[Launch Alert] Thursday Launch

[Launch Alert]

                             LAUNCH ALERT
 				  
                              Brian Webb
                     Ventura County, California
                  launch-alert-editor at earthlink.net
                        www.spacearchive.info
		       
                             2013 December 4 (Wednesday) 20:06 PST
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                       THURSDAY ATLAS V LAUNCH
                            by Brian Webb

An Atlas V rocket carrying a national security payload is scheduled
for launch from south Vandenberg AFB late on the evening of December
5.

If everything goes according to plan, the rocket will depart Space
Launch Complex 3 at 23:13 PST during an unspecified launch window, 
head southward, and carry a classified National Reconnaissance Office
payload and several small satellites into orbit.

Although liftoff is slated for 23:13 PST, weather, technical, or other
problems could delay the launch for several minutes or longer. Liftoff
can therefore happen at any time during the window. The launch could
also be rescheduled for another evening.

The latest weather forecast calls for only a 20% probability of
acceptable weather at launch time. Should the launch be delayed until
late Friday evening, the probability of acceptable weather at launch
time is 40%.

If the sky is clear, the launch could be visible to the naked eye as
far away as San Francisco, Sacramento, Fresno, and San Diego, Calif.

Under very good conditions, experienced observers with dark skies and
an unobstructed horizon may be able to see the launch with the
unaided eye from Petaluma and Sacramento, Calif.; Lake Tahoe; Las
Vegas, Nevada; western Arizona; and northwestern Mexico.

The Moon will not affect launch viewing because it will be below the
horizon and only 15% illuminated at launch time.

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                     LAUNCH AND COUNTDOWN STATUS

   Web Sites with Countdown Status/Webcasts:

      spaceflightnow.com/atlas/av043/status.html

      www.ulalaunch.com/site/pages/Multimedia_Webcast.shtml

   Satellite Feeds

      Digital High Definition
      Satellite: AMC-1
      Transponder: C24
      Band: C-Band HD
      Orbital Position: 103 degrees west
      HD Bandwidth: 18 MHz
      Downlink Freq: 4171 MHz (Horizontal)
      Uplonk Freq: 6396 MHz (Vertical)
      Symbol Rate: 13
      FEC: 3/4
      Data Rate: 17.9705
      DVBS-QPSK
      MPEG-2
      Audio Embedded

   Twitter Updates:

      twitter.com/30thSpaceWing ?

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                              RESOURCES

   Atlas V

     www.ulalaunch.com/site/pages/Products_AtlasV.shtml

   National Reconnaissance Office

     www.nro.gov/

   Launch Viewing

     www.spacearchive.info/vafbview.htm

   Photographing Launches

     www.spacearchive.info/vafbphoto.htm

   Vandenberg Air Force Base

     www.vandenberg.af.mil

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Copyright 2013, Brian Webb. All rights reserved. No portion of this
newsletter may be used without identifying Launch Alert as the
source and providing a functioning hyperlink or text that point to
http://www.spacearchive.info/newsletter.htm.