ESA's Venus Express Mission Delayed
The launch of Europe's first mission to Venus, due to have taken place next Wednesday, has been postponed.
The European Space Agency (ESA) has not yet announced a new date for the launch, only that it will be delayed by "several days".
The probe is to blast off aboard a Russian Fregat rocket from Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.
It will slip into orbit around Venus next year, using science instruments to study the planet from space.
Esa said the delay had been prompted by the discovery that insulation from the rocket had contaminated the satellite itself.
"The satellite is contaminated, so they will have to dismantle and re-mount it again," said a spokesperson for the space agency.
posted by Fergie @ 10/21/2005 11:26:00 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home