The European Space Agency (ESA) has successfully launched the second in a series of six satellites that make up the Earth Explorer program. The Soil Moisture and Ocean Salinity satellite (SMOS), which lifted off early Monday on board a Russian rocket, will make the first global maps of the amount of moisture held in soils and of the quantity of salts dissolved in the oceans. Spectrum speaks with Susanne Mecklenburg, SMOS mission manger at ESA.

Interview: Mark Mattox