- Liftoff! Moments after the scheduled starting time, Russian space agency Roscosmos tweeted this picture of the ExoMars mission's successful start.
#ExoMars: ПУСК! Есть запуск двигателей первой ступени ракеты-носителя!Прошел контакт подъёма! pic.twitter.com/Td7AndpOrC- The historical venture — a joint European and Russian project — had been creating a lot of buzz on social media all morning, with #ExoMars a trending topic on Twitter in many countries. And post-launch, Twitter was full of scientists and other experts sharing their excitement.
- I swear I just watched a snippet from a Russian scifi movie. Yay, @ESA_TGO! Good job, @roscosmos!
- True, some who watched weren't too impressed with the quality of the live-stream imagery …
- … but for those who bothered to search, there was no lack of impressive photos to be had.
- So now what? Well, now we wait.
There’s an empty launch pad at Baikonur. Now the long wait to hear @ESA_ExoMars is on course for the Red Planet. pic.twitter.com/5lgMBFY0NS- Meanwhile, you can read how to ensure that sure any life potentially found on Mars didn't travel there on the very vessel sent to find it.
For more on how bugs were stopped hitchhiking to Mars on #ExoMars, check this interview: http://bit.ly/1RZeU3T pic.twitter.com/mY3OIivaLs- You can watch an animation of what lies ahead in the next hours, days and even months.
- You can re-watch the entire liftoff in silence and ponder its implications.
- Or if all that is too much to take in at the moment, someone has turned the successful launch into a GIF. ExoMars liftoff on a loop? Here you are.
As seen on
themoscowtimes.com
