Fwd: Russian Satellite Has Communication Problem - Space Agency

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From: "Gary Johnson" <gjohnson144@comcast.net>
Date: June 7, 2013 8:45:39 AM GMT-06:00
To: "Gary Johnson" <gjohnson144@comcast.net>
Subject: FW: Russian Satellite Has Communication Problem - Space Agency

 

Russian Satellite Has Communication Problem - Space Agency

Russian Satellite Has Communication Problem - Space Agency

© NPO Lavochkin

 

18:25 06/06/2013

 

MOSCOW, June 6 (RIA Novosti) – A Russian microsatellite is having a communication problem but it is too soon to suggest it has been lost, a federal space agency representative said on Thursday.

The Roscosmos press service representative said attempts to reestablish contact with the Zond-PP (MKA-PN1) satellite will continue.

The Zond-PP has been in orbit for a year and has fulfilled all the missions assigned to it, he added.

A space industry source earlier told RIA Novosti the satellite may have stopped functioning.

Zond-PP is a microsatellite designed to study the Earth's surface with a panoramic radiometer, including characteristics such as soil moisture and water salinity. This data should help meteorologists build ocean circulation and climate dynamics models with a focus on energy exchange between land, the oceans and the atmosphere.

The Zond-PP was launched in July 2012 and was expected to operate for three years in an 820-km Sun-synchronous orbit, according to russianspaceweb.com.

© 2013 RIA Novosti

 

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