From kd6nrp@earthlink.net  Mon Mar  1 02:04:16 2004
From: kd6nrp@earthlink.net (Brian Webb)
Date: Sun, 29 Feb 2004 18:04:16 -0800
Subject: [Launch Alert] Vandenberg AFB Launch Schedule
Message-ID: <ILEIKIDGMILNBLGDAFBMOEJHDHAA.kd6nrp@earthlink.net>

                            LAUNCH ALERT

			           Brian Webb
		         Ventura County, California
		        E-mail: kd6nrp@earthlink.net
	          Web Site: http://www.spacearchive.info

	   Reaching more than 2,440 e-mail addresses worldwide

				           2004 February 29 (Sunday) 17:54 PST
----------------------------------------------------------------------

		       VANDENBERG AFB LAUNCH SCHEDULE
			     As of 2004 February 29


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

MAR		Unannounced		Minuteman III	LF-09
ICBM test launch (non-orbital). Payload is probably unarmed Mk-12
warhead(s). Impact area is in the Reagan Test Site at Kwajalein in the
central Pacific. Glory Trip 184GM

Late MAR	Unannounced		Taurus		SLC-576E
Payload is Taiwan's ROCSAT-2 satellite

APR 17	10:09:12		Delta II	SLC-2W
Payload is NASA's Gravity Probe B satellite. In the event of a
postponement, launch time occurs 4 minutes earlier each day

MAY 13	Unannounced		Falcon I	SLC-3W
Payload is the Naval Research Laboratory's TacSat-1 satellite

JUN		Unannounced		Minuteman III	LF-10
ICBM test launch (non-orbital). Payload is probably unarmed Mk-12
warhead(s). Impact area is in the Reagan Test Site at Kwajalein in the
central Pacific. Glory Trip 185GM

JUN 20	03:01:48		Delta II	SLC-2W
Payload is NASA's AURA scientific satellite

JUL		Unannounced		Peacekeeper	LF-02
ICBM test launch (non-orbital). Payload is probably unarmed Mk-21
warheads. Impact area is in the Reagan Test Site at Kwajalein in the
central Pacific. Glory Trip 33PA?

SEP		Unannounced		Minuteman III	LF-04
ICBM test launch (non-orbital). Payload is probably unarmed Mk-12
warhead(s). Impact area is in the Reagan Test Site at Kwajalein in the
central Pacific. Glory Trip 185GM?

Mid-SEP	~03:00?		Delta II		SLC-2W
Payload is NOAA's NOAA N weather/environmental satellite

----------------------------------------------------------------------

	         Southern California Astronomical Events
			         for 2004 March

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

MAR 1		02:00		 Lunar Conjunction
The Moon passes 5° north of Saturn.

MAR 3		18:00		 Mercury Superior Conjunction
Mercury passes behind the Sun and is lost in the Sun's glare.

MAR 3		21:00		 Jupiter Opposition
Jupiter is opposite the Sun with respect to Earth and rises at sunset.

MAR 4		23:22		 Jupiter Dual Shadow Transit
The shadows of Jupiter's moons Io and Europa are visible on planet's
disk.

MAR 6		15:14		 Full Moon
Moon rises at sunset and sets at sunrise and is visible all night.

MAR 12	01:16		 Jupiter Dual Shadow Transit
The shadows of Jupiter's moons Io and Europa are visible on planet's
disk.

MAR 13	13:01		 Last Quarter Moon
Moon rises at midnight and sets at noon.

MAR 19	03:10		 Jupiter Dual Shadow Transit
The shadows of Jupiter's moons Io and Europa are visible on planet's
disk.

MAR 20	14:41		 New Moon
Moon passes between the Earth and the Sun and is invisible. Moon rises
at sunrise and sets at sunset.

MAR 20	21:39		 Jupiter Dual Shadow Transit
The shadows of Jupiter's moons Io and Ganymede are visible on planet's
disk.

MAR 20-21	---		 Dark Sky Weekend
Best time this month to observe faint objects. Amateur astronomers
will hold observing sessions from dark sites

MAR 25	16:00		 Lunar Conjunction
The Moon passes 0.8° north of Mars.

MAR 28	00:00		 Jupiter Triple Shadow Transit
The shadows of Jupiter's moons Io, Ganymede, and Callisto are visible
on planet's disk.

