Twin spacecraft have blasted off on a mission to study huge eruptions from the sun that can damage satellites, disrupt electrical and communications systems on Earth and endanger spacewalking astronauts.
The two spacecraft, known as STEREO (Solar Terrestrial Relations Observatory), lifted off from Cape Canaveral, Florida last night.
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| A Boeing Delta
II rocket lifts off from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station |
They were stacked one on top of the other, aboard a single Delta II rocket. The liftoff was delayed by several minutes after launch managers became concerned late in the countdown that winds could blow toxic material over nearby Port Canaveral should there be an accidental explosion.
It finally launched after the area was cleared of people.
Scientists hope the $550 million (€435 million), two-year mission will help them understand why these eruptions occur, how they form and what path they take.
The eruptions - called solar flares - typically blow a billion tonnes of the sun's atmosphere into space at a speed of one million miles per hour. The phenomenon is responsible for the Northern Lights, or aurora borealis, the luminous display of lights seen in the upper latitudes of the Northern Hemisphere.
The two observatories will provide scientists with the first-ever three-dimensional view of the sun by working in tandem, like a set of eyes, in different orbits.
Nasa hopes information about the solar flares will help the astronauts who fly to moon and eventually Mars in the coming decades.
AP