Delta 3 Explosion

Bill Moore (wmoore@spacey.net)
Wed, 26 Aug 1998 21:41:47 -0400

I just observed the explosion of the first Delta 3 launch from Canaveral 
AFS at +1min 20sec into flight.  I was watching from my backyard, which 
is over 40 mi from the launch site.  A very good initial burn, but then 
at SRB sep it looked like a firecracker.  I wasn't sure until I saw the 
TV coverage if it was truly an explosion, since there appeared (for a 
long time afterwards too) to be some kind of upper stage boosting 
downrange (it could have been a long-burning fragment though).  The 
trajectory appeared correct for such a launch--guess we'll have to wait 
and see.

-- 
==============================================
Bill Moore                   wmoore@spacey.net
Melbourne, Florida  USA      

"Reality provides us with facts so romantic that
 imagination itself could add nothing to them."
                                  --Jules Verne