MAR 28	15:48		 First Quarter Moon
Moon rises at noon and sets at midnight.

MAR 29	04:00		 Mercury Eastern Elongation
Elusive Mercury attains its greatest angular separation from the Sun
and is visible low in the west at dusk.

MAR 29	09:00		 Venus Western Elongation
Venus attains its greatest angular separation from the Sun and is
visible in the west at dusk.

----------------------------------------------------------------------

                     ICESat Instrument Verified
          Scripps Institution of Oceanography News Release
                          2004 February 26

  (Editor's Note: ICESat was launched from Vandenberg AFB in 2003)

A spaceborne laser instrument has taken a significant leap forward
on its way to helping scientists answer a handful of important
questions about Earth's surface.

In results scientists are calling "spectacular," a team led by
Jean-Bernard Minster of Scripps Institution of Oceanography at the
University of California, San Diego, has verified the ultra-high
precision of the instrument, the Geoscience Laser Altimeter System,
or GLAS, aboard the NASA satellite ICESat* (Ice, Cloud and land
Elevation Satellite).

Launched a year ago, ICESat and the GLAS data it is transmitting to
researchers are helping determine how levels of Earth's polar ice
sheets and glaciers are changing. The ICESat mission is designed to
provide valuable information on important issues such as climate
change and its impact on the polar regions.

On Feb. 11, Scripps researcher Helen Amanda Fricker and graduate
student Adrian Borsa at the Cecil H. and Ida M. Green Institute of
Geophysics and Planetary Physics at Scripps calibrated the accuracy
of GLAS's ability to measure the height of Earth's surface to within
five inches, a remarkable agreement with precise surface readings (the
so-called "ground truth"). The accuracy is especially impressive, the
scientists say, given that the satellite travels nearly 400 miles
above the surface at more than 16,000 miles per hour.

During each orbital pass of ICESat, the GLAS instrument fires laser
pulses (not harmful to eyes) towards Earth at a rate of 40 pulses per
second using a technology called lidar, (light detection and ranging).
Since ICESat's launch in January 2003, several hundred million laser
shots have been fired. By measuring the precise time it takes for the
laser pulses to bounce back to the satellite, GLAS can detect its
distance from Earth's surface.

Combining this with knowledge of the exact location of ICESat in its
orbit (to about one inch), and the direction of the laser beam (to
better than a thousandth of a degree), determined by the Center for
Space Research (CSR) at the University of Texas at Austin, the height
of the surface of Earth can be calculated. That information will be
used to carefully calculate changes in Earth's surface elevation over
time.

But in order to achieve that level of precision, Minster's group and
their colleagues on the ICESat team have been working to demonstrate
that GLAS's readings are indeed as accurate as they were designed to
be. The "ultimate" calibration standard for the team is a set of
Global Positioning System (GPS) data collected in 2002 in the Bolivian
Andes on a giant salt flat called the Salar de Uyuni, one of the
largest flat surfaces on Earth. Here Fricker, Borsa and others
carefully mapped extremely precise GPS readings of a region so flat
that the total range of elevations over a 60-by-60-mile area is less
than three feet.

"Establishing such calibration and validation areas for space-based
instruments represents a lot of painstaking work," said Borsa. For
comparison, surveying the Salar de Uyuni took weeks of preparation,
days of field work and months of data processing.  ICESat passes over
the area in less than ten seconds.

The team's topographic map of the Salar de Uyuni is thought to have an
average accuracy of an inch or better, and offers a standard that they
hoped could be approached by the readings from space. In the late
afternoon of Feb. 11, Fricker and Borsa's computer calculations led to
an uncannily close match between the Salar de Uyuni surface GPS data
and the space-borne GLAS data.

"These results are simply spectacular," said Minster, a Scripps
Institution professor. "If they are repeatable by future measurements,
they show that this technology can indeed capture the minute surface
elevation changes we are looking for, particularly on the ice sheets
in reference to global climate change."

The first GLAS readings over the Salar de Uyuni were obtained on Oct.
27, 2003, on a crystal clear day with no clouds. A second pass was
made three weeks later on a cloudy day, and GLAS readings from that
pass confirmed and reinforced the accuracy estimated for the first
pass. Scientists are especially satisfied with results from the second
pass since it highlights the instrument's ability to operate
satisfactorily through moderate cloud cover.

