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All aboard the skylark ! End of 50 year a UK space program.

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02-05-2005 1:27pm

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Capt'n Midnight

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http://news.scotsman.com/uk.cfm?id=470202005

A FIFTY-year-old British space programme drew to a close today with the launch of the final Skylark rocket.

The UK-designed rocket finally took off at 6am (BST) after high winds prevented two blast-off attempts yesterday.

The rocket was the 441st Skylark to launch when it set off on its historic journey from the Swedish Space Corporation’s Esrange site near Kiruna.

A spokesman at the Swedish base confirmed the launch had gone "very smoothly".

The final mission, known as the Maser 10, has taken five experiments into space to study the effects of microgravity.

Hugh Whitfield, of Skylark operators Sounding Rocket Services, said: "Skylark is one of the most successful rocket programmes of all time, but this British achievement is largely unknown. We should be immensely proud of the contribution to science that Skylark has made and it is a testament to the skill of British engineers that the programme has lasted nearly half a century," he said.

Skylark rockets, which first flew in 1957 at the start of the British programme, became a relatively inexpensive but highly efficient way of carrying scientific experiments into sub-orbital space.

Despite its success, the Government ended public funding of the programme in 1977.

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