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| Image credit: CSA |
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| SCISAT Ready for Launch Tuesday |
| Aug 11, 2003 - Everything is ready to go for the launch of the Canadian Space Agency's Scientific Satellite Atmospheric Chemistry Experiment (SCISAT-1) on board a Pegasus XL rocket on Wednesday, August 13. If it all goes as planned, the L-1011 aircraft will carry the Pegasus rocket over the Pacific Ocean, and release it at 0210 GMT (10:10 pm EDT Tuesday) to carry SCISAT into orbit. SCISAT will help scientists track the chemical processes that control the distribution of ozone in the Earth's atmosphere. |
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| Image credit: Scaled Composites |
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| SpaceShipOne Completes First Drop Test |
| Aug 11, 2003 - Scaled Composite's SpaceShipOne completed its first glide test on Thursday, after it was released from the White Knight aircraft at an altitude of 14,300 metres. The X-Prize candidate was taken through a series of tests in the air, and then landed at a runway in the Mojave desert. Since it was unveiled in April, 2003, SpaceShipOne is considered one of the front runners to win the $10 million X-Prize for the first privately-built spacecraft to reach an altitude of 100 km twice within 2 weeks. |
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| Image credit: NASA |
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| Cosmonaut Ties the Knot From Space |
| Aug 11, 2003 - Cosmonaut Yuri Malenchenko married his fiancé, Ekaterina Dmitriev, on Sunday, but it wasn't a normal ceremony. Dimitriev was in Houston while Malenchenko hurtled 385 kilometres above on the International Space Station. The couple took advantage of Texas law, which allows weddings to take place even if one person isn't present. The Russian Aerospace Agency tried to block the wedding in the beginning, but eventually backed down, and gave the couple their blessing. |
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