Brazil Launches Mid-Sized Rocket

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It follows one communicates published in english on the day (12/13), in the site "http://laht.com/", announcing that the Brazil launches mid-sized rocket.

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Brazil Launches Mid-Sized Rocket

Latin American

Herald Tribune

12/13/2010

RIO DE JANEIRO – Brazil successfully launched into space over the weekend a mid-sized rocket developed domestically and carrying a number of experiments on weightlessness, which were recovered at sea after a short flight, officials said.

The VSB-30 V07 rocket, developed with domestic technology by researchers at the Aeronautics and Space Institute, or IAE, was launched from Alcantara, a spaceport that Brazil operates in the Amazon near the border with Ecuador, the space agency said.

The spacecraft was launched at 12:35 p.m. Sunday, reached an altitude of 242 kilometers (150 miles), and after an 18-minute flight, fell into the Atlantic Ocean at 145 kilometers (90 miles) from the spaceport following its planned trajectory, the IAE said.

Telemetry stations were able to track the rocket throughout its flight.

“The VSB-30 rocket carried a capsule into space with a payload that included 10 experiments on microgravity prepared by universities and several Brazilian institutions,” the IAE said.

The capsule was parachuted back to earth and was recovered at sea by air force and navy teams, enabling researchers to conclude the experiments that were sent into space.

The rocket launched from the spaceport located in the Amazonian state of Maranhao was designed to have 250 kilometers (155 miles) of autonomous flight and a capability of carrying a 400-kilo (880-pound) payload.

Most of the experiments shot into space were in the areas of technology and biology, and some were directly linked to developing support systems for space activities, project coordinator Col. Eudy Carvalhaes da Costa e Silva said.

Weightlessness was achieved from the moment the rocket rose higher than 100 kilometers (62 miles) above the earth.

Brazil launched a similar rocket with nine experiments in July 2007, but that payload was lost at sea.

The Brazilian Space Program, initiated by the military governments that governed Brazil betweeen 1964 and 1985, has a record of both successes and failures.

The biggest failure was in 2003 when an explosion at the Alcantara spaceport destroyed a satellite launch vehicle developed in Brazil and killed 21 of the engineers and technicians working on the project.

The main goal of Brazil’s space program is to develop a rocket that will enable the South American country to put satellites into orbit, a technology possessed by few countries and which has become a lucrative market.

Brazil signed an accord with Ukraine to carry out commercial launches from the Alcantara spaceport of Ukrainian rockets capable of putting satellites into orbit. EFE

Fonte: Website Latin American Herald Tribune -  http://laht.com/