NEE-02 Krysaor: Ecuador satellite starts transmitting

A nanosatellite Ecuador launched began transmitting Saturday, and picked up a signal from another that had been lost, the Ecuadoran Civilian Space Agency said.

Krysaor "has started operating on schedule," the agency said, referring to the tiny traveler measuring just 10 by 10 centimeters (3.9 inches). It measures 75 centimeters when unfolded.

Weighing in at just 1.2 kilograms (2.65 pounds), the $160,000 orbiter was launched from Russia last year and is due to broadcast in near-real time for local educational uses.

EXA is the first space agency in the history of Ecuador, it has its own astronaut, the ASA/T Ronnie Nader, who is the Director of the Space Operations Division and is also the Honorary Chairman of the Directorate Board of EXA.

The website reports that his state of service is active, his position is of Mission Specialist and his function is Mission Commander.

Ecuador launched a similar satellite, Pegaso (Pegasus), in April.

It ceased to be heard from in September after hitting remains of a Russian launcher but authorities said they also had recovered the signal from Pegaso after Krysaor began transmitting.

"Who would ever have imagined that we could launch Ecuadoran satellites, however small they may be! We are going to continue with our space program," said an enthused President Rafael Correa, a leftist and economist by training.

Ecuador NEE-02 Krysor: Second nano-satellite launched

"Krysaor," like its predecessor, is equipped with a video camera, but with a higher resolution, more advanced solar panels, and a high-speed digital broadcasting system that "can transmit data a thousand times faster" than Pegaso, Nader said.

Ecuador's Civilian Space Agency (EXA) successfully launched the second nano-satellite into space early Thursday, the government-run news agency Andes reported.

The "Krysaor" satellite was launched aboard a Russian-built Dnepr RS-20B rocket that blasted off from the Dombarovsky launch site in Russia's southeastern Orenburg region.

"Krysaor has been put into orbit. The mission is successful," EXA's director Ronnie Nader was quoted as saying.

Experts at the EXA, led by Nader, monitored the launch from a ground control station in Guayaquil in southwestern Ecuador.

In April, the South American country launched its first nano- satellite "Pegaso," a 10x10 centimeter cube weighing 2.1 kilograms, to broadcast images in real time for educational purposes.

A month later, however, "Pegaso" collided with debris from an old Russian rocket, and the EXA announced in September that the device had vanished.

"Krysaor," like its predecessor, is equipped with a video camera, but with a higher resolution, more advanced solar panels, and a high-speed digital broadcasting system that "can transmit data a thousand times faster" than Pegaso, Nader said.

Space Debris: Ecuador Pegaso satellite collides with Russian rocket remains

An Ecuadoran satellite launched last month, with the help of China, has collided with the remains of a Russian rocket in the coming hours, the country's civilian space agency warned Wednesday.

The "Pegaso" (Pegasus) nanosatellite, designed and built in Ecuador, set off aboard an unmanned rocket April 25 from the Jiuquand station in northern China. It is the country's first.

The Joint Space Operations Center in the United States, which monitors all artificial Earth-orbiting objects, said there had been no head-on crash but "data indicated a lateral collision with particles" of the Soviet-era rocket.

"Pegasus could be damaged or spinning out of control but, because it's still in orbit, we have hope," Ronnie Nader, head of the Ecuadorian Civilian Space Agency, tweeted.

"Ecuador still has its satellite, the people still have Pegasus," he wrote, saying it could take up to 48 hours to assess damage.

The 2.6-pound nanosatellite had been orbiting at a distance of 404 miles while transmitting pictures of the Earth.

Measuring just 10 by 10 by 75 centimeters (four by four by 30 inches), and weighing 1.2 kilograms (2.6 pounds), Pegaso on Thursday transmitted its first live video with audio.

Last month's launch came amid much fanfare, including a live broadcast.

The South American country plans to send a second satellite into space from Russia in July.

China helps Ecuador launch its first satellite into space

Ecuador launched its first satellite into space from China Friday morning, in a moment broadcast live on radio and television back home in Ecuador.

