NASA on Friday launched a rocket designed to automatically dock with other space vehicles and pave the way for unmanned missions to perform complicated tasks in space. The American space agency said that the 110-million-dollar DART (Demonstration of Autonomous Rendezvous Technology) was launched from Vandenberg Air Force Base north of Los Angeles aboard a Stargazer aircraft and released 10,000 metres above the Pacific Ocean. The rocket's 24-hour mission is intended to demonstrate technologies required to locate and autonomously rendezvous with another craft in space using only computers and sensors. The goal was for DART to catch up with a Pentagon satellite flying some 760 kilometres above Earth and attempt several computer- automated tasks, including manoeuvreing around the satellite, making close approaches and moving away. The satellite was launched in 1999 and carries special reflectors for use in guidance systems similar to the one aboard DART. NASA said if successful, the experimental technology could be used for cargo delivery, servicing missions to the International Space Station and other space activities associated with exploring the solar system and beyond. ---SP 0049 Local Time 2149 GMT
