Rocket Lab - Electron / “Catch Me If You Can” (MATS) patch.
Nov 4, 2022
Electron carrying “Catch Me If You Can” (MATS) liftoff
Rocket Lab’s Electron launch vehicle launched the “Catch Me If You Can” mission, to deliver into orbit the Mesospheric Airglow/Aerosol Tomography and Spectroscopy (MATS) satellite for the Swedish National Space Agency (SNSA), from Launch Complex 1, Pad B, on Mahia Peninsula, New Zealand, on 4 November 2022, at 17:27 UTC (5 November, at 06:27 NZDT).
Electron launches “Catch Me If You Can” (MATS)
The mission is Rocket Lab’s 32nd Electron launch overall. According to SNSA, MATS is “designed to investigate atmospheric waves.
Mesospheric Airglow/Aerosol Tomography and Spectroscopy (MATS)
It will do so by imaging variation in the light emitted by oxygen molecules at 100 km, as well as structures in the highest clouds in our atmosphere, the so-called noctilucent clouds, which form around 80 km”. The mid-air capture of Electron’s first stage was not successful.
Related links:
Rocket Lab: https://www.rocketlabusa.com/
Swedish National Space Agency (SNSA): https://www.rymdstyrelsen.se/en/
Images, Video, Text, Credits: Rocket Lab/Swedish National Space Agency/SciNews/Orbiter.ch Aerospace/Roland Berga.
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