On this day: 17 May 1968, the first ESRO satellite in orbit, ESRO-2B, was successfully launched by a Scout rocket from the Western Test Range, California. It was mainly intended to study X-ray and particle emissions from the Sun. Although its design life was only one year, most subsystems and four experiments were still returning data by the time atmospheric drag forced reentry on 9 May 1971. http://www.esa.int/spaceinimages/Images/1998/01/ESRO-2B_launch_preparations
On this day: 17 May 1968, the first ESRO satellite in orbit, ESRO-2B, was successfully launched by a Scout rocket from the Western Test Range, California. It was mainly intended to study X-ray and particle emissions from the Sun. Although its design life was only one year, most subsystems and four experiments were still returning data by the time atmospheric drag forced reentry on 9 May 1971. http://www.esa.int/spaceinimages/Images/1998/01/ESRO-2B_launch_preparations
