage fired for a second time to insert the spacecraft into a 240 km to 18,000 km parking orbit,' reports ESA. Soon after, the ground station in Kiruna, Sweden, began to receive data from the satellites confirming their successful separation from the Fregat. 'This has been an excellent start and we look forward to the second launch next month,' said Professor Roger-Maurice Bonnet, ESA Director of science. 'Cluster is one of the key cornerstone missions in our Horizons 2000 long-term scientific programme and it will provide unique insights that will revolutionise our understanding of near-Earth space.' As the cluster spacecrafts lifted off, ESA also announced the wining names picked from its 'Name the cluster quartet' competition. The UK winner Raymond Cotton of Bristol suggested the names of four dances for each of the satellites: Rumba, Salsa, Samba and Tango. 'There were some excellent suggestions, but I considered the shortlisted entry from the UK to be the best because it is catchy, easy to remember, and reflects the way the four satellites will dance in formation around the heavens during their mission.' The spacecraft will be named as follows: - FM 5 - Rumba; - FM 6 - Salsa; - FM 7 - Samba; - FM 8 - Tango. Over the next week, Salsa ands Samba will use their own onboard propulsion systems to reach their operational orbits 19,000 - 119,000 km above the Earth. At their furthest point from the Earth they will be almost one third of the distance to the Moon. The second pair of Cluster satellites is scheduled for launch on 9 August. After meeting up with the first pair, the quartet will undergo three months of instrument calibration and systems checkouts before beginning their scientific programme. They will spend the next two years gathering data to help monitor the interaction between the Sun and the Earth.