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Астронет: Астрономическая картинка дня Запуск спутника TESS крупным планом http://variable-stars.ru/db/msg/1407691/eng |
Credit & Copyright: John Kraus
Explanation:
NASA's
Transiting Exoplanet Survey
Satellite (TESS) began its search for planets orbiting other stars by
leaving planet Earth on April 18.
The exoplanet hunter
rode
to orbit on top of a Falcon 9 rocket.
The Falcon 9 is so
designated for its 9 Merlin first stage engines
seen in this sound-activated camera close-up
from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station.
In the coming weeks, TESS will use a series of thruster burns
to boost it into a high-Earth, highly elliptical orbit.
A lunar gravity assist maneuver will allow it to reach a previously
untried stable orbit with half the orbital period of the Moon and a
maximum distance from Earth of about 373,000 kilometers (232,000 miles).
From there, TESS
will carry out a two year survey to search for
planets around the brightest and closest stars in the sky.
Authors & editors:
Robert Nemiroff
(MTU) &
Jerry Bonnell
(USRA)
NASA Web Site Statements, Warnings,
and Disclaimers
NASA Official: Jay Norris.
Specific
rights apply.
A service of:
LHEA at
NASA /
GSFC
& Michigan Tech. U.