Vandenberg Afb Launch Schedule, Brian Webb's Launch Alert |
Vandenberg Afb Launch Schedule, Brian Webb's Launch Alert |
Jan 3 2006, 04:13 PM
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Senior Member Group: Members Posts: 2454 Joined: 8-July 05 From: NGC 5907 Member No.: 430 |
LAUNCH ALERT
Brian Webb Ventura County, California E-mail: kd6nrp@earthlink.net Web Site: http://www.spacearchive.info 2006 January 2 (Monday) 18:16 PST ---------------------------------------------------------------------- VANDENBERG AFB LAUNCH SCHEDULE As of 2006 January 2 Launch Time/Window Date (PST/PDT) Vehicle Pad/Silo ----------- --------------- ---------- -------- 2006 To be announced Delta IV SLC-6 Classified National Reconnaissance Office payload. The DoD will announce the exact launch time several hours in advance. NRO L-22 2006 To be announced Delta IV SLC-6 Payload is the DMSP F-17 military weather satellite NET Mid-FEB ~02:00 Delta II SLC-2W Payload is the CloudSat and CALIPSO environmental satellites Mid-FEB? 10:00-13:00? Falcon I SLC-3W Payload is the Naval Research Laboratory's TacSat-1 satellite. The vehicle will carry the ashes of U.S. astronaut Gordon Cooper, Star Trek actor James "Scotty" Doohan and several other people into space. The launch window is fixed and does not change if the launch date changes. FEB 15 To be announced Minuteman III LF-10 ICBM test launch (non-orbital). Payload is one or more unarmed warheads. Impact area is the Reagan Test Site at Kwajalein in the central Pacific. The Air Force will announce the launch window a few days in advance. FEB 28 05:57:21-07:19:21 Pegasus XL Offshore Payload is JPL's SpaceTech 5 microsatellites. Possible twilight effect because launch window opens during morning twilight and payload will be placed in a 2,800-mile-high orbit MAR? To be announced Minuteman III --- ICBM test launch (non-orbital). Payload is one or more unarmed warheads. Impact area is the Reagan Test Site at Kwajalein in the central Pacific. The Air Force will announce the launch window a few days in advance. MAR 31 Unknown Minotaur SLC-8 Payload is COSMIC and Taiwan's FORMOSAT-3 scientific satellites ---------------------------------------------------------------------- SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA ASTRONOMICAL EVENTS for 2006 January Time Date (PST/PDT) Event -------- --------- ----------------------------- JAN 3 00:00-05:30 Quadrantid Meteor Shower Observers in dark locations should see several meteors per hour. The shower is predicted to peak on JAN 3 at 10:00 PST. JAN 6 10:56 First Quarter Moon Moon rises at noon and sets at midnight JAN 9 11:02 Jupiter Dual Shadow Transit The shadows of Jupiter's moons Europa and Ganymede are visible on planet's disk. JAN 14 01:48 Full Moon Moon rises at sunset, sets at sunrise, and is visible all night JAN 15 01:57 Spacecraft Reentry NASA's Stardust sample return spacecraft reenter the atmosphere as it heads for a landing in Utah. The event might be visible to the unaided eye from north-central Nevada. http://reentry.arc.nasa.gov/index.html http://reentry.arc.nasa.gov/viewingforum.html JAN 15 05:11 Lunar Conjunction The Moon passes 3.8° north of Saturn. Time of closest approach and separation computed for the Earth's center and may vary significantly depending on your location JAN 22 07:14 Last Quarter Moon Moon rises at midnight and sets at noon JAN 23 12:20 Lunar Conjunction The Moon passes 4.7° south of Jupiter. Time of closest approach and separation computed for the Earth's center and may vary significantly depending on your location JAN 25 04:06 Lunar Conjunction The Moon passes 0.03° south of Antares. Time of closest approach and separation computed for the Earth's center and may vary significantly depending on your location JAN 27 14:48 Saturn Opposition Saturn is opposite the Sun with respect to Earth and rises at sunset. JAN 28-29 --- Dark Sky Weekend Best time this month to observe faint objects. Amateur astronomers may hold observing sessions at dark sites JAN 29 06:15 New Moon Moon passes between the Earth and the Sun and is invisible. Moon rises at sunrise and sets at sunset ---------------------------------------------------------------------- WEB SITE UPDATES A 2006 astronomical events calendar has been uploaded and is available at http://www.spacearchive.info/astrosked.htm. Sunrise/sunset, moonrise/moonset, and astronomical twilight start/end times are now available for 22 Southwest U.S. cities. In past years, this data