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Following a successful launch on a Proton rocket Saturday, a joint Russian and European all-sky-survey satellite is safely in space and heading towards its final destination.
The Spektrum-Röntgen-Gamma mission, also known as Spektr-RG, is a joint project between the Russian space agency, Roscosmos, and the German space agency, DLR. Spektr-RG launched to space from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan at 8:31 a.m. EDT (1231 GMT, or 5:31 p.m. local time).
The satellite is heading for the L2 Lagrange point, a point in space where gravitational forces are balanced allowing for station keeping with minimal fuel expenditure.
The spacecraft is expected to detect 100,000 galaxy clusters, 3 million supermassive black holes, tens of thousands of star-forming galaxies, the presence of plasma (superheated gas) and many more types of objects, according to Roscosmos.
The observatory includes two X-ray mirror telescopes, called ART-XC and eROSITA. ART-XC (a Russian payload) will examine the higher energies of X-rays, up to 30 keV, while eROSITA (Extended Roentgen Survey with an Imaging Telescope Array) is optimized for an energy range of 0.5 to 10 keV.
Spektr-RG should be in place, calibrated, and beginning its survey in about three months.
(Score: 3, Informative) by takyon on Sunday July 14 2019, @05:52AM (6 children)
This is the first space science win for Russia in a while, assuming it functions properly after reaching L2.
They have a follow-up mission for ultraviolet wavelengths planned to launch in 2023: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spektr-UV [wikipedia.org]
In 2025, they have Spektr-M for far infrared and EHF.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spektr-M [wikipedia.org]
http://www.russianspaceweb.com/spektr_m.html [russianspaceweb.com]
Bigger mirror than JWST, assuming they don't downsize it again.
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(Score: 2) by legont on Sunday July 14 2019, @04:56PM
As far as I understand, Russia put in space Spectr-R (radio) in space alone and only after the success of it Germany came on board with the project. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spektr-R [wikipedia.org]
"Wealth is the relentless enemy of understanding" - John Kenneth Galbraith.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by loonycyborg on Sunday July 14 2019, @06:54PM (3 children)
Treating it as space race fueled by nationalist ideas will lead to conflict of interest, since space exploration can be vital to survival of humanity as the whole, while nationalist ideas promote survival only of a small fraction of humanity at the expense of rest of it.
(Score: 2) by takyon on Sunday July 14 2019, @09:16PM (2 children)
I didn't say anything about a race.
They can have as many wins as they want. Previously they had very few wins, with a lot of things exploding, crashing, or failing (see Fobos-Grunt).
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(Score: 2) by loonycyborg on Sunday July 14 2019, @10:03PM (1 child)
Who they? Humans? Sounds about right.
(Score: 2) by takyon on Sunday July 14 2019, @10:47PM
The Russians.
Not sure if it's PC to call them humans, plz check.
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(Score: 2) by driverless on Monday July 15 2019, @03:26AM
Wait, Russia and Germany are collaborating again? Didn't that end badly for Poland the last time, made even worse this time because Poland cannot into space?