[Launch Alert] Delta II Launch Scheduled

Wed Apr 19 22:35:39 EDT 2006

                            LAUNCH ALERT

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

				           2006 April 19 (Wednesday) 19:28 PDT
----------------------------------------------------------------------

                      DELTA II LAUNCH SCHEDULED
                     Vandenberg AFB News Release

Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif. – Team Vandenberg is set to launch a
Boeing Delta II rocket, carrying NASA’s Cloud-Aerosol Lidar and
Infrared Pathfinder Satellite Observations and CloudSat satellites
from Space Launch Complex-2 on North Vandenberg at 3:02 a.m. Friday.
The Delta II rocket will carry the CloudSat and CALIPSO satellites
into a 438-mile circular sun-synchronous orbit.

Col. Jack Weinstein, 30th Space Wing commander, will be the spacelift
commander for this mission.

Chuck Dovale is NASA’s Launch Manager, for the mission.

The primary role of the 6,248-pound spacecraft is to gather
information about the Earth’s water cycle. Together, CALIPSO and
CloudSat will provide new perspectives on Earth’s clouds and aerosols,
answering questions about how they form, evolve and affect water
supply, climate, weather and air quality.

The Delta II is an expendable launch, medium-lift vehicle used to
launch Navstar Global Positioning System satellites into orbit,
providing navigational data to military users. Additionally, the Delta
II launches civil and commercial payloads into low-earth, polar,
geosynchronous transfer and stationary orbits.

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

			        COUNTDOWN STATUS

A good source of countdown status for the Delta II launch
is the Spaceflight Now web site. Space journalist Justin Ray is now
providing current countdown status on a web page devoted to this
launch. Point your browser to:

   http://www.spaceflightnow.com/delta/d314a/status.html

On launch day, this page will be updated frequently beginning at about
T-1 hour. Be sure to regularly hit the refresh button on your browser
to see the latest information.

NASA TV may also provide coverage of the launch. To access NASA TV
over the Web, go to www.nasa.gov/ntv.

NASA TV is available on an MPEG-2 digital C-band signal accessed via
satellite AMC-6, at 72 degrees west longitude, transponder 17C, 4040
MHz, vertical polarization. In Alaska and Hawaii, they are on AMC-7 at
137 degrees west longitude, transponder 18C, at 4060 MHz, horizontal
polarization. For digital downlink information, visit
www.nasa.gov/ntv.

NASA TV is reportedly also available on Dish TV channel 213 and Direct
TV channel 376.

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

                        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

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

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

   - 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.

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

               APRIL SHOWERS BRING METEORS BY THE HOUR
               from an Astronomy Magazine news release

WAUKESHA, WI — The Lyrid meteor shower peaks the night of April 21/22.
After midnight, as many as 20 meteors an hour will streak across the
sky. The shower’s radiant, the point in the sky where they appear to
shoot from, lies in the constellation Lyra the Lyre. The waning
crescent Moon will stay out of the way that night, so the sky will be
dark — and the show should be good. For several nights before and
after the peak, fewer meteors will be visible.

All you need to observe a meteor shower is your eyes — and a lawn
chair if you don't want to strain your neck. Some people enjoy
counting the number of meteors per hour, either by jotting down ticks
on a notepad or talking into a tape recorder. Observing a meteor
shower can be a great social event, so get some people together Friday
night and make it a party.

Spring’s warm weather makes the Lyrids the start of meteor-watching
season. Watch for the Eta Aquarids later in the month. They’ll be
visible starting April 19, with a May 6 peak best seen from the
Southern Hemisphere. This is one of two showers derived from Halley’s
Comet (the other is the Orionids in October).

Meteor showers occur when Earth passes through debris left by a
passing comet or asteroid. For the Lyrids, the parent comet is C/1861
G1, whose debris enters our atmosphere at some 108,000 mph, a modest
speed by meteor standards. Air friction incinerates the dust-size
particles, creating the bright but brief flashes of light we see as
meteors.

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