[Launch Alert] Sunday Vandenberg Launch

[Brian Webb]

		ASTRONOMY/SPACE ALERT FOR SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
 				  
				Brian Webb, KD6NRP
			  Ventura County, California
			 E-mail: kd6nrp@earthlink.net
		 Web Site: http://home.earthlink.net/~kd6nrp
 				       
					   2002 December 14 (Saturday) 09:35 PST
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				SUNDAY LAUNCH

A Titan II rocket carrying a military satellite is scheduled for
launch Sunday morning from Vandenberg AFB. The Titan is set to leave
south Vandenberg at 06:18 PST, the start of a 15-minute launch window.

Following lift-off, the refurbished strategic missile will begin
heading southward. Several minutes later the Coriolis satellite should
be placed in an elliptical polar orbit.

Since launch is slated for morning twilight, a nice visual display
might occur as the vehicle emerges from the Earth's shadow and
sunlight reflects off of the exhaust. If such a display does take
place, it will probably be during the late portion of the second
stage burn.

If Sunday's launch is postponed, another launch opportunity will occur
at the same time on Monday morning.

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				LAUNCH VIEWING

As mentioned above, the Twilight Effect may occur during the second
stage burn when the vehicle is far south of Vandenberg. This would
make the coast from Palos Verdes to Baja California the best viewing
area.

When selecting a viewing location, keep in mind that the weather
conditions are now the opposite of those encountered during the warmer
months of the year.

>From April to October, low fog and clouds are present along the coast.
Coastal mountains above 3,000 feet are usually above the Marine Layer
and offer clear skies.

However, during the cooler months, the conditions are often the
reverse. Low lying areas along the coast are often clear while clouds
are often present over coastal mountains and ridgelines.

If you're considering using a mountain as a viewing location for the
launch, my advice would be to take a look at it before you drive up
and have a backup location in mind.

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				MISSION BACKGROUND

Detailed information about the Coriolis mission is available on the
Space and Naval Warfare Systems Command web site. The URL is:

	http://enterprise.spawar.navy.mil/spawarpublicsite/body.cfm

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				NEWS STORY

Public radio station KCLU aired a story last night about the Titan II/
Coriolis launch. This story is available on the Web at:

	http://home.earthlink.net/~kd6nrp/library.htm

Look in the audio file section for "coriolis.mp3".

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				COUNTDOWN STATUS

The best source of countdown status for the Titan II/Coriolis launch
is the Spaceflight Now web site. Space journalist Justin Ray is now
providing current countdown status on a web page devoted to this
launch. Point your browser to:

	http://www.spaceflightnow.com/titan/g4/status.html

On launch day, this page will be updated frequently beginning at about
T-1 hour. Be sure to regularly hit the refresh button on your browser
to see the latest information.

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			VANDENBERG LAUNCH NET

Amateur (ham) radio operators in southern California will probably
meet on the air on launch day to hold a Vandenberg Launch Net. This
informal net is used to discuss pending launches and pass along
countdown status. It usually runs from T-30 to T+15 minutes.

The participants primarily use the Broadcast Peak repeater near Santa
Barbara. It has very wide coverage and is a cross-band repeater. In
other words, it simultaneously receives and rebroadcasts signals on
the 2-meter, 220, and 440 amateur radio bands. The output frequencies
are 147.000, 224.900, 449.300 MHz. The offset and PL tone for all
frequencies are minus and 131.8 Hz, respectively.

Since this launch may be visible across a wide area, additional
repeaters may be used for the benefit of those in outlying areas.
These would be the 147.090 MHz Santa Catalina repeater and the Condor
linked repeater system.

Condor is a network of linked repeaters in California and adjoing
areas. Because the repeaters are linked, a ham using one repeater will
be heard on all of the other repeaters in the system. The Condor
repeaters are as follows:

Freq.						 PL
(MHz)			Offset		(Hz)		Location
-------		------		-----		----------------
223.840		  -			156.7		Victorville
223.940		  -			141.3		San Diego
223.940		  -			156.7		Thousand Oaks
224.000		  -			156.7		Santa Barbara
224.180		  -			156.7		Palm Springs
224.640		  -			156.7		Lake Isabella
224.720		  -			156.7		Gorman
224.820		  -			141.3		Lompoc
224.820		  -			156.7		Orange County
224.880		  -			156.7		Kingman, AZ
224.900		  -			156.7		Fresno
224.900		  -			156.7		Las Vegas, NV
224.920		  -			156.7		San Luis Obispo*

* This repeater may be off the air or disconnected from the system.