"The ICESat height estimate repeatability is impressive," said
instrument scientist James Abshire of NASA. "This is far better than
ever achieved before from space and is an outstanding result for this
early in the mission." Abshire supervised the design and construction
of the instrument at the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center in the
1990s. CSR's Bob Schutz, the GLAS science team leader, concurred.
"The Uyuni result is a significant contribution toward the
characterization of the GLAS instrument," he said.

Minster believes the results help pave the way for research using
ICESat data and for future missions that require scientists to
consistently and precisely study the evolution of ice sheets and
other features over decades.

"We have gained enormous confidence in our ability to achieve change
detection," said Minster. "With the help of future missions over the
next decade or two we will be able to unravel seasonal and annual
variations of the surface from long-term trends associated with
climate change."

The initial concept for GLAS was first proposed nearly 15 years ago.
The new achievement is the result of a long-term collaboration of
scientists and engineers from NASA, the University of Texas at Austin,
the University of Wisconsin, MIT, Scripps Institution and Ball
Aerospace Corp., from Boulder, Colo.

"I'm filled with awe that the collaborative work of so many people
and organizations ultimately converged on this success," said Minster.

----------------------------------------------------------------------

					GLOSSARY

~		Approximately
GLAS		Geoscience Laser Altimeter System
Glory Trip	Name given to strategic missile test launches
		(Glory Trip-183GB, etc.)
ICESat	Ice, Cloud and land Elevation Satellite
LF-		Launch facility. A missile silo (such as LF-10).
NOAA		National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
PDT		Pacific Daylight Time
PST		Pacific Standard Time
SLC-		Space Launch Complex. A launch pad (SLC-2W for example).


From kd6nrp@earthlink.net  Sat Mar  6 18:16:33 2004
From: kd6nrp@earthlink.net (Brian Webb)
Date: Sat, 6 Mar 2004 10:16:33 -0800
Subject: [Launch Alert] Test Message
Message-ID: <ILEIKIDGMILNBLGDAFBMMEOHDHAA.kd6nrp@earthlink.net>

This is a test message from the editor of Launch Alert. I am testing changes
to the settings on the newsletter distribution server.

There are two launches scheduled for March from Vandenberg AFB: A Minuteman
III and a Taurus carrying Taiwan's ROCSAT-2 satellite. It is not clear which
will occur first because the exact launch dates and times have not yet been
announced.

Regards,

Brian Webb


From kd6nrp@earthlink.net  Wed Mar 10 13:43:43 2004
From: kd6nrp@earthlink.net (Brian Webb)
Date: Wed, 10 Mar 2004 05:43:43 -0800
Subject: [Launch Alert] Classified Vandenberg Launch Gets Go-Ahead
Message-ID: <ILEIKIDGMILNBLGDAFBMKEBNDIAA.kd6nrp@earthlink.net>

                                    
                             LAUNCH ALERT
 				  
				     Brian Webb
			   Ventura County, California
			  E-mail: kd6nrp@earthlink.net
		   Web Site: http://www.spacearchive.info

	   Reaching more than 2,440 e-mail addresses worldwide
 				       
					     2004 March 10 (Wednesday) 05:27 PST
----------------------------------------------------------------------

             CLASSIFIED VANDENBERG LAUNCH GETS GO-AHEAD

International Launch Services, a Lockheed Martin Corp. joint venture,
has received the go-ahead for the first Atlas V launch from Vandenberg
AFB. The launch will occur from SLC-3E, which is being refurbished to
support a late 2005 launch for this national security mission. 

The launch is for the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO), as one of
18 missions assigned to ILS and the Lockheed Martin-built Atlas V
rocket under the U.S. Air Force's Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle
(EELV) program. 

