Swarm satellites blast off to explore Earth's magnetic field

A swarm of three European magnetic field research satellites rocketed into orbit Friday from a wintry launch pad in northern Russia, kicking off a four-year mission to catalog the sources behind Earth's shield against radiation and solar storms. Behind a veil of thick fog as temperatures hovered near the freezing mark, the European Space Agency's $280 million Swarm mission lifted off at 1202:29 GMT (7:02:29 a.m. EST) Friday at the top of a 95-foot-tall Rockot launch vehicle from the Plesetsk Cosmodrome, a military launch facility about 500 miles north of Moscow. More

(Source: SpaceFlight Now - Nov 25)