The Complete Book of Spaceflight: From Apollo 1 to Zero Gravity

leaving the spacecraft spinning at about 80 rpm with no
attitude control. This ruled out the planned asteroid
flyby. The spacecraft remained in Earth orbit and continued
testing its components until the mission was
ended.
Launch
Date: January 25, 1994
Vehicle: Titan II
Site: Vandenberg Air Force Base
Size: 1.9 × 1.1 m
Mass: 424 kg
closed ecological system
A system that provides for the maintenance of life in an
isolated living chamber, such as a spacecraft cabin, by
means of a cycle wherein carbon dioxide, urine, and
other waste materials are converted chemically or by
photosynthesis into oxygen, water, and food. Extended
periods of manned travel in space will require such systems
unless other means of sustaining life are devised.
cluster 79
CloudSat
Part of a multisatellite experiment designed to measure
the vertical structure and chemical composition of clouds
from space. CloudSat will carry a millimeter-wave radar
capable of seeing practically all clouds and precipitation,
from very thin cirrus clouds to thunderstorms producing
heavy precipitation. It will fly in a 705-km-high polar orbit
in tight formation with CALIPSO, which will be
launched on the same vehicle and will provide highresolution
vertical profiles of aerosols and clouds, and
PARASOL. CloudSat, CALIPSO, and PARASOL, in
turn, will follow behind Aqua and Aura in a looser formation.
Scheduled for launch in April 2004, CloudSat is
a partnership between Colorado State University, JPL (Jet
Propulsion Laboratory), the Canadian Space Agency, the
U.S. Air Force, and the U.S. Department of Energy. It is
the third mission in NASA’s ESSP (Earth System Science
Pathfinder) program.
cluster
Two or more rocket motors that form a single propulsive
unit.
Clementine The Moon’s south
pole, imaged by Clementine in
1998. Lawrence Livermore National
Laboratory/Department of Defense