[Launch Alert] Wednesday Vandenberg Launch

Mon Feb 21 14:20:52 EST 2011

                             LAUNCH ALERT

                             Brian Webb
                      Ventura County, California
                  launch-alert-editor at earthlink.net
                      www.spacearchive.info

                               2011 February 21 (Monday) 11:05 PST
----------------------------------------------------------------------

       NASA'S GLORY CLIMATE SATELLITE READY FOR LAUNCH FEB. 23
                  Vandenberg AFB Notice to Editors
                         2011 February 10

VANDENBERG AFB, Calif. - The launch of NASA's Glory spacecraft aboard
an Orbital Sciences Taurus XL rocket is scheduled for Wednesday, Feb.
23. Liftoff will be from Space Launch Complex 576-E at Vandenberg Air
Force Base (VAFB), Calif. Liftoff is targeted for 2:09:43 a.m. PST
(5:09:43 a.m. EST) in the middle of a 48-second launch window. The
spacecraft's final polar orbit will be 438 nautical miles (508 miles)
at an inclination of 98.2 degrees.

Data from the Glory mission will allow scientists to better understand
how the sun and tiny atmospheric particles called aerosols affect
Earth's climate. Both aerosols and solar energy influence the planet's
energy budget, which is the amount of energy entering and exiting
Earth's atmosphere. An accurate measurement of these impacts is
important in order to anticipate future changes to our climate and how
they may affect human life.  

The first of NASA's Educational Launch of Nanosatellite, or ELaNa,
missions also will be launched on the Taurus XL. These auxiliary
payloads are small satellites called CubeSats.  Each is designed and
created by university and college students. Three satellites will be
deployed on ELaNa-1.

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

                          LAUNCH VISIBILITY
                            by Brian Webb

Wednesday morning's launch of a Taurus XL rocket from Vandenberg
AFB remains on schedule. The rocket is slated to lift-off from launch
pad 576E at 02:09:43 PST, the middle of a 48-second launch window. 

The Taurus will initially rise vertically before it slowly pitches
over and heads southward. If the launch occurs as planned, the rocket
will carry NASA's Glory spacecraft and several university satellites
into orbit. 

The Taurus is a solid propellant, multi-stage rocket. Solid
propellant produces a dazzlingly bright light when it burns. That,
combined with the fact that the launch will occur at night, the
rocket has multiple stages that will burn for several minutes as the
vehicle gains altitude and covers a great distance, means the event
may be visible over a wide area. 

The launch could be visible to the naked eye as far away as San
Francisco, Lake Tahoe, Needles, Yuma, and the interior of northwest
Mexico. 

Observers within 150 miles of the vehicle's flight path should see a
bright, moving orange object. For observers further away, the Taurus
may resemble a faint, moving orange or red star. 

Observers as far away as San Marcos Pass and possibly Santa Barbara
may hear a low rumble from the rocket about three minutes after
liftoff. 

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

                     LAUNCH AND COUNTDOWN STATUS

For launch and countdown status for the Taurus XL/Glory launch,
consult the following sources:

   Web Sites with Countdown Status

      www.spaceflightnow.com

      www.nasa.gov

      www.nasa.gov/glory

   Webcasts

      www.nasa.gov/ntv

   Satellite Feeds

      www.nasa.gov/multimedia/nasatv/index.html

   Twitter Updates

      twitter.com/spaceflightnow

      twitter.com/30thSpaceWing

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

                              RESOURCES

For additional information related to the Taurus XL/Glory launch, go
to the following locations:

   Launch Vehicle

      www.orbital.com/NewsInfo/Publications/Taurus_fact.pdf

   Primary Payload/Mission

      www.nasa.gov/pdf/510413main_GloryFactSheet.pdf

      glory.giss.nasa.gov

      www.nasa.gov/pdf/511032main_GlorySWG_508.pdf

      www.nasa.gov/ppt/510412main_Glory_workshop.ppt

   Secondary Payloads

      www.nasa.gov/offices/education/centers/kennedy/technology
      /ppod_story.html

      www.lompocrecord.com/news/local/military/vandenberg
      /article_b3c483ea-3cc3-11e0-9e8e-001cc4c002e0.html

      www.belgrade-news.com/mobile
      /article_9cb3dc9e-3b8f-11e0-822f-001cc4c03286.html

   Launch Pad

      en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vandenberg_AFB_Launch_Complex_576

   Launch Viewing

      www.spacearchive.info/vafbview.htm

   Photographing Launches

      www.spacearchive.info/vafbphoto.htm

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

                MINOTAUR I/NROL-66 LAUNCH OBSERVATIONS

At 4:26 a.m. on February 4th, a Minotaur I rocket carrying the NROL-66
payload was launched from Vandenberg AFB. A small number of launch
observations were received. Here are those accounts plus the Editor's
comments:

Brian Bartky
Camarillo, Calif.

"Again, it's not much but here's a video of today's NROL-66 launch as
seen from my house in Camarillo:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VLPLBpsoclw

Unfortunately, due to to the way the Nikon D-90 takes videos I missed
about 10 to 15 seconds at the beginning."

Don Peterson
Ridgecrest, Calif.

"I watched the launch from Ridgecrest. Initially it appeared deep red
as it rose above the horizon. Then it brightened, but never much
brighter than Antares. It wasn't bright enough to get a photo of its
trajectory. Twitter worked well for updates on-site, on my cell
phone."

Douglas Friday
West Phoenix, Ariz.

"I saw this launch from my West Phoenix home.  Very Cool. It was much
like a pale orange dot moving up+southward in the sky. It started to
appear around 527AM and lasted until 528AMish.

Very clear sky and a clear view.  Excellent!"

Brian Webb
Ventura County, Calif.

Over the years (perhaps as far back as the late 1990s), I discovered
that the exhaust from early morning Vandenberg launches would often be
visible at dawn as the Sun's rays illuminated the aftermath.

The exhaust would be to my east, which means it had drifted eastward
from VAFB to an area north or northeast of Los Angeles. I estimate the
exhaust had drifted at least 150 miles by the time I would see it.

I saw another such display in the same part of the sky from the most
recent Minuteman III launch.

On February 6th, I stepped out into my front yard at about 6 a.m.
specifically to look for the remnants of the Minotaur I launch.

Bingo! There it was: a ghostly, convoluted, glowing cloud suspended
against the morning twilight low in the east.

I quickly drove to a photo location and took several photos. The
best of which is posted at www.spacearchive.info under the heading
"Vandenberg Launches Minotaur I".

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

                       LAUNCH ALERT WEB PAGE

For information about this newsletter, including how to:

   - Subscribe, unsubscribe, or change addresses

   - Make a donation

Point your browser to www.spacearchive.info/newsletter.htm

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

__________ Information from ESET NOD32 Antivirus, version of virus signature
database 5894 (20110221) __________

The message was checked by ESET NOD32 Antivirus.

http://www.eset.com