[Launch Alert] Vandenberg AFB Launch Schedule
Brian Webb
[email protected]
Sun, 29 Feb 2004 18:04:16 -0800
LAUNCH ALERT
Brian Webb
Ventura County, California
E-mail: [email protected]
Web Site: http://www.spacearchive.info
Reaching more than 2,440 e-mail addresses worldwide
2004 February 29 (Sunday) 17:54 PST
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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
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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.
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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.
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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).