was only given for Los Angeles. The information is posted at the following locations: www.spacearchive.info/sunrise-sunset.htm www.spacearchive.info/twilight.htm www.spacearchive.info/moonrise-moonset.htm ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Copyright © 2006 Brian Webb. All rights reserved. This newsletter may be distributed in its entirety without restriction. Excerpts may be not be reprinted or posted elsewhere without prior permission. _______________________________________________ To subscribe or unsubscribe from this newsletter, go to: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/launch-alert Questions and comments regarding this newsletter and editorial contributions should be directed to kd6nrp@earthlink.net -------------------- "After having some business dealings with men, I am occasionally chagrined,
and feel as if I had done some wrong, and it is hard to forget the ugly circumstance. I see that such intercourse long continued would make one thoroughly prosaic, hard, and coarse. But the longest intercourse with Nature, though in her rudest moods, does not thus harden and make coarse. A hard, sensible man whom we liken to a rock is indeed much harder than a rock. From hard, coarse, insensible men with whom I have no sympathy, I go to commune with the rocks, whose hearts are comparatively soft." - Henry David Thoreau, November 15, 1853 |
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Feb 2 2006, 10:17 PM
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Senior Member Group: Members Posts: 2454 Joined: 8-July 05 From: NGC 5907 Member No.: 430 |
LAUNCH ALERT
Brian Webb Ventura County, California E-mail: kd6nrp@earthlink.net Web Site: http://www.spacearchive.info 2006 February 1 (Wednesday) 19:22 PST ---------------------------------------------------------------------- VANDENBERG AFB LAUNCH SCHEDULE As of 2006 February 1 Launch Time/Window Date (PST/PDT) Vehicle Pad/Silo -------- --------------- ------------- -------- FEB 16 To be announced Minuteman III LF-10 ICBM test launch (non-orbital). Payload is one unarmed Mark 21 warhead. Impact area is the Reagan Test Site at Kwajalein in the central Pacific. The Air Force will announce the launch window a few days in advance. FEB 28 05:57:21-07:19:21 Pegasus XL Offshore Payload is JPL's SpaceTech 5 microsatellites. Airborne launch with a target drop time of 06:04 PST. Possible twilight effect because launch window opens during morning twilight and payload will be placed in a 2,800-mile-high orbit. NASA reports the mating of the three Pegasus XL stages was completed in the Orbital Sciences hangar and SpaceTech 5 testing and checkout is complete. Pegasus Flight Simulation No. 2 was scheduled for JAN 27. The spacecraft is scheduled for mating with Pegasus on FEB 6. MAR? To be announced Minuteman III --- ICBM test launch (non-orbital). Payload is one or more unarmed warheads. Impact area is the Reagan Test Site at Kwajalein in the central Pacific. The Air Force will announce the launch window a few days in advance. MAR 31 Unknown Minotaur SLC-8 Payload is COSMIC and Taiwan's FORMOSAT-3 scientific satellites APR-JUN 10:00-13:00? Falcon I SLC-3W Payload is the Naval Research Laboratory's TacSat-1 satellite. The vehicle will carry the ashes of U.S. astronaut Gordon Cooper, Star Trek actor James "Scotty" Doohan and several other people into space. The launch window is fixed and does not change if the launch date changes. JUN? To be announced Minuteman III --- ICBM test launch (non-orbital). Payload is one or more unarmed warheads. Impact area is the Reagan Test Site at Kwajalein in the central Pacific. The Air Force will announce the launch window a few days in advance. JUL? To be announced Minuteman III --- ICBM test launch (non-orbital). Payload is one or more unarmed warheads. Impact area is the Reagan Test Site at Kwajalein in the central Pacific. The Air Force will announce the launch window a few days in advance. 2006 To be announced Delta IV SLC-6 Classified National Reconnaissance Office payload. The DoD will announce the exact launch time several hours in advance. NRO L-22 2006 To be announced Delta IV SLC-6 Payload is the DMSP F-17 military weather satellite Pending ~02:00 Delta II SLC-2W Payload is the CloudSat and CALIPSO environmental satellites. NASA reports the satellites are installed in the Dual Payload Attach Fitting at the Astrotech payload processing facilities. They will remain there until a launch date is selected. