The Pegasus launch of WIRE off the coast of California is still a GO as of 3:40 pm PST. The nominal L-1011 drop time is 18:57 PST, but may occur anytime from 18:51 to 19:01 PST. Assuming an on-time launch, the launch vehicle will become sunlit around 18:59:15, which is about 45 seconds after 2nd stage ignition. In other words, the 2nd stage contrail will be illuminated by the sun. So there should be a nice, nearly horizontal streak across the sky, starting in the vicinity of Venus and growing to the left. Differential upper atmospheric wind speeds will soon distort the contrail into the familiar "squiggly" path that southern Californians have grown accustomed to. --Rob