Northforce, you can see the launch on television. Launches are always broadcast via satellite. If you have access to the right satellite, you can see it go. Call Globalstar LP Investor Relations, or even Boeing Investor Relations and they could probably tell you the satellite and transponder to tune in to.
All is okay for the launch, though risk is not black and white. The Satellite Operating Control Center has some short-comings, but nothing that time can't fix. If it were an airplane, I wouldn't get on it, but, then again, no one is "getting on it". There is some opinion that a two week slip would really help them dot a few i's. They may get that two weeks, they may not.
There has been talk about the last Delta and Skynet launch. Since Skynet is a cloak and dagger satellite, it is hard to get information. I hear that it has had some thermal problems, and that there was a 10 square meter chunk of skin from the Delta upper stage that touched the satellite. Boeing claims all is well, but some Globalstar LP people are on their way to Boeing today to assess the situation first hand. Unless Boeing admits a problem, there will be a launch in February, although it may not be 5 February.
Planning a vacation around a launch is a dangerous thing. It could sit on the pad for days before it finally gets off the ground. There are weather delays and a myriad of technical glitches that could make it slip, and slip and slip. Some launch vehicles, and I am not sure if the Delta is among them, require that after being fueled for about five days to have all of the fuel off-loaded, and have the tanks scrubbed, and then re-fueled. That takes about two days.
Someone on SI said they had hotel reservations for Cocoa Beach. That may not be a good idea if there are delays.
So, the state of play looks, umm, okay, but with a few glitches on the cards.
Mqurice |