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- ASTRONOMICAL EVENTS for 2006 February Compiled for Los Angeles, California Time Date (PST/PDT) Event -------- --------- ----------------------------- FEB 4 22:29 First Quarter Moon Moon rises at noon and sets at midnight FEB 5 13:56 Lunar Conjunction The Moon passes 2.2° north of Mars. Time of closest approach and separation computed for the Earth's center and may vary significantly depending on your location FEB 6 00:56 Lunar Occultation The Moon occults (passes in front of) the +3.0 magnitude star Alcyone. Star disappears at 00:16. The reappearance is not visible. Time computed for downtown Los Angeles and will vary depending on your location FEB 12 20:44 Full Moon Moon rises at sunset, sets at sunrise, and is visible all night FEB 20 23:17 Last Quarter Moon Moon rises at midnight and sets at noon FEB 23 21:04 Mercury Eastern Elongation Elusive Mercury attains its greatest angular separation from the Sun and is visible low in the west at dusk. FEB 25-26 --- Dark Sky Weekend Best time this month to observe faint objects. Amateur astronomers may hold observing sessions at dark sites FEB 27 16:31 New Moon Moon passes between the Earth and the Sun and is invisible. Moon rises at sunrise and sets at sunset FEB 28 18:00 Uranus Conjunction Uranus passes behind the Sun and is lost in the Sun's glare. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- WEB SITE UPDATE You can now quickly search the entire contents of my Space Archive web site thanks to a new search tool. To perform a site search, go to www.spacearchive.info, locate the search tool in the lower left, and enter the keywords (Minuteman III, etc.) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- STARDUST REENTRY OBSERVATIONS This newsletter recently published Stardust reentry observations. Reader Patrick Wiggins directed me to the following Stardust reentry items on the Internet: http://www.trilobyte.net/paw/slas/patrickw/PATRICKW04.HTML http://www2.tooeletranscript.com/index.php...sk=view&id=9970 http://www.sltrib.com/ci_3406719 http://deseretnews.com/dn/view/1%2C1249%2C...76685%2C00.html ---------------------------------------------------------------------- SUBMARINE LAUNCHES In response to the Launch Alert discussion regarding the mysterious submarine missile launch several years ago, Jim Baumgardt e-mailed me some photos of the event. Jim was at the 1985 Riverside Telescope Makers Conference and apparently had his camera set up as the launch happened. From the looks of it, it was indeed an impressive dusk display. When I get some spare time, I'll try to post the images on my web site. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- SPEAKING OF SPARE TIME Long time Launch Alert readers have probably noticed that the content and quality of this newsletter tends to wax and wane over time. The primary reason is my lack of time due to other priorities. To put it bluntly, I'm swamped. However, I hope to have a noted astronomy writer occasionally helping me out with the web site and newsletter in the not too distant future. Depending on how things work out, I may be looking for an additional compensated writer later this year. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- WHAT ARE THE ODDS? Last Saturday I attended the wedding of Ben Okopnik and Kat Tanaka in Torrance, Calif . (Ben and I are old friends from way back). When I spoke to the bride, I was surprised to learn that she knows Launch Alert readers Jim Spellman and Randall Clague. Over dinner I talked with Heather Stern and Jim Dennis from northern California. It turns out that they know Ian Kluft, another Launch Alert reader. There were also two brothers at the wedding. One performed the ceremony and the other helped organize the event. It took a few hours, but I realized that they were Rick and Larry Foss, two people I knew from my high school graduating class (1974). ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Copyright © 2006 Brian Webb. All rights reserved. This newsletter may be distributed in its entirety without restriction. Excerpts may be not be reprinted or posted elsewhere without prior permission. _______________________________________________ To subscribe or unsubscribe from this newsletter, go to: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/launch-alert Questions and comments regarding this newsletter and editorial contributions should be directed to kd6nrp@earthlink.net -------------------- "After having some business dealings with men, I am occasionally chagrined,
