First MIRAS signal received

The first MIRAS (Microwave Imaging Radiometer using Aperture Synthesis) signal was received on 17 November 2009 (19:03 UTC) at ESA’s European Space Astronomy Centre (ESAC), in Villafranca, Spain. MIRAS, the sole instrument on ESA's water mission, was switched on on 17 November at 12:48 UTC. SMOS (Soil Moisture and Ocean Salinity), an ESA Earth Explorer satellite, and ESA’s Project for Onboard Autonomy (Proba-2) were launched into orbit together from the Plesetsk Cosmodrome in northern Russia on Monday 2 November 2009.