[Launch Alert] Titan IV Launch

Fri Oct 14 23:58:41 EDT 2005

                             LAUNCH ALERT

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

				            2005 October 14 (Friday) 20:52 PDT
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              FINAL TITAN IV TO LAUNCH FROM VANDENBERG
                     Vamdenberg AFB News Release

VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. – The United States Air Force and
Lockheed Martin will launch the final Titan IV B rocket carrying a
national security payload for the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO)
from here Oct. 19. The launch will take place between 9 a.m. and 1
p.m.

“This will be a historic day for Vandenberg Air Force Base and the
Central Coast of California,” said Col. Jack Weinstein, 30th Space
Wing commander. “The Titan program has been critically important for
our nation and we are fortunate to be able to close out this chapter
with a final launch of this important system. Even as we bid farewell
to the Titan IV, we are very excited as we look forward to our first
launches of the new Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicles from
Vandenberg.”

This will be the 12th Titan IV launch from Vandenberg and the 39th for
the United States. In 1986, the Titan IV was developed by Lockheed
Martin as the booster used to launch the nation’s largest, heaviest
and most critical payloads. Titan’s initial IV A design was followed
by Titan IV B with a new generation of large solid rocket motors,
state-of-the-art guidance and electronics and a new ground processing
system.

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                    SPOOKY SIGHT BEFORE HALLOWEEN
                   Astronomy Magazine News Release

WAUKESHA, WI — October 17th brings the Moon into Earth’s shadow for a
partial lunar eclipse over North America. This event is a “partial”
eclipse because only 7 percent of the Moon dips into the umbra, the
darkest part of the shadow. But the entire face of the Moon will pass
through the lighter penumbra and turn a dark gray — an eerie sight
just 2 weeks before Halloween!

A lunar eclipse occurs when the Sun, Earth, and Full Moon align in
that order. Viewers can expect to see a bite taken out of the Full
Moon’s southern limb, while the rest of the disk takes on a more
grayish hue than normal.

On the 17th, the eclipse starts at 5:51 a.m. EDT (2:51 a.m. PDT). It
will take 4 hours and 24 minutes for the Moon to pass through the
shadow completely. Viewers in eastern North America will see only the
early phases of the eclipse.

The eclipse will be easy to see with your naked eyes, but try using
binoculars or a telescope for close-up looks at the Moon’s dark, flat
maria, or “seas,” and light craters. Our satellite is a great — and
easy — object to observe, even from a brightly lit city.

The next time North Americans will see a lunar eclipse will be March
14, 2006.

Eclipse begins         2:51 a.m. PDT
Umbral eclipse begins  4:34 a.m. PDT
Mideclipse             5:03 a.m. PDT
Umbral eclipse ends    5:32 a.m. PDT
Eclipse ends           7:15 a.m. PDT

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                        E-MAIL CONSIDERATIONS

In the days leading up to a launch, I'm often very busy and have a
hard time answering questions via e-mail. Many questions about launch
viewing and photography can be answered by reading the following
pages:

   www.spacearchive.info/vafbview.htm

   www.spacearchive.info/vafbphoto.htm

After a launch, I receive anywhere from a handful to literally
hundreds of e-mails. However, just when I may be trying to send an
important e-mail under deadline, I can be flooded with incoming
launch observations and photos any my e-mail access incapacitated.

To prevent any problems, I ask that you observe the following
guidelines:

   - Only send images that are of high quality

   - Send no more than three images

   - Do not send any photo, video, or other attachments larger than
     750 kB.

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