and feel as if I had done some wrong, and it is hard to forget the ugly circumstance. I see that such intercourse long continued would make one thoroughly prosaic, hard, and coarse. But the longest intercourse with Nature, though in her rudest moods, does not thus harden and make coarse. A hard, sensible man whom we liken to a rock is indeed much harder than a rock. From hard, coarse, insensible men with whom I have no sympathy, I go to commune with the rocks, whose hearts are comparatively soft." - Henry David Thoreau, November 15, 1853 |
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Feb 15 2006, 02:40 PM
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Senior Member Group: Members Posts: 2454 Joined: 8-July 05 From: NGC 5907 Member No.: 430 |
LAUNCH ALERT
Brian Webb Ventura County, California E-mail: kd6nrp@earthlink.net Web Site: http://www.spacearchive.info 2006 February 14 (Tuesday) 18:18 PST ---------------------------------------------------------------------- MINUTEMAN III LAUNCH Vandenberg AFB News Release VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. – An unarmed Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missile is scheduled to launch from North Vandenberg Thursday morning as part of a developmental test to demonstrate the ability to integrate modified products into weapons systems. The six-hour launch window is from 12:01 a.m. to 6:01 a.m. PST. The missile will launch under the direction of the 576th Flight Test Squadron here. Col. Jack Weinstein, 30th Space Wing commander, is the spacelift commander. The mission director is Lt. Col. Stephen Davis, 576th FLTS commander. Members of the 576th FLTS here installed tracking, telemetry and command destruct systems on the missile to collect data and meet safety requirements. The missile's single unarmed re-entry vehicle is expected to travel approximately 4,800 miles in about 30 minutes, hitting a pre-determined target at the Kwajalein Missile Range in the western chain of the Marshall Islands. The nation’s ICBMs are a key component of global stability – a safe, secure and affordable weapon system that delivers deterrence. As of this morning, the probability of acceptable weather at launch time was estimated to be only 20% - Editor ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Copyright © 2006 Brian Webb. All rights reserved. This newsletter may be distributed in its entirety without restriction. Excerpts may be not be reprinted or posted elsewhere without prior permission. _______________________________________________ To subscribe or unsubscribe from this newsletter, go to: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/launch-alert Questions and comments regarding this newsletter and editorial contributions should be directed to kd6nrp@earthlink.net -------------------- "After having some business dealings with men, I am occasionally chagrined,
and feel as if I had done some wrong, and it is hard to forget the ugly circumstance. I see that such intercourse long continued would make one thoroughly prosaic, hard, and coarse. But the longest intercourse with Nature, though in her rudest moods, does not thus harden and make coarse. A hard, sensible man whom we liken to a rock is indeed much harder than a rock. From hard, coarse, insensible men with whom I have no sympathy, I go to commune with the rocks, whose hearts are comparatively soft." - Henry David Thoreau, November 15, 1853 |
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Feb 16 2006, 02:19 PM
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Senior Member Group: Members Posts: 2454 Joined: 8-July 05 From: NGC 5907 Member No.: 430 |
FYI, the Minuteman III was launched this morning on-time at one minute past
midnight from Vandenberg AFB. The original weather forecast was not very favorable; it appears things improved. Brian Webb _______________________________________________ To subscribe or unsubscribe from this newsletter, go to: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/launch-alert Questions and comments regarding this newsletter and editorial contributions should be directed to kd6nrp@earthlink.net -------------------- "After having some business dealings with men, I am occasionally chagrined,
