NASA's STEREO (Solar TErrestrial RElations Observatory) spacecraft -- en route as the first mission to capture the sun in 3-D — successfully launched on Oct. 25, 2006, aboard a single Delta II vehicle from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla., at 8:52 p.m. EDT.
The two nearly identical spacecraft, designed, built and operated for NASA by the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory (APL), in Laurel, Md., separated from the launch vehicle 25 minutes after lift-off. After receiving the first signal from the spacecraft 63 minutes after launch, mission control personnel at APL confirmed each observatory's solar arrays successfully deployed and were providing power to the spacecraft. The initial radio signals were forwarded to the APL-based STEREO Mission Operations Center from NASA's Deep Space Network antennas in Canberra, Australia.
During its two-year mission, the twin observatories will explore the origin, evolution and interplanetary consequences of coronal mass ejections. These powerful solar eruptions are a major source of the magnetic disruptions on Earth and a key component of space weather, which can greatly affect satellite operations, communications, power systems, and the lives of astronauts in space.
For additional launch images, visit KSC's Web site.
