Cumã II VSB-30 Launch - Astronomy News

Blobrana

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Posts: 131433

Date: Jul 20 16:28 2007

RE: Cumã II VSB-30 Launch	Permalink

Brazil launched a sounding rocket carrying scientific experiments on Thursday in an effort to revive a space program that was set back by a deadly accident in 2003. Read more __________________

Blobrana

L

Posts: 131433

Date: Jul 20 04:37 2007

VSB-30 Launch	Permalink

The VSB-30 rocket launched on Thursday has been lost in the Atlantic along with its experiments. During the decent, there were `oscillations in the telemetry signal`, which made it difficult to locate the rocket. Brazilian Air Force (BAF) and Brazil Navy (MB) search teams had looked for six hours to try to rescue the load. But the searches had been stopped at 18:00 pm local time (21:00 GMT) due to falling light levels. Researchers will also try to find the reasons for telemetry failure. The scientists did managed to collect some experimental data. They had telemetry from the following experiments: Gyroscope, of the Institute of Aeronautics and Espaao (IAE) and Institute of Advanced Studies (IEAv); Acceleration monitor, of the State University of Londrina (UEL); two thermal experiments of the Federal University of Santa Catarina (UFSC). The search will resume on Friday. The VSB-30 rocket is designed to be reusable. __________________

Blobrana

L

Posts: 131433

Date: Jul 20 02:33 2007

Cumã II VSB-30 Launch

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Brazil on Thursday successfully launched a VSB-30 rocket on a 20-minute flight aimed at studying how gravity affects human enzymes and DNA.
The 41-foot-high two-stage VSB-30 rocket, was launched from the coastal Alcantara site in northeastern Brazil, and managed to reach an altitude of approximately 242 kilometres.
During the seven minute decent the rocket's payload was in a state of microgravity, an environment of near-weightlessness that allows researchers to study the fundamental states of matter - solids, liquids and gases - and the forces that affect them.
Thursday's launch was the second from Alcantara since Aug. 2003, when 21 space agency workers were killed as a satellite-launching rocket exploded while being prepared for launch.
The Alcantara base in the state of Maranhao is considered an excellent launch site because it is located just 2.3 degrees south of the equator, the line at which the Earth moves the fastest, helping propel rockets into space and using less fuel.



Fotos: CLA

A Coordenação da Operação Cumã II informa que o lançamento do foguete brasileiro VSB-30 foi realizado com sucesso, às 12h13 minutos dessa quinta-feira (19). O vôo durou cerca de 19 minutos, atingindo um apogeu de aproximadamente 242 km. Durante o vôo foi estabelecido um ambiente de microgravidade por 6,2 minutos.

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