In September 2007, the European Space Agency (ESA) will launch its Foton M3 microgravity mission from Baikonur. The spacecraft will carry the Young Engineers' Satellites (YES2) payload.The goal of this experiment — designed by 500 European students — is to send a 6-kilogram package from space to earth. This spherical parcel, named Fotino, will be attached at the end of a 32-kilometer-long tether. This tether, made of Dyneema, will have a thickness of only 0.4 millimeter. When it's completely deployed at an altitude of about 250 kilometers, it will be cut and Fotino will re-enter the atmosphere to land in Russia, inaugurating the first space postal service.
