Hello everybody,

we are collecting the YES2 video's to make a short documentary of YES2. Also we collect all papers, and would like to refer to a selection in our YES2 overview paper at the IAC this year. Can you email us a list of what you have available, in terms of papers (conference, journal) or video's. Provide references to papers and description of video's you would like to submit. Do not send yet the actual file. Deadline end of this week.

Michiel & Erik

1. Follow the groundtrack and attitude of Foton on the Virtual Foton site of Volgaspace: http://acvrb.ssau.ru (or through www.volgaspace.ru).

You need to register, but that is really an easy step to do. We are not sure if the orbit is really correct, we are trying to find out.

2. http://www.heavens-above.com/  [register and search for satellite. US Space Command ID 32058, International Designation Code 2007-040. It will provide you nicely with viewing opportunities and other goodies. I couldn't find Foton-M3 yet, but you can find YES1 under YES]

So YES2 is up.

It is not up and running yet as we are awaiting attitude information before switching on.

Today Roger, Fabio & Marco travel from Baikonur to Moscow and will show up in Tsup tomorrow. The team of Dimac is now evaluating their sensor data to give us insight in the attitude.

Keep you posted about any progress. 

Hi, I found these links for Foton-M3 YES2 Launch:

How does is it feel to have your satellite in space? Please let us know your feelings and anecdotes! YES2 has been orbiting Earth with Foton over 30 times now. Since we are switched off, we are not absolutely sure what is the status of YES2. But it will be tough in vacuum and cold of space! For several years now my task has been to go over the design again and again, imagine the mission and everything that could possibly go wrong. Probably I have overlooked things, but almost all my doubts have been resolved in the preparations and tests that led up to launch. We definitely launched a well-tested system with tether deployment system in excellent state and ready to succeed, and this is great, because I felt very happy to see YES2 lift off in to space: we have done all we could possibly do to secure its success. Yet I say almost, because there are a few things that keep haunting me these days - but the satellite is out of reach and I can only think not act!

Foton in orbit... YES2 as well! Now the waiting. Maybe we will be switched on tomorrow for checkout, not yet confirmed. Good luck to the microgravity experiments coming 11 days. Picture S. Corvaja, ESA.

Follow the launch on http://www.viewontv.com/esa/2007-09_foton-m3/

See for more great pictures: http://www.esa.int/esaHS/SEM3E813J6F_research_0.html

So the launch is scheduled 14th of September bit before 11 UTC (13 CET).

Then YES2 was planned to be switched on in the 5th & 6th orbit (14th 17:13 - 18:51 UTC) for health checks, but we are awaiting information from Foton attitude before switching on YES2- this for possible thermal implications if we switch on random.

The tether deployment and re-entry is the 25th of September.