For those flying along the East Coast of Virginia this week, there is likely to be quite the light show... as well as the omnipresent TFR (be sure to check if you're flying ANYWHERE near there). NASA's Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia will be the site of the launch of an Air Force Minotaur I rocket carrying the Air Force Research Laboratory's TacSat-3 satellite and two secondary payloads between 8 and 11 p.m. EDT, May 5.

The TacSat-3 launch will be the third Minotaur vehicle launched from the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport's launch pad 0B on the southern end of Wallops Island. The launch may be seen throughout the mid-Atlantic area.

The two secondary payloads are NASA's PharmaSat microsatellite, developed at the Ames Research Center in California, and NASA's CubeSat Technology Demonstration experiments, which includes three four-inch cubed satellites, developed by universities and industry.

Air Force Space Command's Space and Missile Systems Center's Space Development and Test Wing at Kirtland AFB, N.M., has overall management of the mission.

The back-up launch days for this mission are May 6 through 9. At last word, Wallops says that the TacSat-3 launch is on schedule for May 5. The latest forecast shows a 50% probability that the weather will be acceptable.

NASA Goddard Space Flight Center`s Wallops Flight Facility, located on Virginia`s Eastern Shore, was established in 1945 by the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics, as a center for aeronautic research.

FMI: www.nasa.gov/centers/wallops/events/index.html, www.twitter.com/NASA_Wallops, http://sites.wff.nasa.gov/webcast/