Q
qzzq
Guest
From Space.com: <ul type="square">Sweden Readies for Space Rocket Launch<br /><br />STOCKHOLM, Sweden (AP) -- Swedish Space Corp. workers on Thursday carried out final preparations on a rocket carrying weightlessness experiments that is due to be launched next week.<br /><br />The 50-foot-long solid-fuel Maxus 6 is expected to be launched, weather permitting, from a launch pad in Sweden's far north.<br /><br />If it is successful, the rocket will climb to an altitude of 441 miles, reaching the edge of space, and float weightless for about 12 minutes before falling back to earth.<br /><br />The 12.4-ton, single-stage "sounding rocket" will carry eight European Space Agency-funded microgravity experiments aboard it.<br /><br />For such experiments, rockets are launched just beyond the atmosphere into the edge of space and flights last a few minutes before the payload parachutes back to earth where it is typically recovered within an hour after impact.<br /><br />The Esrange launching pad is located near Kiruna, some 765 miles north of the capital because of its remote location and lack of people living nearby.<br /><br />The cost of Monday's launch is estimated to be $11.6 million, SSC spokeswoman Johanna Bergstroem-Roos told The Associated Press.</ul>More at the link. Also: Schematic of Maxus 6.<br /><br />441 miles up is a bit more than just the edge of space imho though. I hope everything goes well. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p> </p><p>***</p> </div>