Check out photos of Europe’s Ariane 5 launcher in the starting blocks at its tropical spaceport awaiting liftoff with two commercial television relay stations.
The launch from French Guiana is set for Thursday at 2010 GMT (4:10 p.m. EDT) carrying satellites into orbit for Eutelsat and Intelsat. It will be the 81st flight of an Ariane 5 rocket dating back to 1996.
Photo credit: Credit: ESA/CNES/Arianespace – Optique Video du CSG – P. PironPhoto credit: Credit: ESA/CNES/Arianespace – Optique Video du CSG – P. PironPhoto credit: Credit: ESA/CNES/Arianespace – Optique Video du CSG – P. PironPhoto credit: Credit: ESA/CNES/Arianespace – Optique Video du CSG – P. PironPhoto credit: Credit: ESA/CNES/Arianespace – Optique Video du CSG – P. PironPhoto credit: Credit: ESA/CNES/Arianespace – Optique Video du CSG – P. Piron
The Ariane 5 rocket’s weekend launch from French Guiana set a weight record and produced stunning imagery as the powerful 180-foot-tall booster soared into space backdropped by the colorful orange hues of sunset on the edge of the Amazon jungle.
Five satellites rode a Soyuz booster into orbit Monday from French Guiana, and these spectacular photos from Europe’s tropical spaceport show the legendary rocket’s fiery departure from the edge of the lush Amazon jungle.
NASA’s $8.8 billion James Webb Space Telescope has completed critical end-to-end testing in a giant vacuum chamber at the Johnson Space Center, proving the telescope will work properly in the deep cold of space, bring starlight to a sharp focus and precisely track its astronomical targets when launched in 2019.
