SPACE SCIENCE:
'Cluster' Prepares to Make a New Stand
Alexander Hellemans
When the rocket carrying Cluster, one of the European Space Agency's most ambitious scientific projects, exploded after being launched on 4 June 1996, dismayed scientists doubted whether ESA could muster the will, or the funds, to start over. But Cluster is poised to fly again. If all goes well, four Cluster II spacecraft, built entirely from scratch, will reach orbit two at a time in mid-July and early August.