Aquarius/SAC-D Salt-Mapper Launched
By Frank Morring, Jr. .
A Delta II launch vehicle flying from Vandenberg AFB, Calif., lofted a U.S./Argentine spacecraft on the first leg of a three-year mission to map the salinity of the world’s oceans.
The Aquarius/SAC-D spacecraft lifted off at 10:20 a.m. EDT, and separated from the upper stage 57 min. later following a brief burn to circularize its polar orbit at an ...