Information courtesy of International Launch Services

----------------------------------------------------------------------

			 VANDENBERG AFB LAUNCH SCHEDULE
				As of 2004 March 10

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

MAR		Unannounced		Minuteman III	LF-09
ICBM test launch (non-orbital). Payload is one or more unarmed
warheads (probably Mk-12 warheads). Impact area is in the Reagan Test
Site at Kwajalein in the central Pacific. Glory Trip 184GM 

Late MAR	Unannounced		Taurus		SLC-576E
Payload is Taiwan's ROCSAT-2 satellite 

APR 17	10:09:12		Delta II		SLC-2W
Payload is NASA's Gravity Probe B satellite. In the event of a
postponement, launch time occurs 4 minutes earlier each day 

MAY 13	Unannounced		Falcon I		SLC-3W
Payload is the Naval Research Laboratory's TacSat-1 satellite 

JUN		Unannounced		Minuteman III	LF-10
ICBM test launch (non-orbital). Payload is one or more unarmed
warheads (probably Mk-12 warheads). Impact area is in the Reagan Test
Site at Kwajalein in the central Pacific. Glory Trip 185GM 

JUN 17	03:01:48		Delta II		SLC-2W
Payload is NASA's AURA scientific satellite 

JUL		Unannounced		Peacekeeper		LF-02
ICBM test launch (non-orbital). Payload is unarmed warheads (probably
Mk-21 warheads). Impact area is in the Reagan Test Site at Kwajalein
in the central Pacific. Glory Trip 33PA? 

SEP		Unannounced		Minuteman III	LF-04
ICBM test launch (non-orbital). Payload is one or more unarmed
warheads (probably Mk-12 warheads). Impact area is in the Reagan Test
Site at Kwajalein in the central Pacific. Glory Trip 185GM? 

Mid-SEP	~03:00?		Delta II		SLC-2W
Payload is NOAA N environmental satellite  

----------------------------------------------------------------------

					GLOSSARY

~		Approximately
Glory Trip	Name given to strategic missile test launches
            (Glory Trip-183GB, etc.)
LF-		Launch facility. A missile silo (such as LF-10).
NOAA		National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
PDT		Pacific Daylight Time
PST		Pacific Standard Time
SLC-		Space Launch Complex. A launch pad (SLC-2W for example).

From kd6nrp@earthlink.net  Sat Mar 20 15:18:19 2004
From: kd6nrp@earthlink.net (Brian Webb)
Date: Sat, 20 Mar 2004 07:18:19 -0800
Subject: [Launch Alert] Vandenberg Launch Schedule
Message-ID: <ILEIKIDGMILNBLGDAFBMEEIJDIAA.kd6nrp@earthlink.net>

                            LAUNCH ALERT
 				  
				     Brian Webb
			   Ventura County, California
			  E-mail: kd6nrp@earthlink.net
		   Web Site: http://www.spacearchive.info

						2004 March 20 (Saturday) 07:00 PST
----------------------------------------------------------------------

			 VANDENBERG AFB LAUNCH SCHEDULE
			       As of 2003 March 20

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

MAR		Unannounced		Minuteman III	LF-09
ICBM test launch (non-orbital). Payload is one or more unarmed
warheads (probably Mk-12). Impact area is in the Reagan Test Site at
Kwajalein in the central Pacific. Glory Trip 184GM

APR 9?	09:39-10:02?	Taurus		SLC-576E
Payload is Taiwan's ROCSAT-2 satellite. The launch window is an
educated guess by the editor. 

APR 17	10:09:12		Delta II		SLC-2W
Payload is NASA's Gravity Probe B satellite. In the event of a
postponement, launch time occurs 4 minutes earlier each day 

JUN		Unannounced		Minuteman III	LF-10
ICBM test launch (non-orbital). Payload is one or more unarmed
warheads (probably Mk-12). Impact area is in the Reagan Test Site at
Kwajalein in the central Pacific. Glory Trip 185GM 

JUN 17	03:01:48		Delta II		SLC-2W
Payload is NASA's AURA scientific satellite 

JUL		Unannounced		Peacekeeper		LF-02
ICBM test launch (non-orbital). Payload is unarmed warheads (probably
Mk-21). Impact area is in the Reagan Test Site at Kwajalein in the
central Pacific. Glory Trip 33PA? 

AUG-SEP	10:00-13:00		Falcon I		SLC-3W
Payload is the Naval Research Laboratory's TacSat-1 satellite. The
launch window is fixed and does not change if the launch date changes. 

