Guest guest Posted September 28, 2003 Report Share Posted September 28, 2003 Ariane Rocket Launches Europe's First Moon Mission Sat Sep 27, 7:33 PM ET KOUROU, French Guiana (Reuters) - Europe's first mission to the moon blasted off late on Saturday aboard a European Ariane rocket, space officials said. Reuters Photo The Ariane-5 rocket carrying the SMART-1 Moon exploration probe and two commercial satellites blasted off at 8:14 p.m. local time from the European Space Agency (ESA) launch center at Kourou, in French Guiana on the northeast coast of South America. SMART-1 is scheduled to be released into space at 8:55 p.m. local time to begin a 15 month journey to reach lunar orbit. From its perch it will scan the Moon for up to 30 months, beaming back what ESA officials say will "unravel some of the secrets of our neighboring world." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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