The "Pegaso" (Pegasus) nano-satellite, designed and built in Ecuador, set off aboard an unmanned rocket at 0413 GMT from the Jiuquan station in northern China.

Measuring just 10 by 10 by 75 centimeters (four by four by 30 inches), and weighing 1.2 kilograms (2.6 pounds), Pegaso will beam live video images back to Earth from an onboard camera.

"Welcome to the heavens, Pegaso. Welcome to space Ecuador. The mission is a success," said Ronnie Nader, Ecuador's first and only astronaut, who runs Ecuador's civilian space agency.

The Ecuadoran Space Agency plans a second satellite launch in July.

NASA UAVSAR Image: Napo River in Ecuador and Peru

On March 17, 2013, NASA’s Uninhabited Aerial Vehicle Synthetic Aperture Radar (UAVSAR) acquired synthetic aperture radar data over the Napo River in Ecuador and Peru. 

The image colours indicate the likelihood of inundation (flooding) beneath the forest canopy, which is difficult to determine using traditional optical sensors. 

Red and yellow shades indicate a high likelihood of standing water with emergent vegetation, blue and green shades are areas less likely to be inundated, and black indicates the open water areas of the Napo River. 

These data, which have already been transmitted to a field team working along the Napo River, will be used to guide field measurements during a second observation by UAVSAR on March 31, 2013. 

The image is a 8.7-mile-wide by 5.6-mile-long (14-kilometer-wide by 9-kilometer-long) segment of an image measuring more than 124 miles (200 kilometers) long. North is toward the upper right. 

The resolution is 20 feet (6 meters). UAVSAR data like these are helping scientists assess the effectiveness of using synthetic aperture radar data to study the inundation dynamics of this and similar rivers around the world. 

Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

The Tungurahua volcano, Ecuador.

The Tungurahua volcano spews large clouds of gas and ash, near Banos in Ecuador

Picture: REUTERS/Carlos Campana

Tungurahua Volcano Erupting, Ecuador

Volcano Tungurahua sometimes erupts spectacularly.

Pictured above, molten rock so hot it glows visibly pours down the sides of the 5,000-meter high Tungurahua, while a cloud of dark ash is seen being ejected toward the left.

Wispy white clouds flow around the lava-lit peak, while a star-lit sky shines in the distance.

The above image was captured in 2006 as ash fell around the adventurous photographer.

Located in Ecuador, Tungurahua has become active roughly every 90 years since for the last 1,300 years.

Tungurahua volcano, Quito, Ecuador

The Tungurahua volcano spews lava and ash early in the morning 135 km south of Quito, Ecuador

Picture: SILVANA HIDALGO/AFP/Getty Images

Tungurahua Volcano from Juive Grande, Ecuador

The Tungurahua Volcano is seen from Juive Grande, Ecuador

Picture: PABLO COZZAGLIO/AFP/Getty Images

Ecuador: Tungurahua volcano erupts

The Tungurahua volcano expels molten lava and ash in this picture taken from Cotalo town, Ecuador.

Tungurahua volcano in Ecuador

The Tungurahua volcano in Cotalo, in the Andean Ecuador, erupts.

Clouds and Stars over Cotopaxi Volcano in Ecuador

Explanation: What's happening above the Cotopaxi volcano in Ecuador? Quite a bit, from the looks of the above one-night, time-lapse movie, taken earlier this month. The majestic volcano is first seen through breaks in fast moving clouds as the movie begins.

Soon the clouds have dissipated and a sky filled with stars seems to rotate about the snow-peaked volcano's peak. The band of our Milky Way Galaxy, the dark Coal Sack nebula, and the Southern Cross can all be seen overhead.

Satellites steak by from several directions. Soon thin clouds roll by and seem to make the brightest stars sparkle. On the volcano (starting at about 1:13 of the movie), the lights of climbers flash.

Near the end of the movie, a bright airplane passes over the peak with a residual trail seen drifting away.