Hevelius satellite blasted into cosmos
PR dla Zagranicy
Nick Hodge
19.08.2014 09:02
A Polish satellite named after celebrated 17th Century astronomer Joannes Hevelius was sent into space on Tuesday morning from the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Centre in northern China.
Hevelius model Image: BRITE (Press materials)
Hevelius is the last of six satellites created by participants in the international programme BRIght Target Explorer Constellation (BRITE).
The satellites were constructed to carry out detailed measurements of the 286 brightest stars.
However, Hevelius has some additional features, according to Dr Piotr Orleanski from Poland's Space Research Centre.
“We found some extra space in the satellite, and we inserted six tiny Polish technological experiments,” Orleanski revealed.
Orleanski says the supplementary gadgets will “carry out memory checks concerning radiation, opening little mechanical systems.”
Astronomer Joannes Hevelius (Jan Heweliusz in Polish) was born in 1611 and served as mayor of Gdansk when the city was part of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. He is regarded as the founder of lunar topography.
The Hevelius satellite follows on the heels of Lem, the latter named after the late Polish science fiction writer Stanislaw Lem, author of Solaris. The Lem satellite has been in space since November 2013.
The launch of Hevelius was delayed several times, and it was originally supposed to have been sent into space in December 2013. (nh)
Source: PAP