Iridium Delayed Again

jamesv@softcom.net
Sat, 03 May 1997 19:34:49 -0700

"For the second straight day at Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif.,
unfavorable winds aloft forced a scrub in the launch of a McDonnell Douglas
Delta 2 rocket and its payload, the first five communications satellites
for the low Earth orbit satellite constellation called Iridium. 

The problem is the abrupt changes in direction of the gusty winds, called
wind sheer, between 20,000 and 52,000 feet. 

Liftoff is now rescheduled for Sunday morning at 11:01:04 a.m. EDT (1601:04
GMT), the opening of a five-second window. 

If the launch is delayed again to Monday, that is likely to be the last
attempt for awhile due to conflicts on the Western Range and Delta 2 rocket
on its Cape Canaveral Air Station launch pad, scheduled to blast off with a
Norwegian communications satellite on May 11."

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Ahem.  Note to Florida Today: that's "wind shear," not "wind sheer."
   
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Jim Varney        jamesv@softcom.net     Sacramento, CA