SEP		Unannounced		Minuteman III	LF-04
ICBM test launch (non-orbital). Payload is one or more unarmed
warheads (probably Mk-12). Impact area is in the Reagan Test Site at
Kwajalein in the central Pacific. Glory Trip 185GM? 

Mid-SEP	~03:00?		Delta II		SLC-2W
Payload is NOAA's NOAA N environmental satellite  

----------------------------------------------------------------------

          VANDENBERG PAYLOAD REVEALS BENEFITS OF SANTA ANAS
               Jet Propulsion Laboratory News Release

  (Editor's Note: QuikScat was launched from Vandenberg AFB in 1999)

Southern California's legendary Santa Ana winds wreak havoc every
year, creating hot, dry conditions and fire hazards. Despite their
often-destructive nature, a study of the "Devil Winds," conducted
using data from NASA's Quick Scatterometer (Quikscat) spacecraft and
its SeaWinds instrument shows the winds have some positive benefits. 
"These strong winds, which blow from the land out into the ocean,
cause cold water to rise from the bottom of the ocean to the top,
bringing with it many nutrients that ultimately benefit local
fisheries," said Dr. Timothy Liu, a senior research scientist at
NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif., and Quikscat
project scientist. Santa Ana consequences include vortices of cold
water and high concentrations of chlorophyll 400 to 1,000 kilometers
(248 to 621 miles) offshore. 

Liu and Dr. Hua Hu of the California Institute of Technology,
Pasadena, in a paper published last year in Geophysical Research
Letters, revealed satellite observations of the Santa Ana effects on
the ocean during three windy days in February 2003. According to the
findings, Quikscat was able to identify the fine features of the
coastal Santa Ana wind jets. It identified location, strength and
extent, which other weather prediction products lack the resolution
to consistently show, and which moored ocean buoys lack sufficient
coverage to fully represent. 

Quikscat's high-resolution images of air-sea interaction were used to
measure wind forces on the ocean. Other satellites and instruments,
like the Sea-viewing Wide Field-of-view Sensor (SeaWiFS) and the
Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer, onboard a National Oceanic
and Atmospheric Administration polar orbiting weather satellite, were
used to measure the temperature and biological production of the
ocean surface, which respond to the wind. 

The latter instrument showed sea surface temperatures dropped four
degrees Celsius (seven degrees Fahrenheit) during the February 2003
Santa Anas. That was a sign that upwelling had occurred, meaning,
deep cold water moved up to the ocean surface bringing nutrients.
Images from SeaWiFS confirmed the increased biological productivity
by measuring chlorophyll concentrations in the surface water. It went
from negligible, in the absence of winds, to very active biological
activity (more than 1.5 milligrams per cubic meter) in the presence of
the winds. 

"There really is no other system that can monitor Santa Ana winds
over the entire oceanic region," Liu said. "Scatterometers such as
Quikscat have a large enough field of view and high enough resolution
to easily identify the details of coastal winds, which can affect the
transportation, ecology and economy of Southern California." 

High pressure develops inland when cold air is trapped over the
mountains, driving the dry, hot and dusty Santa Anas (also called
Santanas and Devil's Breath) at high speeds toward the coast. The
winds, occurring in fall, winter and spring, can reach 113 kilometers
(70 miles) per hour. They happen at any time of day and usually reach
peak strength in December. Telltale signs on the coast include good
visibility inland, unusually low humidity and an approaching dark
brown dust cloud. 

The Quikscat satellite, launched in June 1999, operates in a
Sun-synchronous, 800-kilometer (497-mile) near-polar orbit. It circles
Earth every 100 minutes and takes approximately 400,000 daily
measurements over 93 percent of the planet's surface. It passes over
Southern California about twice a day, skipping a day every three or
four days. 

Quikscat is part of an integrated Earth observation system managed by
NASA's Office of Earth Science. The NASA enterprise is dedicated to
understanding the Earth as an integrated system and applying Earth
System Science to improve prediction of climate, weather, and natural
hazards using the unique vantage point of space. 

