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SPACE

Wire mix up blamed for failure of Spain’s first rocket launch mission

The failure of a European rocket just minutes after lift-off was caused by a production mistake that led to a wiring mix-up and altered the trajectory, its operator said on Tuesday.

Published: 18 November 2020 08:26 CET
Wire mix up blamed for failure of Spain's first rocket launch mission
Photo: Arianespace

The Vega, the lightest of Arianespace's three payload rockets, malfunctioned about eight minutes after launch from the space centre at Kourou, in French Guiana in South America, on Monday.

It broke up in the atmosphere before falling into the Atlantic Ocean, destroying the two satellites it was carrying, including one that would have placed Spain's first into orbit.

Arianespace CEO Stephane Israel said the wire mix-up was made while the launcher was being built by Avio in Italy.   

“It's not a design problem,” he told a press conference, as was the case with a previous Vega failure in July 2019.

“Everything was going as planned during the first part of the flight, but we lost control after the ignition of the fourth rocket stage,” said Roland Lagier, Arianespace's technical director.   

Arianespace and the European Space Agency plan to set up an independent commission to investigate the cause of the failure and determine why any mistakes were not discovered sooner.

“We'll fix it, and we'll be back even stronger,” Israel said, adding that future launch schedules would be maintained.

He nonetheless apologised for the loss of the two satellites: Spain had planned to put up its first Earth observation satellite for the European Space Agency (ESA).

The mission would also have placed into orbit Taranis, a French satellite designed to observe extremely bright electrical phenomena in the planet's upper atmosphere.

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NORTHERN LIGHTS

Why the northern lights might be visible in more of Norway than usual

Current atmospheric conditions mean there's a good chance the aurora borealis will be visible across much more of Norway than normal on Friday.

Published: 19 March 2021 11:26 CET
Updated: 19 March 2021 16:54 CET
Why the northern lights might be visible in more of Norway than usual
Photo by stein egil liland from Pexels

Normally, the northern lights are only visible in northern Norway, typically between April and September.

According to the Geophysical Institute of Alaska the KP index, which is a system of measuring aurora strength, will reach Kp 5 out of a possible 9.

Anything Kp 5 and above is classed as a geomagnetic storm. This means you will be able to see the green lady a lot further south than you usually would.

The reason for this high forecast is “corona holes” (no relation to the pandemic). These are holes in the Sun’s atmosphere, where solar wind is thrown out at high speeds.

The northern lights occur when the protons and electrons from solar wind hit the particles in the Earths atmosphere and release energy.  

“You can see it down towards eastern Norway as an arc on the horizon, while in central Norway and in Trøndelag it will be right over your head.” Pål Brekke, head of space research at the Norwegian Space Center, told newspaper VG.

READ MORE:Taking pictures of the Northern Lights: 10 expert photography tips 

While there will be strong northern lights activity over large parts of the country, it does not necessarily mean that everyone will get to see it.

“It doesn’t look too promising in Nordland and Troms”, state meteorologist, Sjur Wergerland told VG.

However, he also added that the forecast looks much better further south.

Even then though there is no guarantee you will see the northern lights, according to Brekke.

“It is not certain that the northern lights will move as far south as we think, but I recommend people to follow forecasts on websites to stay up to date,” he said.

In order to see the northern lights, the weather will also have to be on your side. Clear skies are best and going to areas with no or low light pollution is important too.

If you are lucky enough to see the lights make sure you don’t wave at them. Doing so will cause the lights to lift you up and take you away according to Norwegian folklore.

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