[Launch Alert] Pegasus Launch Scheduled

[Brian Webb]

                             LAUNCH ALERT

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

				           2005 April 13 (Wednesday) 18:18 PDT
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                      PEGASUS LAUNCH SCHEDULED
                     Vandenberg AFB News Release

VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. - NASA's Demonstration of Autonomous
Rendezvous Technology (DART) spacecraft is set to launch aboard an
Orbital Sciences Pegasus launch vehicle April 15 between 10:21 -
10:28 a.m. PDT.

The Pegasus launches from beneath an L-1011 carrier aircraft, which
departs Vandenberg's airfield about one hour before launch. The drop
occurs about 100 miles offshore.

DART is planned to demonstrate technology required for spacecraft to
rendezvous with other craft without human intervention.

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                         FRIDAY OCCULTATION

Barring unfavorable weather, observers in portions of California,
Mexico, and Central America can see an occultation of the star Upsilon
Geminorum this Friday evening. The Moon's eastward orbit will carry it
in front of the +4.1 magnitude star, causing it to disappear behind
the Moon's dark limb and later reappear on its sunlit side.

Viewers in San Francisco and other locations on the edge of the
occultation zone may alternately see Upsilon Geminorum disappear
behind mountains and reappear in valleys on the Moon's northern edge.

The occultation should be visible in binoculars and unlike many
astronomical events, it occurs at a relatively convenient time. The
disappearance and reappearance times for the star for selected
locations are as follows:

                 Disappears   Reappears
   Location        (PDT)       (PDT)
--------------   ----------   --------
Bakersfield      21:40:26     21:53:00
Los Angeles      21:37:37     22:01:54
San Bernardino   21:43:29     21:58:02
San Diego        21:38:03     22:07:58
San Jose         21:35:50     21:44:17
Santa Barbara    21:32:05     22:02:34

Additional information on this event is available on the following
web pages:

www.lunar-occultations.com/iota/bstar/0416zc1149.htm

www.lunar-occultations.com/iota/0415graze.htm

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