----------------------------------------------------------------------

            "FAB FIVE" MAKE RARE APPEARANCE IN NIGHT SKY
               Jet Propulsion Laboratory News Release

Like a busy urban family, planets rarely get together all at once.
Later this month, however, the five so-called naked-eye planets -
Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn - will reunite in the night
sky, giving spectators a unique chance to see Earth's closest
companions in one easy sitting.The gathering will be visible every
night for an hour after sunset, beginning around March 22 and lasting
about two weeks. While other opportunities to catch a five-planet
rendezvous will take place in the next few years, both at dawn and
dusk, this one is not to be missed.

"This particular planetary grouping will quite possibly offer the best
nighttime views until 2036," says Dr. Myles Standish, an astronomer at
NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.

For early risers, there will be another chance to see all five
naked-eye planets together just before sunrise in December of this
year and early January 2005.

Since ancient times, the naked-eye planets have intrigued and inspired
onlookers all over the world. But only sporadically, usually every few
years or so, do their orbits take them to the same side of the Sun.
When this happens, the planets stretch across the morning or evening
skies depending on which side of the Sun they reside. More rare are
planetary alignments in which the five planets assemble in a very
small corner of the sky.

"Every so often the five visible planets will collect on one side of
the Sun," says Standish. "Only when conditions are right, will they
all be clearly visible at either dusk or dawn."

The Details

To catch the planetary get-together, you'll need a good view of the
sky, free of buildings and bright city lights (you should still be
able to see the planets through urban light pollution). The show
begins around March 22 and lasts through early April, when Mercury
fades from sight. The finest views will take place during the last 8
to 10 days of March.

Begin by looking to the western horizon each evening just after
sunset. Seated in a row up and across the sky will be Mercury, Venus,
Mars and Saturn. Saturn will lie almost directly overhead. Following
the line of the planets, Jupiter will be close to the eastern horizon.
Together, the planets will span about 135 degrees. About an hour after
dusk, Mercury will dip below the western horizon.

The Moon will also be attending the festivities, mingling through the
planets in an orderly fashion. On March 22, it will take a seat next
to Mercury, and then climbing up the night sky, it will end its tour
on April 1 right above mighty Jupiter, the largest planet in our solar
system. As the Moon slides from planet to planet, it will grow in size
from a slender crescent to a nearly full circle of white.

Note that Venus is currently brighter than usual because of where it
lies in relation to Earth and the Sun.

The Moon and planets will appear to follow nearly the same path
through the stars. This is because their orbits around the Sun occupy
planes that are close to that of Earth's orbit. The plane Earth moves
in is called the ecliptic.

If for some reason you miss the "Fab Five," another set of orbiting
bodies will soon make a grand debut. In April and May of this year,
two naked-eye comets, C/2001 Q4 and C/2002 T7, will grace the twilight
skies. To spot the cosmic balls of dust and ice look to the west at
dusk or dawn. A pair of binoculars will help to initially locate the
comets because they may be slightly washed out by the Sun. On May 12
to 16 look out for a mini-reunion with the naked-eye planets, when
comet C/2001 Q4 lines up with Venus, Mars, Saturn and Jupiter.

----------------------------------------------------------------------

                           NEED MORE NEWS?

For more space and astronomy news plus interesting images, be sure to
visit my web site at www.spacearchive.info.


From kd6nrp@earthlink.net  Tue Mar 23 01:10:38 2004
From: kd6nrp@earthlink.net (Brian Webb)
Date: Mon, 22 Mar 2004 17:10:38 -0800
Subject: [Launch Alert] Wednesday Launch
Message-ID: <ILEIKIDGMILNBLGDAFBMEEKJDIAA.kd6nrp@earthlink.net>

                            LAUNCH ALERT

			          Brian Webb
		         Ventura County, California
		        E-mail: kd6nrp@earthlink.net
	          Web Site: http://www.spacearchive.info


				              2004 March 22 (Monday) 17:04 PST
----------------------------------------------------------------------

                        MINUTEMAN III LAUNCH
                     Vandenberg AFB News Release

VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. – An unarmed Minuteman III
intercontinental ballistic missile is scheduled for launch from North
Vandenberg Wednesday morning as part of AFSPC’s ICBM Force Development
Evaluation Program. The six-hour launch window is from 12:01 to 6:01
a.m. The purpose of the launch is to verify the continued reliability
and accuracy of the Minuteman III ICBM.

