Posted on 06/25/2006 9:11:27 PM PDT by Names Ash Housewares
The final piece of Boeing's new generation Delta 4 rocket fleet makes its long-awaited debut this week when a booster blasts off from the U.S. West Coast for the first time, punctuating the company's work to develop a line of launchers and build pads in Florida and California.
Conceived in the Air Force's Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle program to field new American rockets to carry government payloads for the next two decades, the Delta 4 has flown five times in its medium- and heavy-lift configurations from Cape Canaveral, Florida. Now, the maiden mission from California's Vandenberg Air Force Base is poised for launch Tuesday evening.
The payload for Tuesday's mission is a classified spacecraft for the U.S. National Reconnaissance Office, the secretive government agency responsible for operating the nation's network of spy satellites. The Delta 4 will haul the craft into a highly inclined, highly elliptical orbit.
Liftoff will happen sometime between 7 and 9 p.m. PDT (10 p.m. and midnight EDT; 0200-0400 GMT). The actual target launch time has not been revealed.
The weather outlook predicts an 80 percent chance of meeting the launch weather rules. But low clouds and fog could ruin the view of liftoff. See the full forecast here.
Thanks for the alert - we'll be sure to watch for this tomorrow evening and will try to get some good photos.
I see that concentric circles found our photo from last fall. :) We're located on the western AZ border and have previously had some great views of the launches from Vandenburg. It's just amazing that we can see something at such a distance!
Right now the weather to the west of us is quite cloudy, hope it clears up by tomorrow evening.
Your photos were fantastic! They really captured the luminosity of the sunlight in the vapor trail. I'm glad you'll be on duty tomorrow. It sounds like the current weather conditions will persist. Let's hope the clouds don't interfere to badly with the view.
YIKES!
I already forgot about this!! SOMEONE needs to remind me, Ernest! (hint hint...)
You pinged me just yesterday....
Are you getting into the Senior moments?
That's always my excuse.
Ha.
Ha.
Very funny.
Ernest? You have my number. It is now Your Responsibility to call me tomorrow late afternoon AT WORK nonetheless.........to remind me!!!
:)
That reminds me of the time back in the 80s when an L-5 group I belonged to was invited to visit Slick 6 to see the shuttle preparations. Two hot-shots from V-burg made the arrangements. But when we got to the gate we were turned away -- another failure! I don't think it was a Chumash curse that did it though; just plain incompetence on our hosts' part. They'd forgotten some clearance or something.
However, So Cal Rocket is mistaken. See my posts #18 and 19.
Glad to see all that taxpayer money has had some good results. I'll be watching this evening, weather permitting, but our coastal 'June Gloom' is heavy this a.m. and if there's mid-day clearing fog usually returns in the p.m. Rocket-watchers inland will probably have a better view than us coasties although the fog could scrub the launch.
Mission Status Center - Spaceflightnow.com
3:56 p.m. PDT - The launch team has been given a "go" to begin fueling the Delta 4 rocket with supercold liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen!
3:10 p.m. PDT - Mission managers are continuing to monitor the situation. No decision has been made to begin fueling the Delta 4 rocket for tonight's launch.
2:09 p.m. PDT - Countdown clocks are running for today's Delta 4 launch. But strong winds at Space Launch Complex 6 are violating the allowable limit during the time crews load propellants into the rocket. So the fueling operations are on hold pending improvements with the weather.
Weather data at 3:40 p.m. PDT
64 °F
Scattered Clouds
Wind: 9 mph from the West
Ceiling: 23000 ft, scattered clouds 13000 ft
Bookmark...
bump
The sky is clearing!!
I didn't click-through on your link but am curious: is there a website that announces the "announced" (hehe) launches? I'd love to see one if I ever have the opportunity. Any suggestions for a good location to watch (I'm not a member at the country club where I saw my last one)?
Boeing plans to provide a webcast of the launch at
www.boeing.com/defense-space/space/delta/media.htm
This page makes any annoucements and updates almost live...
http://www.spaceflightnow.com/
Sky is 99% blue here in Simi Valley towards the west - should be great for viewing.
NAH - Are you going to post a new alert thread a few minutes before launch to let the Freepers not on this thread know that the launch is imminent and they ought to go outside? Something like "ROCKET LAUNCHING NOW (8:14 PST) FROM VANDENBERG!!!"
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