and feel as if I had done some wrong, and it is hard to forget the ugly circumstance. I see that such intercourse long continued would make one thoroughly prosaic, hard, and coarse. But the longest intercourse with Nature, though in her rudest moods, does not thus harden and make coarse. A hard, sensible man whom we liken to a rock is indeed much harder than a rock. From hard, coarse, insensible men with whom I have no sympathy, I go to commune with the rocks, whose hearts are comparatively soft." - Henry David Thoreau, November 15, 1853 |
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Feb 17 2006, 03:38 PM
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Senior Member Group: Members Posts: 2454 Joined: 8-July 05 From: NGC 5907 Member No.: 430 |
LAUNCH ALERT
Brian Webb Ventura County, California E-mail: kd6nrp@earthlink.net Web Site: http://www.spacearchive.info 2006 February 16 (Thursday) 19:06 PST ---------------------------------------------------------------------- VANDENBERG AFB LAUNCH SCHEDULE As of 2006 February 16 Launch Time/Window Date (PST/PDT) Vehicle Pad/Silo -------- ----------------- ---------- -------- FEB 28 05:57:21-07:19:21 Pegasus XL Offshore Payload is JPL's SpaceTech 5 microsatellites. Airborne launch with a target drop time of 06:02 PST. Possible twilight effect because launch window opens during morning twilight and payload will be placed in a 2,800-mile-high orbit. Flight Simulation No. 4, an integrated test with the ST5 spacecraft and the Pegasus rocket, completed FEB 8. The flight termination system, avionics batteries and ST5 logo installed. Final functional testing and spacecraft closeouts was scheduled for FEB 11-12. The three-day operation to install the Pegasus vehicle fairing around the ST5 slated to start FEB 14. Pegasus will be mated to its transporter on FEB 20 and moved to Vandenberg's runway for mating to the Orbital Sciences L-1011 carrier jet aircraft on FEB 24. MAR 30 Unknown Minotaur SLC-8 Payload is COSMIC and Taiwan's FORMOSAT-3 scientific satellites APR ~03:00 Delta II SLC-2W Payload is the CloudSat and CALIPSO environmental satellites APR 7 To be announced Minuteman III --- ICBM test launch (non-orbital). Payload is one or more unarmed warheads. Impact area is the Reagan Test Site at Kwajalein in the central Pacific. The Air Force will announce the launch window a few days in advance. APR-JUN 10:00-13:00? Falcon I SLC-3W Payload is the Naval Research Laboratory's TacSat-1 satellite. The vehicle will carry the ashes of U.S. astronaut Gordon Cooper, Star Trek actor James "Scotty" Doohan and several other people into space. The launch window is fixed and does not change if the launch date changes. APR-JUN? To be announced Minuteman III --- ICBM test launch (non-orbital). Payload is one or more unarmed warheads. Impact area is the Reagan Test Site at Kwajalein in the central Pacific. The Air Force will announce the launch window a few days in advance. JUL-SEP? To be announced Minuteman III --- ICBM test launch (non-orbital). Payload is one or more unarmed warheads. Impact area is the Reagan Test Site at Kwajalein in the central Pacific. The Air Force will announce the launch window a few days in advance. 2006 To be announced Delta IV SLC-6 Classified National Reconnaissance Office payload. The DoD will announce the exact launch time several hours in advance. NRO L-22 2006 To be announced Delta IV SLC-6 Payload is the DMSP F-17 military weather satellite ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Copyright © 2006 Brian Webb. All rights reserved. This newsletter may be distributed in its entirety without restriction. Excerpts may be not be reprinted or posted elsewhere without prior permission. _______________________________________________ To subscribe or unsubscribe from this newsletter, go to: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/launch-alert Questions and comments regarding this newsletter and editorial contributions should be directed to kd6nrp@earthlink.net -------------------- "After having some business dealings with men, I am occasionally chagrined,
and feel as if I had done some wrong, and it is hard to forget the ugly circumstance. I see that such intercourse long continued would make one thoroughly prosaic, hard, and coarse. But the longest intercourse with Nature, though in her rudest moods, does not thus harden and make coarse. A hard, sensible man whom we liken to a rock is indeed much harder than a rock. From hard, coarse, insensible men with whom I have no sympathy, I go to commune with the rocks, whose hearts are comparatively soft." - Henry David Thoreau, November 15, 1853 |
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