Missile Combat Crews from the 90th Space Wing at F.E. Warren AFB,
Wyo., led by Capt. Matt Guenther, will launch the missile under the
direction of the 576th Flight Test Squadron here. Capt. William
Hojnowski, 576th FLTS, is the launch director.

Col. Frank Gallegos, 30th Space Wing commander, is the spacelift
commander. The mission director is Lt. Col. Anthony Blaylock, 576th
FLTS commander. Members of the 576th FLTS installed tracking,
telemetry and command destruct systems on the missile to collect data
and meet safety requirements.

The missile’s single unarmed re-entry vehicle is expected to travel
approximately 4,200 miles in about 30 minutes, hitting a
pre-determined target at the Kwajalein Missile Range in the western
chain of the Marshall Islands. The nation’s ICBMs are a key component
of global stability – a safe, secure and affordable weapon system that
delivers deterrence.

----------------------------------------------------------------------

                            EDITOR'S NOTE

This launch will probably occur at, or shortly after, one minute past
midnight on Tuesday night-Wednesday morning. Weather permitting, it
should be visible for hundreds of miles - perhaps as far as western
Nevada, Arizona, and southwest Utah. To see this launch in neighboring
states, you will need a dark location away from city lights and
optical assistance such as binoculars. You will also need to be
looking in the right direction (consult a map).

----------------------------------------------------------------------

		                  GLOSSARY

AFSPC  Air Force Space Command

FLTS   Flight Test Squadron

ICBM   Intercontinental ballistic missile


From kd6nrp@earthlink.net  Wed Mar 24 23:07:14 2004
From: kd6nrp@earthlink.net (Brian Webb)
Date: Wed, 24 Mar 2004 15:07:14 -0800
Subject: [Launch Alert] Launch Scrubbed
Message-ID: <ILEIKIDGMILNBLGDAFBMMEMDDIAA.kd6nrp@earthlink.net>

                            LAUNCH ALERT
 				  
			           Brian Webb
		         Ventura County, California
		        E-mail: kd6nrp@earthlink.net
	         Web Site: http://www.spacearchive.info

				           2004 March 24 (Wednesday) 08:04 PST
----------------------------------------------------------------------

                    MINUTEMAN III LAUNCH SCRUBBED

This morning's test launch of an unarmed Minuteman III missile from
Vandenberg AFB was cancelled due to technical problems. The ICBM was
scheduled for launch at 00:01 PST, the start of a six-hour launch
window.

But before the launch window opened, the countdown was already in an
unscheduled hold at T-14 minutes. A GPS-based system on the Minuteman
designed to send the vehicle's position to tracking stations on the
ground wasn't working properly.

The problem appeared to be solved and the countdown was resumed for a
01:04 PST launch attempt. However, the count was abruptly halted
moments before launch when the tracking system began acting up
again. The launch was eventually cancelled at 02:55 PST.

A new date for the launch has not been announced, but the Air Force
said it would occur no earlier than next week.


From kd6nrp@earthlink.net  Fri Mar 26 04:56:08 2004
From: kd6nrp@earthlink.net (Brian Webb)
Date: Thu, 25 Mar 2004 20:56:08 -0800
Subject: [Launch Alert] X-43A Flight this Saturday
Message-ID: <ILEIKIDGMILNBLGDAFBMIENBDIAA.kd6nrp@earthlink.net>

                      
                             LAUNCH ALERT
 				  
			           Brian Webb
		         Ventura County, California
		        E-mail: kd6nrp@earthlink.net
	         Web Site: http://www.spacearchive.info

				            2004 March 24 (Thursday) 20:47 PST
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                NASA'S X-43A VEHICLE READY FOR FLIGHT
                          NASA News Release

NASA has set Saturday, March 27, for the flight of its experimental
X-43A research vehicle. The unpiloted 12-foot-long vehicle, part
aircraft and part spacecraft, will be dropped from the wing of a B-52
aircraft, boosted to nearly 100,000 feet by a booster rocket and
released over the Pacific Ocean to briefly fly under its own power at
seven times the speed of sound, almost 5,000 mph.

The flight is part of the Hyper-X program, a research effort designed
to demonstrate alternate propulsion technologies for access to space
and high-speed flight within the atmosphere. It will provide unique
"first time" free flight data on hypersonic air-breathing engine
technologies that have large potential pay-offs.

