Just recently I celebrated the approaching fin of this siecle by heading for the equator to watch a weather satellite being launched. Ariane 4, with Meteosat-7 and a communications satellite aboard, soared into the sky from Kourou, French Guiana, two weeks ago last Tuesday. It was 7.16 p.m., and the short tropical twilight had ended just half an hour before. The night was warm and humid, calm and moonless - and the launch was perfect.
Now you might well wonder why we Europeans should go all the way to South America to launch a satellite. There are three answers. Firstly, the surface of the rotating Earth moves more rapidly near the equator than it does at higher latitudes, and this extra "kick" makes all the difference when speeding a departing rocket on its way. Secondly, the weather in the tropics is dependable, Kourou being too close to the equator to experience the hurricanes and other disruptive weather features that affect the higher latitudes. Finally, Kourou has a very large back yard: perched on the edge of South America, the launch site has the broad expanse of the Atlantic to the east, over which Ariane can fly, or otherwise, with relative safety. Countdown at Kourou proceeded over several days to reach a zero dot on schedule. The launch itself, seen from an elevated clearing in the rain-forest a mere two miles away, was an awe-inspiring sight. The Ariane ignited, paused for a second or two upon the pad as rockets seem to do, and then rose, slowly and wondrously into the clear tropical skies of South America; it performed a graceful arc as it curved upwards and eastwards over the Atlantic, on its way to deliver its payload to the very edge of space.
It was a fireworks display brighter than one could possibly imagine; the shuddering of the ground was a palpable reminder of the gargantuan power involved; and the ascending spacecraft was imprinted forever on the mind as a visible manifestation of man's almost total conquest of our planet.
As the rocket rose, the tension first was palpable, and then the relief contagious as it became evident that all systems had performed as planned. Half an hour later there were rousing cheers when it was announced that Meteosat and Ariane, both now well out of sight, had parted company as planned, and later Meteosat-7's own booster motors completed its injection into geo-synchronous orbit. All that remains over the coming weeks is to check that the satellite is working normally - and the early signs are good.