[Launch Alert] Saturday Vandenberg Launch

[Brian Webb]

                             LAUNCH ALERT
 				  
                              Brian Webb
                     Ventura County, California
                        kd6nrp at earthlink.net
                     http://www.spacearchive.info
		       
                              2010 September 24 (Friday) 05:02 PDT
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                      SATURDAY VANDENBERG LAUNCH

A Minotaur IV booster carrying a military space surveillance satellite
is scheduled for launch from Vandenberg AFB Saturday evening. The
Minotaur is set to lift-off from south base at 9:41 p.m. PDT, the
start of a 9:41 to 9:55 p.m. PDT launch window.

Following lift-off, the Minotaur will climb vertically and gradually
turn towards the south. Several minutes later, the vehicle will place
the SBSS satellite into orbit.

Weather permitting, launch should be easily visible to the naked eye
within from Santa Barbara County. Observers as far away as San
Francisco, Reno, and Baja California have a good chance of seeing  
the launch if they get away from city lights, have an unobstructed
horizon, and and know where to look.


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                          A SPECIAL REQUEST

If you plan to go to one of the known launch observing sites, try to
arrive no later than T-30 minutes. If you arrive later, there's a
real possibility that your car's headlights will hurt the night
vision of people already at the site.

If you arrive at the last minute, your headlights could also spoil
the photos people are taking of the launch (professional and semi-
pro photographers are known to frequent the various observing sites).

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                          COUNTDOWN STATUS

Two good sources of countdown status for the Minotaur IV/SBSS launch
are the Spaceflight Now web site and Twitter feed. Point your browser
to:

   http://www.spaceflightnow.com

   http://twitter.com/spaceflightnow


Vandenberg AFB has a Facebook page and Twitter feed that contain launch
information. Go to:

  http://www.facebook.com/30thSpaceWing

  http://twitter.com/30thSpaceWing

A satellite feed of the launch will be available. The details are as
follows:

  C Band Sat Info:  9 Mhz
  Sept 26 0000-0130 ET X30 Min/Sept 25 2100-2230 PT X30 Min
  Gal 3 2C Slot A
  Downlink Freq: 3726.5 V
  SD Parameters: 
  FEC: 5/6
  Symbol Rate:  6.617647
  Data Rate:  10.164360

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                      E-MAIL CONSIDERATIONS

1. Launch-Related Questions

   Many questions about launch viewing can be answered by re-reading
   your Launch Alert or consulting:

      www.vandenberg.af.mil/questions/topic.asp?id=745

      www.spacearchive.info/vafbview.htm

   For information regarding photographing launches, go to:

      www.spacearchive.info/vafbphoto.htm

2. Photographs

   If you have a launch or other photo that you would like to submit
   for publication on my web site, please observe the following
   guidelines:

       - Only submit images that are of publication quality or are in
         some way unique.

       - Limit the total size of your e-mail plus attachments to 1 MB

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Copyright 2010, Brian Webb. All rights reserved. This newsletter may
be distributed in its entirety without restriction. Excerpts may not
be reprinted or posted elsewhere without prior permission.

 

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