[Launch Alert] Vandenberg AFB Launch Schedule

[Launch Alert]

                             LAUNCH ALERT
 				  
                              Brian Webb
                     Ventura County, California
                  launch-alert-editor at earthlink.net
                        www.spacearchive.info
		       
                                2016 October 14 (Friday) 20:50 PDT
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                   VANDENBERG AFB LAUNCH SCHEDULE

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

Late OCT-Early NOV    Late morning?        Atlas V          SLC-3E
Vehicle will launch the WorldView 4 earth observation satellite for
DigitalGlobe. The Atlas V will also carry seven technology
demonstation satellites (cubesats) as secondary payloads.  

TBD                   Evening?             Falcon 9         SLC-4E
Vehicle will launch 10 Iridium Next commercial communications
satellites
 
TBD                   To be announced      Falcon 9         SLC-4E
Vehicle will launch Taiwan's Formosat 5 satellite and the Sherpa
dispenser carrying several small payloads  

DEC 1                 To be announced      Atlas V          SLC-3E
Vehicle will launch the classified NROL-79 payload for the U.S.
National Reconnaissance Office  

TBD                   To be announced      Falcon 9         SLC-4E
Vehicle will launch 10 Iridium Next commercial communications
satellites  

Early 2017            To be announced      Minotaur C       SLC-576E
Vehicle will launch six SkySat earth observation satellites  

MAR 16                02:47                Delta II         SLC-2W
Vehicle will launch the JPSS-1 weather satellite  

The above schedule is a composite of unclassified information
approved for public release from government, industry, and other
sources. It represents the Editor's best effort to produce a schedule,
but may disagree with other sources. Details on military launches are
withheld until they are approved for public release. For official
information regarding Vandenberg AFB activities, go to
http://www.vandenberg.af.mil.

All launch dates and times are given in Pacific Time using a 24-hour
format similar to military time (midnight = 00:00, 1:00 p.m. = 13:00,
11:00 p.m. = 23:00, etc.). 

The dates and times in this schedule may not agree with those on other
online launch schedules, including the official Vandenberg AFB
schedule because different sources were used, the information was
interpreted differently, and the schedules were updated at different
times.

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                         GRAZING OCCULTATION
                            by Brian Webb

On Tuesday evening, October 18, observers in California and
surrounding areas can see the Moon pass in front of (occult) the
bright star Aldebaran. Sky watchers within a narrow path will be
treated to an interesting display known as a grazing occultation.
Occultation expert David Dunham elaborates: 

"From 10:25-10:29 pm PDT, Aldebaran will fade in and out, or only
partially reappear as a brief flash, as mountains and craters along
the northern edge of the 85% waning Moon repeatedly covers and
uncoveres all or part of the orange giant's disk, in a narrow path
passing from Marina Del Rey, then over downtown Los Angeles, parts of
Alhambra and Monrovia, the San Gabriel Reservoir (Hwy 39), and then
over the Mojave Desert, s.e. of Wrightwood and over parts of Hesperia
and Apple Valley. The graze will occur against the narrow dark-side
"crescent" 12 degrees from the ill-defined northern cusp. The Moon
will be 19 degrees above the eastern horizon. Many maps and other
details about the graze are at

www.occultations.org/Aldebaran/2016October." 

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                             SMALL WORLD
                            by Brian Webb

On Monday, October 3, I took a flight from Los Angeles to Boston.
Seated to my immediate left was James M., a buyer for a Los Angeles
area aerospace company.

A few hours into the flight, we had a conversation that covered
electronic components, cyber security, fighter aircraft, and air-to-
air missiles.

Our talk then turned to space. After a few minutes James mentioned
that he reads Launch Alert. I then told him that I am Brian Webb (the
editor of Launch Alert). I think it's fair to say he was surprised.

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                           SECURITY POLICY

Launch Alert does not intentionally publish sensitive, potentially
sensitive, or inside information. All information comes from open
sources or is approved for public release.

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                     ACRONYMS AND ABBREVIATIONS

Hwy  Highway

PDT  Pacific Daylight Time

PST  Pacific Standard Time

s.e. Southeast

SLC  Space Launch Complex

TBD  To be determined

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Copyright 2016, 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.