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THE GUARDIAN |
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Spacecraft
to check on climate
Tim
Radford Aura, a US mission carrying ultra-sensitive British and European instruments, will monitor the greenhouse gases that could accelerate global warming. It will eventually be one of 20 Earth observation satellites orbiting at 438 miles. Aura's four instruments will answer key questions about repair of the ozone layer, the processes that control air quality and the pressures on the planet's climate. Alan O'Neill, of the University of Reading, said: "We are on the threshold of what appears to be rather dramatic climate change. But there is tremendous uncertainty as to how that change will occur." The earliest Aura can be launched from California on June 26. It carries a £20m instrument designed by scientists at Oxford and Reading, who have been on the project since 1987. Guardian Unlimited © Guardian Newspapers Limited 2004
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