Hyper-X is inherently a high-risk program. No vehicle has ever flown
at hypersonic speeds powered by an air-breathing scramjet engine. In
addition, the rocket boost and subsequent separation from the rocket
to get to the scramjet test condition have complex elements that must
work properly for the mission to be successful.

The $250 million program began with conceptual design and scramjet
engine wind tunnel work in 1996. In a scramjet (supersonic-combustion
ramjet), the flow of air through the engine remains supersonic, or
greater than the speed of sound, for optimum engine efficiency and
vehicle speed. There are few or no moving parts, but achieving proper
ignition and combustion in a matter of milliseconds proved to be an 
engineering challenge of the highest order. After a series of
successful wind tunnel tests, however, NASA is ready to prove that
air-breathing scramjets work in flight.

This will mark the first time a non-rocket, air-breathing scramjet
engine has powered a vehicle in flight at hypersonic speeds, defined
as speeds above Mach 5 or five times the speed of sound.

Researchers believe these technologies may someday offer more 
airplane-like operations and other benefits compared to traditional
rocket systems. Rockets provide limited throttle control and must
carry heavy tanks filled with liquid oxygen, necessary for combustion
of fuel. An air-breathing engine, like that on the X-43A, scoops
oxygen from the air as it flies. The weight savings could be used to
increase payload capacity, increase range or reduce vehicle size for
the same payload.

The X-43A will fly in the Naval Air Warfare Center Weapons Division
Sea Range over the Pacific Ocean off the coast of southern California.

After booster burnout, the 2,800-pound, wedge-shaped research vehicle
will separate and fly on its own to perform a preprogrammed set of
tasks. After an approximate ten second test firing of the engine, the
X-43A will glide through the atmosphere conducting a series of
aerodynamic maneuvers for up to six minutes on its way to splashdown.

This will be the second flight in the X-43A project. On June 2, 2001,
the first X-43A vehicle was lost moments after release from the wing
of the B-52. Following booster ignition, the combined booster and
X-43A vehicle deviated from its flight path and was deliberately
destroyed. Investigation into the mishap showed that there was no
single contributing factor, but the root cause of the problem was
identified as the control system of the booster.

For this flight, the B-52 will carry the booster with the attached
X-43A to at least 40,000 feet before its release, versus the 24,000
feet of the first attempt. The booster will carry the X-43A research
vehicle to approximately the same test conditions -- altitude and
speed -- as planned for the first flight.

NASA's Langley Research Center, Hampton, Va., and Dryden Flight 
Research Center, Edwards, Calif., jointly conduct the Hyper-X program.

A video clip, images and additional information about the project are
available on the Internet at:

http://www.nasa.gov/missions/research/x43-main.html

NASA Television will carry the flight and the post-flight news 
briefing live. NASA TV is available on AMC 9, TRANSPONDER 9C, 
85 degrees west longitude, vertical polarization with a 
frequency of 3880 MHz and audio of 6.8 MHz.

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                     OBSERVING THE X-43A FLIGHT

Weather permitting, well-placed observers should have an opportunity
to view Saturday's X-43A flight test. Two F/A-18 chase planes and the
B-52 bomber carrying the X-43A are scheduled to take off from Edwards
AFB around noon, fly west, cross the coast near Santa Barbara, and
fly to the launch point west of Los Angeles. After launch, the planes
will likely return to Edwards along the same route.

Observers may catch a glimpse of the three aircraft as they head to
and from the launch point. With some luck, the smoke trail from the
X-43A's solid rocket motor will also be visible.

For the best view of the test, you'll want to find a location along
the coast that's above any low clouds and fog. Two good locations
are the mountains north of Santa Barbara and the top of the Palos
Verdes peninsula.

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                    TRIPLE JOVIAN SHADOW TRANSIT

Suitably equipped observers have an opportunity to see a rare
planetary phenomenon this Sunday morning, March 28th. From 00:00 to
00:19 PST (March 28th 08:00-08:19 UTC), the shadows of Jupiter's moons
Io, Ganymede, and Callisto will simultaneously cross the planet's
disk.

At the same time, the disks of Io and Ganymede will also be passing in
front of Jupiter and Ganymede's dark may resemble a fourth shadow.

