Scientists' delight at solar probe decision

Scientists reacted with delight yesterday after hearing that the European Space Agency is to relaunch the Cluster mission of spacecraft to study the Sun, writes Charles Arthur.

The original launch ended in spectacular failure last June when the Ariane- 5 rocket carrying the scientific instruments blew up less than a minute after takeoff.

"This is great news," said Professor Alan Johnstone of the Mullard Space Science Laboratory, who lost years of work in the explosion. "It has been a long campaign with a lot of ups and downs, but I'm happy this will happen, in the circumstances."

Apart from an abstention by Italy, the member countries of ESA agreed yesterday to buy two Russian Soyuz rockets for the launch, and to rebuild all four scientific instruments that were originally lost in the explosion. Previously, the ESA had been considering a cheaper option which would involve fewer instruments. That, however, would have provided less scientific data.