1 August
On 1 August every year, the meteor shower known as the Alpha Capricornids reaches its peak. This is a meteor shower which lasts from 15 July until 11 September. The ...
27 FEB. 2004
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2000: In August 2000, the second pair of ESA’s Cluster spacecraft was being prepared for launch at Europe’s Spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana.
On the 2 August 2000, the spacecraft were transferred with their Soyuz-Fregat launcher and fairing assembly from the Energia building to the MIK40 building close to the launch pad. The final assembly of the launcher, including its payload, would take place in this building.
Cluster is a collection of four spacecraft flying in formation around Earth. They relay the most detailed ever information about how the solar wind affects our planet in three dimensions. The solar wind (the perpetual stream of subatomic particles given out by the Sun) can damage communications satellites and power stations on Earth. The operation life-time of the Cluster mission runs from February 2001 and December 2005.
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31 July
1999: On 31 July 1999, NASA's Lunar Prospector plunged into a permanently shadowed crater near the Moon's south pole. The crash ending the successful mission also deposited 28 g of ...
30 July
2003: On 30 July 2003, ESA's SMART-1 was lowered onto the cone-shaped adapter that would serve as its interface with the Ariane 5 launch vehicle. The photo above shows the ...
29 July
1999: On 29 July 1999, NASA's Deep Space 1 undertook the closest encounter with an asteroid ever attempted when it flew within 15 kilometres of the newly named asteroid Braille ...
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