COROT Fueled and Ready

by | Dec 6, 2006 | Missions | 7 comments

The COROT satellite, slated for transit studies of nearby stars in search of exoplanets, has completed fueling up operations. Launch is scheduled for December 21 at the Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. Nine days were required to top the satellite’s tanks even though it is only carrying 40 litres of hydrazine, due to the highly poisonous nature of the fuel. A French project with ESA participation, COROT will be the first space misson specifically dedicated to finding extrasolar planets, and it may give us our first detection of rocky worlds only a few times larger than Earth.

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7 Comments

  2. george scaglione on December 14, 2006 at 9:26

    this sounds like a real good plan.just wait – when we finally find an earthlike world out there…people will in my opinion…will be ALOT more interested in the exploration of space!! the potential of “meeting” our oppossite numbers will intigue them.even though said aliens might be 30 light years away!? still what is good for the space program in any fashion should be if only indirectly something good for all of us here. i hope for the very best each and every way you can look at this mission and its effects! thank you george

  3. Administrator on December 14, 2006 at 9:34

    Greg Matloff has opined that finding a green and blue world around another star may well prove irresistible. Anything that can jump-start public interest in things beyond low-Earth orbit is OK by me!

  4. ljk on December 14, 2006 at 9:42

    To paraphrase Stanislaw Lem from Solaris: We don’t want
    planets, we want mirrors.

  5. george scaglione on December 14, 2006 at 13:45

    you know i could not agree more it is about time we had more interest in something beyond low earth orbit!! and…ljk… i most certainly do not want mirrors…but something to kick start above mentioned “beyond leo” would be GREEEEEAT!!! as tony the tiger used to put it! regards to all of you, george

  6. ljk on December 14, 2006 at 14:18

    George, I know you and others want more than just a carbon
    copy of this world, but there are plenty of people on this planet
    who won’t get excited about exploring the Universe until we find
    another world just like Earth. Rather limited in the imagination
    and education department is part of the reason for this.

  7. george scaglione on December 15, 2006 at 8:40

    ljk, yes EXACTLY CORRECT! i could not have hoped to put it better myself! but still…when you do find the planet in question,let’s not forget that it is likely to be 30 or so light years away.in spite of what anybody may want or wish for we wont exactly be able to “rush” right over!! but yes,it will i hope send positive shock waves all down the line for space research and the way people in general view same.could only result in good.thank you very much george

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In Centauri Dreams, Paul Gilster looks at peer-reviewed research on deep space exploration, with an eye toward interstellar possibilities. For many years this site coordinated its efforts with the Tau Zero Foundation. It now serves as an independent forum for deep space news and ideas. In the logo above, the leftmost star is Alpha Centauri, a triple system closer than any other star, and a primary target for early interstellar probes. To its right is Beta Centauri (not a part of the Alpha Centauri system), with Beta, Gamma, Delta and Epsilon Crucis, stars in the Southern Cross, visible at the far right (image courtesy of Marco Lorenzi).

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