Post by sts60 on Dec 18, 2006 0:23:57 GMT -4
A few more random observations: the launch was the first for the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport, the newest commercial space launch facility (jointly sponsored by Maryland and Virginia). It's part of the Wallops Island facility owned by NASA, which provides launch and tracking support.
The U.S. Air Force was the launch customer, using an Orbital Sciences Corp. Minotaur-1 booster. Payloads were USAF's TacSat-2 and NASA's GeneSat-1 microsatellite.
Heh, I have a generic connection to this launch - not that I worked on any part of it - and a less generic connection to the last time an orbital launch was attempted from Wallops (1995). I worked for a vanishingly short time - maybe two weeks - on flight code for that satellite, which had an orbital component and a return vehicle.
Suffice it to say that a former colleague has a nice chunk of its heat shield as a souvenir.
The U.S. Air Force was the launch customer, using an Orbital Sciences Corp. Minotaur-1 booster. Payloads were USAF's TacSat-2 and NASA's GeneSat-1 microsatellite.
Heh, I have a generic connection to this launch - not that I worked on any part of it - and a less generic connection to the last time an orbital launch was attempted from Wallops (1995). I worked for a vanishingly short time - maybe two weeks - on flight code for that satellite, which had an orbital component and a return vehicle.
Suffice it to say that a former colleague has a nice chunk of its heat shield as a souvenir.
