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Rocket launch paints sky with breath-taking scene BY JUSTIN RAY SPACEFLIGHT NOW Posted: September 23, 2005
The six-story Minotaur rocket soared off its launch pad at 7:24:29 p.m. PDT (10:24:29 p.m. EDT; 0224:29 GMT) from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California carrying an experimental military spacecraft. Billed before launch as a potentially stunning blastoff, the mission delivered with a fast-growing cloud of colors painted in the darkening sky. Residents throughout central and southern California were treated to ringside seats, but folks as far away as Utah, Nevada and Arizona witnessed the incredible sight. Television stations and local authorities reported being flooded with calls wondering what had happened. The Minotaur's ascent to reach the desired orbit around Earth was timed perfectly to produce a spectacular "twilight phenomenon" that occurs when rockets or missiles are launched just before sunrise or shortly after sunset. Unburned fuel particles and water drops in the rocket's contrail freeze in the less dense upper atmosphere and get reflected by sunlight at high altitudes to generate such breath-taking scenes. The winds aloft twist the exhaust cloud, giving it a corkscrew effect. Vandenberg Air Force Base, positioned along the Pacific coastline 140 miles northwest of Los Angeles, has hosted more than 1,700 launches since December 1958. But only a fraction of the flights have displayed such a spectacle. The rarity prompted many space enthusiasts to plan ahead for Thursday's launch, scouting out prime viewing spots to observe the moment. It was the first such twilight launch in several years, and weather conditions didn't spoil the show.
The $20 million Minotaur deployed into a sun-synchronous orbit around the planet's poles the Space Test Program-R1 mission's Streak satellite. Built by General Dynamics C4 Systems/Spectrum Astro Space Systems in Gilbert, Arizona, the craft will be operated by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency. "Streak is a technology demonstrator whose objective is to demonstrate rapid response, short mission life, low Earth orbit space technologies and gather information about the low Earth orbit environment," a DARPA spokesperson said.
"The vehicle will characterize the orbital regime, demonstrate operational feasibility from a command and control standpoint and also from a platform perspective for future DoD missions," the spokesperson added. DARPA is the Defense Department organization whose mission is "to maintain the technological superiority of the U.S. military and prevent technological surprise from harming our national security by sponsoring revolutionary, high-payoff research that bridges the gap between fundamental discoveries and their military use." Streak's price tag is classified. This was the fourth Minotaur launch. The Air Force says another is planned on December 18 from Vandenberg to loft a cluster of tiny satellites for a joint Taiwan-U.S. project, called COSMIC, to study the atmosphere.
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NASA unveils the agency's blueprint for building the future spacecraft and launch vehicles needed for mankind's return to the lunar surface in the next decade.
Astronomers announce the detection by NASA's Swift satellite of the most distant explosion yet, a gamma-ray burst from the edge of the visible universe, during this media teleconference held Monday, September 12. (54min 01sec file)
The Mars Exploration Rover Spirit has reached the summit of Husband Hill, returning a spectacular panorama from the hilltop in the vast Gusev Crater. Scientists held a news conference Sept. 1 to reveal the panorama and give an update on the twin rover mission.
To gain a new perspective on space shuttle Discovery's ascent and gather additional imagery for the return to flight mission, NASA dispatched a pair of high-flying WB-57 aircraft equipped with sharp video cameras in their noses.
