[Launch Alert] X-43A Flight Today

[Brian Webb]

                            LAUNCH ALERT

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

				           2004 November 15 (Monday) 05:43 PST
----------------------------------------------------------------------

                         X-43A FLIGHT TODAY

Preparations are underway at Edwards AFB for today's record-breaking
flight of NASA's X-43A. Chase planes and a B-52 carrying the unmanned
craft will leave Edwards AFB, cross the coast at Gaviota, and procced
to the launch point west of Los Angeles.

The X-43A will be released high above the Pacific and boosted to an
altitude of 110,000 feet by a solid rocket motor. The rocket will fall
away and the X-43A's scramjet engine will briefly power the vehicle at
Mach 10 - a world record. The X-43A will then make a series of turns
before plunging in the sea.

The B-52 is slated to leave Edwards AFB at 13:00 PST with the launch
taking place about an hour later. If the weather is clear, observers
in the coastal portions of Santa Barabara, Ventura, and Los Angeles
counties may be able to see the B-52 and chase planes on their way to
and from the launch point.

NASA TV will apparently provide coverage of today's X-43A flight.
To access NASA TV, point your browser to:

http://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/nasatv/index.html

You can also receive NASA TV via satellite. In the continental U.S.,
the feed is on AMC-6, Transponder 9C, C-Band, at 72 degrees west
longitude. The frequency is 3880.0 MHz. Polarization is vertical, and
audio is monaural at 6.80 MHz.

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

		       VANDENBERG AFB LAUNCH SCHEDULE
		           As of 2004 November 15

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

NOV?			Mid-morning			Pegasus XL		Offshore
Payload is NASA's DART satellite

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

FEB			To be announced		Minuteman III	---
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. The Air Force will announce the date
and launch window about 36-hours in advance. Glory Trip 187GM

FEB 12		~02:00			Delta II		SLC-2W
Payload is the NOAA N environmental satellite. Launch time is based on
informed speculation

MAR 1			To be announced		Delta IV		SLC-6
Classified National Reconaissance Office payload. The DoD will
announce the launch time about 24-hours in advance. NROL-22

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

Copyright © 2004 Brian Webb. All rights reserved. This newsletter may
be distributed in its entirety without restriction. Excerpts may be
not be reprinted or posted elsewhere without prior permission.