(Download a higher resolution picture by clicking on any
picture below.)
Delta-II/CALIPSO, Cloudsat launch from Vandenberg AFB
|
(Download a higher resolution picture by clicking on any
picture below.)
The Cloudsat and CALIPSO satellites were launched into orbit by a Delta-II rocket at 3:02:16 AM PDT Friday April 28.
Due to a failure of the CALIPSO Satellite to communicate with its ground support network in France, a Delta II rocket did not powerfully launch it and the Cloudsat into orbit on Friday, April 21 at 3:02 AM PDT. Residents of the Santa Ynez Valley, obscured by clouds, were not roused from their beds by the roar of the mighty rocket. On Saturday and Sunday, the launch was postponed due to the unavailability of a KC-135 tanker to refuel the NKC-135B Big Crow telemetry relay airplane that will be flying over the Pacific Ocean several hundred miles south of Vandenberg Air Force Base during the launch.
The launch of the Cloudsat and CALIPSO satellites was scrubbed again on Tuesday at 2:57 AM PDT due to excessive high-altitude winds. The constellation of Scorpio rose above the Santa Barbara Channel in a sky not split by the fire of the ascending Delta-II rocket. Bad weather forced a scrub of the launch attempt on Wednesday and a suspect nitrogen temperature sensor on the Boeing Delta 2 rocket's second stage caused a postponement of the launch attempt on Thursday
The Delta-II rocket launched successfully at 3:02 AM PDT on Friday, April 28.
After jettisoning the solid fuel boosters, the liquid-fueled core of the Delta II arched over the southern horizon.
Composite of the two images above captures nearly the entire first stage burn.
More Vandenberg AFB
launch photography.
You can buy a 2008 calendar featuring my photographs of rocket raunches from Vandenberg Air Force Base.
Atlas IIAS/Terra, December 18, 1999
Delta II/Gravity Probe B, April 20, 2004
LGM-118 Peacekeeper, July 21, 2004
Minuteman III, August 25, 2005
Minuteman III, September 7, 2005
Titan IV/National Reconnaissance Office satellite, October 19, 2005
Delta II/CALIPSO Cloudsat, April 28, 2006
Delta IV/DMSP F17, November 4, 2006
Delta II/National Reconnaissance Office satellite, December 14, 2006
Delta II/COSMO-Skymed, May 7, 2007
Minotaur, August 23, 2007
Delta II/Worldview 1, September 18, 2007
Put a copy of the Rocket Launches from Vandenberg Air Force Base: 2008 Calendar in your Lulu.com shopping cart for $16.95.
You can buy a 2007 calendar featuring my photographs of rocket raunches from Vandenberg Air Force Base.
Pegasus-XL/Wide-Field Infra-red Explorer (WIRE) March 4, 1999
Atlas-IIAS/Terra December 18, 1999
Delta-II/Iridium February 11, 2002
Delta-II/AQUA May 4, 2002
Delta-II/Gravity-B April 20, 2004
Minuteman-III September 14, 2005
Minotaur/Streak September 22, 2005
Titan-IV/National Reconnaissance Office Satellite October 19, 2005
Minuteman-III February 16, 2006
Delta-II/Cloudsat-CALIPSO April 28, 2006
Minuteman-III June 14, 2006
Delta-IV/National Reconnaissance Office Satellite June 27, 2006
Put a copy of the Rocket Launches from Vandenberg Air Force Base: 2007 Calendar in your Lulu.com shopping cart for $16.95.
You can buy a 2006 calendar featuring my photographs of Rocket Launches from Vandenberg Air Force Base.
Reduced price: $13.95!
A dozen photos of rocket and missile launches from Vandenberg Air Force Base. Daytime launches include:
Titan IV/National Reconnaissance Office satellite, December 20, 1996,
Atlas IIAS/Terra, December 18, 1999, and
Delta II/Iridium, February 11, 2002.
Time exposures capture the arching trajectories of:
Delta II/Iridium, November 8, 1997,Satellite payloads include:
Titan IV/National Reconnaissance Office satellite, May 22, 1999,
Titan II/Coriolis, January 6, 2003,
Minuteman III, September 10, 2003,
Atlas IIAS/National Reconnaissance Office satellite, December 2, 2003,
LGM-118 MX, July 21, 2004,
Delta II/AURA, July 15, 2004,
Minuteman II, July 23, 2004, and
Delta II/NOAA-18, May 20, 2005.
National Reconnaissance Office satellite, December 20, 1996,
National Reconnaissance Office satellite, May 22, 1999,
Terra, December 18, 1999,
Iridium, February 11, 2002,
Coriolis, January 6, 2003,
National Reconnaissance Office satellite, December 2, 2003,
AURA, July 15, 2004, and
NOAA-18, May 20, 2005.
Put a copy of the Rocket Launches from Vandenberg Air Force Base: 2006 Calendar in your Lulu.com shopping cart for $13.95.
Link to Boeing's Delta-II page.
Link to the Air Force Fact Sheet about the Delta-II.
The home page of the 
30th Space
Wing
Brian Webb's Space Archive Page provides launch schedule and ham radio information.
Send a message to Brian .
