Countdown
At last, the countdown to the lauch of Venus Express has started and the go-ahead has been given for fueling. In two and a half hours time the Soyuz-Fregat launcher should leave the pad at Baikonur, carrying the craft into low Earth orbit for the first phase of the mission. ESA have a handy timeline so you can see what will happen at what time. They also have a webcam in the control room at ESOC, although there aren't many people there at the moment, and status updates are available as well. Finger's crossed...
Aside: I'm posting this from the observatory, it's very cold and I don't know if I'm going to stay awake for another three hours. My talk on Venus Express is at 11.30 tomorrow morning so I should get some sleep at some point, otherwise I'm not going to be very coherent!
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