Of the various videos of the launch now on the web, this is the most interesting to me, and also gives some feeling for the experience of watching the launch.
I will post some still photos of the launch as soon as I can.
After the launch yesterday, we visited the pad where Sputnik was launched into space; and Yuri Gagarin as well. We then had a pleasant lunch in Baikonur, and went to the airport. We waited for an hour to board, then another hour on the plane. After the 3-hour flight we visited the consul at Domodedovo Airport to see if we could get visas to re-enter Russia. I'll describe that elsewhere.
Today the Astro Space Center organized an information session, attended by many journalists, discussing the mission and how the spacecraft was constructed. The focus was, appropriately, on those who spent years designing and constructing it. Articles have appeared in the Russian press and in the west as well, as I understand it. Following, we spent a couple of hours sipping champagne and vodka and making a few toasts. Then, we organized groups interested in different topics. I am in the pulsar group. Following that, we had a teleconference with scientists who had been unable to attend the launch. We had a great deal of discussion on how best to synchronize clocks on Earth and the spacecraft, and how to include the position of the spacecraft in the calculation. Pulsars may play a role in this work.
The spacecraft appears to be doing well. The upper stages (more properly "boosters") made the prescribed series of burns, and the orbit is precisely as wished: with perigee of 576 km, and apogee 333600 km. (For comparison, the Moon is at about 380000 km). Once in orbit, the only power source was onboard batteries; the power from these was used to deploy solar panels. Deployment worked and the spacecraft has power indefinitely. All deployment is done except for the last -- opening of the dish. To fit into the rocket, the parabolic antenna was folded up like an umbrella. The arms (or "petals") were designed to unfold in orbit. The operation is critical since the antenna must unfold completely to produce a surface with precisely the correct shape to focus radio waves on the receiver. So, this process may be somewhat exciting. It is scheduled for Friday: the day I will leave Russia.
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