Space Command had to do a scramble to make up for the loss of the shuttle mission...
Seems the 45th Space Wing at Patrick AFB had to scramble and reconfigured the launch pad to get their secret NRO satellite launched... Seems they had 36 hours to do it...
Here is a report from the OTHER mission control....
The two members of the 1st Range Operations Squadron were in celebratory moods as the Atlas V carried a National Reconnaissance Office payload into space. The reason: In the wake of NASA’s scrubbing of the STS-
122 space shuttle mission early Sunday morning, 1 ROPS led the 45th
Space Wing’s charge to get the Eastern Range reconfigured in less than 36
hours to support the Atlas V launch.
1st Lt. Georgene Hilb, Maj. Eric Amissah, Capt. Davina Fallaw, Capt. Bai Zhu and Stephen Anstey work on console at the Technical Support Facility during Atlas V pre-launch operations Monday.
Ah hear is the first report we had on this... lost it on the desk
The Monday liftoff of the United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket came less than 36 hours after NASA scrubbed the planned launch of shuttle Atlantis, a turnaround that took a monumental effort.
"It was awesome," said ULA communications director Mike Rein. "And we appreciate everything the 45th Space Wing did to reconfigure the range after yesterday's shuttle scrub to make it happen."
The Air Force's 45th Space Wing, based at Patrick Air Force Base, operates the nation's primary east coast rocket range, providing radar tracking, range safety and weather forecasting services for all launches from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station and NASA's Kennedy Space Center.
It typically takes two days to reset range systems between launches. The quick turnaround made it possible to pick up the Atlas 5 countdown Monday afternoon and send the rocket aloft at 5:05 p.m.
Florida Today
What was really eye catching in this piece was this statement
There was a two-minute delay to make certain the rocket wouldn't collide with the International Space Station as the outpost passed over the Cape.
Very considerate of them
So what was the big rush to get this thing up in such a hurry?
[edit on 4-1-2008 by zorgon]




