NASA's first spacecraft dedicated to studying carbon dioxide in Earth's atmosphere has been cleared to blast off Tuesday (July 1), and you can watch the launch live in a webcast. (scientificamerican.com)
FAREWELL, then, Cosmos 1, the world's first spacecraft designed to sail on light beams alone. (newscientist.com)
First the spacecraft blasted off Earth's surface (out of the deepest part of the gravity well) and eased into a «parking orbit» around Earth. (discovermagazine.com)