Everything continues to look good for Kaguya!

Posted By Emily Lakdawalla

2007/09/13 09:13 CDT

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After a while of all-Japanese broadcast (during which I had to wander off and put the baby to bed), I returned to find everything continuing nominal for Kaguya, including the webcast, which has returned to being bilingual. As I write, 40 minutes after liftoff, the second stage of the rocket has been ignited successfully, for the second time, and it is working nominally. Its speed is now 9 kilometers per second.

Second stage engine shutdown for the second time...

If I'm reading the trajectory screen correctly, Kaguya has now traversed the Pacific Ocean and is encroaching on Chile...

Payload separation! Applause in the control room!

This is the end of the live report; looks like the launch team is all done, and it's time to pass the baton to the operations team.

I'll post further updates here as I get them! While I was posting these updates, Cherilynn managed to send a couple via Treo, which I added to her launch blog. She has promised to send more upon her return to Tokyo, including pictures. I don't know if they'll reach me before I go to bed, but surely tomorrow morning I'll be able to post pictures here.