LITHUANIA EMBARKS ON HER FIRST SPACE MISSION IN HISTORY
On the evening of January 8th Lithuania will send into space her first satellites, Lituanica SAT-1 and LitSat-1. At 8:32 pm Vilnius time (0:02 am in New Delhi) the Orbital Sciences Corporation’s Antares rocket will launch a Cygnus spacecraft, with two Lithuanian satellites aboard, on a cargo resupply mission to the International Space Station. From there, in February, the Lithuanian satellites will start their journey around the Earth’s orbit.
Lituanica SAT-1 and LitSat-1 belong to the category of nanosatellites (wet mass below 10 kg) and both were developed by Lithuanian universities. Their missions differ though. LitSat-1, a product of Kaunas Technology University and Lithuanian Space Association, will conduct piezoelectric tests in the space, first of this kind in the space research history. If successful, application of piezoelectric methods will bring revolutionary changes in modern space navigation systems.
Meanwhile, Lituanica SAT-1, developed by Vilnius University, will experiment with silicon solar cells and other new technologies in open space conditions. As part of the project, the satellite will also take a first-ever “Lithuanian” space image of Lithuania and transmit three Lithuanian words selected by a popular vote.
Starting from 7:30 pm Vilnius time (11 pm New Delhi time) Lithuanian National Radio and Television LRT will feature live broadcast of the launching ceremony from NASA launch pad at Wallops Flight Facility. Live streaming will also be available at LRT’s website www.lrt.lt.
To follow the first Lithuanian space mission click here (from 11 pm New Delhi time).
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