[Launch Alert] Tuesday Pegasus Launch

Mon Oct 25 08:59:37 EDT 2004

                            LAUNCH ALERT

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

				            2004 October 25 (Monday) 05:54 PDT
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                       TUESDAY PEGASUS LAUNCH

A Pegasus XL rocket carrying a NASA's DART satellite is scheduled for
an airborne launch tomorrow (October 26) between 11:13:32 and 11:20:32
PDT. A modified L-1011 jumbo jet will leave Vandenberg AFB
approximately one hour before launch and carry the Pegasus to the drop
point 70 miles southwest of Monterey.

The Pegasus will be launched from an altitude of approximately 40,000
feet and place the Demonstration of Autonomous Rendezvous Technology
(DART) spacecraft into a 475-mile high polar orbit.

Once in orbit, DART will demonstrate technology required for
spacecraft to rendezvous with other craft without human intervention.
DART will locate and rendezvous with the the MUBLCOM satellite. DART
will also perform various maneuvers in close proximity to its target.
MUBLCOM was launched off California aboard a Pegasus rocket in 1999.

The L-4 day weather forecast issued Friday places the probability of
acceptable weather at launch time at only 30%.

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                         TOTAL LUNAR ECLIPSE

The Southwest will be treated to a total eclipse of the Moon this
Wednesday, October 27. The eclipse begins when the Moon's orbit
carries it into the Earth's shadow, creating a dent on the Moon's
edge. The dent will gradully grow larger over the next hour until the
start of totality at 19:23 PDT.

For the next 1 hour 22 minutes, the Moon will be completely within the
shadow and indirectly illuminated by sunlight filtering through the
Earth's atmosphere. During totality, the Moon may range in color from
yellow to dark brown. The Moon's brightness and color are difficult to
predict and will depend on the amount of dust in the Earth's
atmosphere.

After totality, the Moon will slowly emerge from the shadow until the
eclipse ends at 21:54 PDT.

The following table lists the times of the eclipse's main events.

	PDT		Event
	-----		----------------------

	18:14		Partial eclipse begins

	19:23		Totality begins

	20:45		Totality ends

	21:54		Partial eclipse ends

If the weather is clear, the eclipse should be visible to the unaided
eye. The see it, look in the east beginning at 18:14 PDT. For
observers on the West Coast, the Moon may be anywhere from just below
the horizon to just above it when the eclipse begins.

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