Huge, Mysteriously Silent Satellite Spotted by Another Spacecraft

by Tariq Malik, SPACE.com Managing Editor

Date: 20 April 2012 Time: 05:17 PM ET

On 15 April, the French space agency CNES rotated the Pleiades Earth observation satellite to capture this image of Envisat. At a distance of about 100 km, Envisat’s main body, solar panel and radar antenna were visible. CREDIT: CNES View full size image

A massive European satellite the size of a school bus that has mysteriously stopped communicating with Earth has been spotted by another satellite in orbit.
The giant Envisat satellite, which is the world's largest imaging satellite for civilian use, was photographed in stunning detail by a French spacecraft that is also designed to snap high-resolution images of Earth, officials with the European Space Agency (ESA) said Friday (April 20).

MORE: http://www.space.com/15369-mysteriously-silent-envisat-satellite-space-photos.html







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