[Launch Alert] Vandenberg AFB Launch Schedule

Fri Aug 1 20:56:20 EDT 2008

                             LAUNCH ALERT

			            Brian Webb
		         Ventura County, California
		             kd6nrp at earthlink.net
	               http://www.spacearchive.info

				            2008 August 1 (Friday) 17:31 PDT
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		       VANDENBERG AFB LAUNCH SCHEDULE
			       As of 2008 August 1

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

AUG 13	To be announced		Minuteman III	Unk
Vehicle will fly a ballistic (non-orbital) trajectory

AUG 22	11:50:57			Delta II		SLC-2W
Payload is the GeoEye 1 commercial Earth imaging satellite. The
booster will use the Delta-7420-10C configuration and insert the
payload into a 425-mile (684-km), 98°, sun-synchronous orbit with a
10:30 a.m. equator crossing time

SEP 10	09:12				Atlas V		SLC-3E
Payload is the DMSP F-18 military weather satellite

OCT 23	To be announced		Delta II		SLC-2W
Vehicle will launch the COSMO-SkyMed 3 earth observation satellite.

DEC		To be announced		GBI			---
Scenario calls for the launch of a mock warhead from Kodiak, Alaska
followed by a Ground-Based Interceptor (GBI) from Vandenberg AFB. The
DoD will announce the launch time several hours in advance.

JAN 15	To be announced		Taurus XL		576-E
Payload is the Orbiting Carbon Observatory (OCO) environmental
satellite

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	                   ASTRONOMICAL EVENTS
			           2008 August
                Computed for Los Angeles, California

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

AUG 1		03:13			New Moon
Moon passes between the Earth and the Sun and is invisible. Moon rises
at sunrise and sets at sunset

AUG 2-3	---			Dark Sky Weekend
Best time this month to observe faint objects. Amateur astronomers may
hold observing sessions at dark sites

AUG 8		13:20			First Quarter Moon
Moon rises at noon and sets at midnight

AUG 12	00:00-04:40		Perseid Meteor Shower
Observers in dark locations should see several meteors per hour under
good conditions. Shower is predicted to peak on AUG 12 at 04:00 PDT
(AUG 12 11:00 UTC).

AUG 15	00:43			Neptune Opposition
Neptune is opposite the Sun with respect to Earth and rises at sunset.

AUG 16	14:16			Full Moon
Moon rises at sunset, sets at sunrise, and is visible all night

AUG 22	22:00			Conjunction
Mercury 1.3° south of Venus

AUG 23	16:50			Last Quarter Moon
Moon rises at midnight and sets at noon

AUG 30	12:58			New Moon
Moon passes between the Earth and the Sun and is invisible. Moon rises
at sunrise and sets at sunset

AUG 30-31	---			Dark Sky Weekend
Best time this month to observe faint objects. Amateur astronomers may
hold observing sessions at dark sites

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