[Launch Alert] Launch Tonight

[kd6nrp at earthlink.net]

Tonight's planned launch of a Target Launch Vehicle (TLV) from Vandenberg AFB appears to be on schedule. Lift-off is slated to occur sometime during a one hour time block that runs from 11:30 p.m. tonight to 12:30 a.m Wednesday morning. The actual launch window and launch time are unknown and fall somewhere within this time frame.

The launch is timed to coincide with an overhead pass of the NFIRE satellite, which will observe the event and collect data for the Missile Defense Agency.

A forecast issued yesterday predicted that weather conditions at the launch site at liftoff would not violate launch constraints (in other words, the weather should be acceptable).

Brian Webb