<p><BR/>Replying to:<BR/><DIV CLASS='Discussion_PostQuote'>This launch is still scheduled, according to my Ventura County source: DELTA II LAUNCHA Delta II rocket is scheduled for launch this Friday evening fromVandenberg AFB. The Delta is scheduled to lift-off from Space LaunchComplex 2-West, at 19:28:21 PDT during a launch window that is onesecond long.The Delta will rise vertically for a few seconds before slowlypitching over and heading south. The booster will later deliverItaly's COSMO-3 satellite into a near-polar orbit.After it becomes operational, COSMO-3 will provide high-resolutionradar images of Earth.Weather permitting, the launch should be visible for at least 200miles.
http://www.ulalaunch.com/launch/COSMO%203/COSMO3_Mbook.pdf <br /> Posted by crazyeddie</DIV></p><p>The launch is still on, and it should provide a grat view to anyone in Southern California:</p><p> </p><span style="font-family:Times;font-size:16px" class="Apple-style-span"><p><font face="VERDANA, ARIAL, HELVETICA, SANS-SERIF" size="-1" color="#000033"><strong>1930 GMT (3:30 p.m. EDT; 12:30 p.m. PDT)</strong></font><br /><img src="http://spaceflightnow.com/images/grafix/greypixel.gif" alt="" vspace="4" width="100%" height="1" /><br />Under beautiful clear skies, countdown preparations are underway at Vandenberg Air Force Base's Space Launch Complex-2 for this evening's liftoff of the Delta 2 rocket carrying Italy's COSMO 3 spacecraft.</p><p>The 177-foot tall mobile service tower has been retracted from the United Launch Alliance-built rocket. The gantry was used to stack the two-stage vehicle, the four strap-on solid rocket motors and the COSMO payload atop the pad's launch mount. The tower also provided the primary weather protection and worker access to the rocket during its stay at the oceanside complex on North Vandenberg.</p></span><p><span style="font-family:Times;font-size:16px" class="Apple-style-span">Ground teams will spend the next couple of hours getting the pad secured in advance of the Terminal Countdown. Launch remains targeted for exactly 7:28:25 p.m. local (10:28:25 p.m. EDT; 0228:25 GMT).</span></p><p>
http://www.spaceflightnow.com/delta/d336/status.html</p> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> </div>