[Launch Alert] Launch Schedule

[Brian Webb]

            ASTRONOMY/SPACE ALERT FOR SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
 				  
			           Brian Webb
		         Ventura County, California
		        E-mail: kd6nrp@earthlink.net
	       Web Site: http://home.earthlink.net/~kd6nrp

	   Reaching more than 2,050 e-mail addresses worldwide
 				       
				           2003 September 1 (Monday) 09:08 PDT
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			          CLARIFICATION

A couple of weeks ago there was some confusion whether the prototype
EKV booster launch from Vandenberg AFB was scheduled for 11:00 a.m. or
11:00 p.m.

All times in this newsletter are given in Pacific Time using military
format. For assistance in converting military time to regular time, go
to:

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

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		       VANDENBERG AFB LAUNCH SCHEDULE
			     As of 2003 September 1

		   Launch
		 Time/Window
  Date        (PST/PDT)             Vehicle          Pad/Silo
--------	 -----------	   -------------	     --------

SEP          Unannounced         Minuteman III       LF-10
ICBM test launch (non-orbital). Payload is at least one unarmed
warhead. Impact area is in the Reagan Test Site at Kwajalein in the
central Pacific. GT-181GM 

Late SEP     09:17-09:27         Titan II            SLC-4W
Payload is a DMSP military weather satellite 

NOV 13       19:21               Delta II            SLC-2W
Payload is NASA's Gravity Probe B scientific satellite 

NOV 20       Unannounced         Atlas IIas          SLC-3E
Payload is a classified National Reconnaissance Office satellite(s).
NROL-18 

JAN 15       Unknown             Delta II            SLC-2W
Payload is NASA's AURA scientific satellite 

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	        Southern California Astronomical Events
		             for 2003 September

		        Time
  Date            (PST/PDT)		           Event
--------	     -----------	     -----------------------------

SEP 3		     05:34		     First Quarter Moon
http://aa.usno.navy.mil/data/docs/MoonPhase.html

SEP 10	     09:36		     Full Moon
http://aa.usno.navy.mil/data/docs/MoonPhase.html 

SEP 10	     19:00             Mercury Inferior Conjunction
Mercury is between the Earth and the Sun and is lost in the Sun's
glare. RASC Observer's Handbook 2003, pg. 93

SEP 16-17	     23:34-00:12*      Lunar Occultation
The Moon occults (passes in front of) the star Kappa Tauri. Star
disappears at 23:34 and reappears at 00:12
http://www.planetkc.com/bobgraze/2003d.zip 

SEP 17	     00:24-01:02*      Lunar Occultation
The Moon occults (passes in front of) the star Upsilon Tauri. Star
disappears at 00:24 and reappears at 01:02
http://www.planetkc.com/bobgraze/2003d.zip 

SEP 18	     12:03		     Last Quarter Moon
http://aa.usno.navy.mil/data/docs/MoonPhase.html 

SEP 25	     20:09		     New Moon
http://aa.usno.navy.mil/data/docs/MoonPhase.html 

SEP 26	     17:00		     Mercury Greatest Western Elongation
Elusive Mercury attains its maximum angular separation from the Sun
and is visible very low in the east during morning twilight.
RASC Observer's Handbook 2003, pg. 93 

SEP 27-28	     ---		     Dark Sky Weekend
Optimum time this month for observing faint objects. Amateur
astronomers will congregate at dark observing sites

*Times computed for downtown Los Angeles. They will vary depending on
your location.

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		                  GLOSSARY

DMSP	Defense Meteorological Satellite Program
EKV	Exoatmospheric Kill Vehicle. The anti-missile interceptor
	for the Ground-Based Midcourse Defense system designed to
	destroy missiles in space during the middle (midcourse)
	portion of their trajectory.
GT-	Glory Trip. Name given to strategic missile test launches
	(GT-183GB, etc.)
LF-	Launch facility. A missile silo (such as LF-10).
PDT	Pacific Daylight Time
PST	Pacific Standard Time
RASC	Royal Astronomical Society of Canada
SLC-	Space Launch Complex. A launch pad (SLC-2W for example)