Tue, Oct 21, 2003
Destruction of Infrastructure Can Commence
The Air Force's 13th and
final Titan II rocket launched a Defense Meteorological Satellite
Program payload from Vandenburg AFB (CA) on Saturday, at 9:17
a.m.
The Titan II, once a nuclear-tipped ICBM, a vital part of the
nation's deterrent force, was pulled from that duty in 1982, and
turned into a launch vehicle several years later. Though reliable,
it has not been manufactured for decades.
The weekend launch took place following two recent delays. The
mission was delayed on October 15 when an air-conditioning duct
became detached from the booster's payload fairing. The fairing
surrounds the satellite atop the rocket. The duct is required to
maintain environmental conditions for the satellite before
launch.
It was delayed again the next day by an alarm on the booster's
guidance system, but workers tested the alarm and cleared the
rocket for the October 18 launch.
This mission, dubbed G-9, carried the 4,200-pound payload into
low-orbit approximately 458 nautical miles above Earth. The payload
is one in a constellation of satellites that monitors the Earth's
atmosphere and oceans providing real-time weather information to
warfighters worldwide.
Now that the Titan II has completed its last successful launch,
officials said plans are under way to deactivate the launch pad
with the mobile service and umbilical towers slated for destruction
in 2007.
[Thanks to Staff Sgt. Rebecca Danet, 30th Space Wing Public
Affairs --ed.]
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