Radiation Belt Probe blasts off atop Japan's Epsilon Rocket
Spoiler
Japan's Enhanced Epsilon rocket thundered into the night skies over Kyushu Island on Tuesday, embarking on its debut mission to deliver the ERG Radiation Belt research spacecraft into a high-energy orbit around Earth to penetrate the Van Allen Belts for a detailed study of particle-wave interactions in Earth's powerful magnetic field. Epsilon provided an impressive show as it lit up its powerful first stage at 11:00 UTC, 20:00 local time and shot toward the sky under the loud rumble of the first of its three solid rocket motors tasked with powering the vehicle into orbit.
