[Launch Alert] Vandenberg AFB Launch Schedule

Sat Apr 1 13:41:17 EST 2006

                             LAUNCH ALERT

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

				             2006 April 1 (Saturday) 10:36 PST
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		       VANDENBERG AFB LAUNCH SCHEDULE
			       As of 2006 April 1

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

APR 7			To be announced		Minuteman III	  ---
ICBM test launch (non-orbital). Payload is one or more unarmed
warheads. Impact area is the Reagan Test Site at Kwajalein in the
central Pacific. The Air Force will announce the launch window a few
days in advance.

APR 14		17:10				Minotaur		  SLC-8
Payload is COSMIC and Taiwan's FORMOSAT-3 scientific satellites

APR 20		03:02:29			Delta II		  SLC-2W
Payload is the CloudSat and CALIPSO environmental satellites

APR-JUN		10:00-13:00?		Falcon I		  SLC-3W
Payload is the Naval Research Laboratory's TacSat-1 satellite. The
vehicle will carry the ashes of U.S. astronaut Gordon Cooper, Star
Trek actor James "Scotty" Doohan and several other people into space.
The launch window is fixed and does not change if the launch date
changes.

JUN?			To be announced		Minuteman III	  ---
ICBM test launch (non-orbital). Payload is one or more unarmed
warheads. Impact area is the Reagan Test Site at Kwajalein in the
central Pacific. The Air Force will announce the launch window a few
days in advance.

JUL?			To be announced		Minuteman III	  ---
ICBM test launch (non-orbital). Payload is one or more unarmed
warheads. Impact area is the Reagan Test Site at Kwajalein in the
central Pacific. The Air Force will announce the launch window a few
days in advance.

SEP?			To be announced		Minuteman III	  ---
ICBM test launch (non-orbital). Payload is one or more unarmed
warheads. Impact area is the Reagan Test Site at Kwajalein in the
central Pacific. The Air Force will announce the launch window a few
days in advance.

SEP 29		13:22-13:28			Pegasus XL		  Offshore
Payload is the AIM satellite. Airborne launch.

OCT 6			To be announced		Delta IV		  SLC-6
Payload is the DMSP F-17 military weather satellite

2006			To be announced		Delta IV		  SLC-6
Classified National Reconnaissance Office payload. The DoD will
announce the exact launch time several hours in advance. NRO L-22

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	                   ASTRONOMICAL EVENTS
			           2006 April
                Computed for Los Angeles, California

			  Time
  Date		(PST/PDT)		            Event
--------		---------		-----------------------------

APR 1-2		---		      Dark Sky Weekend
Best time this month to observe faint objects. Amateur astronomers may
hold observing sessions at dark sites

APR 2			02:00			Time Change
Daylight Savings Time begins. Set clocks ahead one hour

APR 3			12:36			Lunar Conjunction
The Moon passes 3.5° north of Mars. Time of closest approach and
separation computed for the Earth's center and may vary significantly
depending on your location

APR 5			05:01			First Quarter Moon
Moon rises at noon and sets at midnight

APR 6			16:14			Lunar Conjunction
The Moon passes 4.0° north of Saturn. Time of closest approach and
separation computed for the Earth's center and may vary significantly
depending on your location

APR 8			11:39			Mercury Western Elongation
Elusive Mercury attains its greatest angular separation from the Sun
and is visible low in the east at dawn.

APR 13		09:40			Full Moon
Moon rises at sunset, sets at sunrise, and is visible all night

APR 15		08:19			Lunar Conjunction
The Moon passes 5.2° south of Jupiter. Time of closest approach and
separation computed for the Earth's center and may vary significantly
depending on your location

APR 17		01:40			Lunar Conjunction
The Moon passes 0.2° north of Antares. Time of closest approach and
separation computed for the Earth's center and may vary significantly
depending on your location

APR 20		20:28			Last Quarter Moon
Moon rises at midnight and sets at noon

APR 24		06:36			Lunar Conjunction
The Moon passes ~0.5° south of Venus. Time of closest approach and
separation computed for the Earth's center and may vary significantly
depending on your location

APR 27		12:44			New Moon
Moon passes between the Earth and the Sun and is invisible. Moon rises
at sunrise and sets at sunset

APR 29-30		---			Dark Sky Weekend
Best time this month to observe faint objects. Amateur astronomers may
hold observing sessions at dark sites

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                 PEGASUS XL/ST5 LAUNCH OBSERVATIONS

Several Launch Alert readers went out at dawn on March 22 for the
Pegasus XL/ST5 launch. Here are their observations:

Jim Albers
Mountain View, Calif.

"Was late arriving to viewing site, so didn't get equipment set up.

High clouds partially obscured visibility. L-1011 contrail was very
visible from when I arrived as a half racetrack coming up from the
SSE, arcing overhead and then back down to the SSW. Pegasus plume was
visible as a vertical line than climbed vertically, then pitched over
for a bit, then stopped. Plume was visible for several minutes before
it dissipated."

Yves Konigshofer
Mountain View, Calif.

"The contrail left by the L-1011 was very visible.

Viewing these launches from the bay area is pretty much hit or miss. I
missed the first Pegasus launch that I was aware of some years ago by
a few minutes, but when I got outside (around noon, which is usually
not a prime viewing time), there was a contrail that extended to
almost overhead with clouds already zigzagging on the horizon. I could
not see the next launch at all (afternoon) and a morning launch was
just barely visible at the horizon. The one today was visible and the
contrail was illuminated for a few minutes but dissipated rapidly. It
was also only visible towards the horizon and did not extend to
overhead."

Tony Lazar
San Carlos, Calif.

"Saw the Pegasus launch quite well this morning from San Carlos in the
SF Bay Area. Very nice sight with binoculars - clearly saw the white
trail, the orange exhaust, and the first staging.

I had a great position - high up in the hills, facing south, and north
enough that the sun was not yet up.

The L1011 and chase plane made the same spectacular circle over my
deck as they did last time, when you published one of my photos. But I
wasn't sufficiently awake this AM to take a good picture..."

Tom Rice
Aptos, Calif.

"First time contact by an enthusiast from Aptos,CA. to let you know
that I was able to get an excellent viewing of the 3/22 Pegasus launch
off Monterey Bay. There was a light cloud layer above the horizon but
the higher sky was clear except for heavy clouds to the north.
The abort mission a week earlier had full TV coverage so my wife had
the TV on and was ready to cell me with the launch alert but no TV for
some reason. Fortunately the launch was on it's mark by one minute.
The Pegasus first appeared at high rate of speed in a near vertical
climb above the cloud layer.(I believe it was a lower angle but was
going away from me so appeared more vertical) It was pre-dawn by a
half hour at my location but the Pegasus was in full sun and the
contrail was brilliant white. With my 8X Pentax binos I was able to
clearly see the rocket as a bright silver white projectile. Climbout
continued as the contrail ceased and the rocket arched downrange. I
was able to follow the blip of light until it clicked off for the
ballistic glide prior to separation and 2nd stage ignition. Worth
getting up early for."

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			         WEB SITE UPDATE

The Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) page on my web site has been
greatly expanded. Besides providing a table for converting U.S. and
Canadian local time to UTC, the page now describes how to obtain the
current UTC.

The page is at:

  http://www.spacearchive.info/utc.htm

Feel free to read the page for technical accuracy and e-mail your
comments to me at kd6nrp at earthlink.net.

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