Destruction of Infrastructure Can Commence

The Air Force's 13th and final Titan II rocket launched a Defense Meteorological Satellite Program payload from Vandenburg AFB (CA) on Saturday, at 9:17 a.m.

The Titan II, once a nuclear-tipped ICBM, a vital part of the nation's deterrent force, was pulled from that duty in 1982, and turned into a launch vehicle several years later. Though reliable, it has not been manufactured for decades.

The weekend launch took place following two recent delays. The mission was delayed on October 15 when an air-conditioning duct became detached from the booster's payload fairing. The fairing surrounds the satellite atop the rocket. The duct is required to maintain environmental conditions for the satellite before launch.

It was delayed again the next day by an alarm on the booster's guidance system, but workers tested the alarm and cleared the rocket for the October 18 launch.

This mission, dubbed G-9, carried the 4,200-pound payload into low-orbit approximately 458 nautical miles above Earth. The payload is one in a constellation of satellites that monitors the Earth's atmosphere and oceans providing real-time weather information to warfighters worldwide.

Now that the Titan II has completed its last successful launch, officials said plans are under way to deactivate the launch pad with the mobile service and umbilical towers slated for destruction in 2007.

[Thanks to Staff Sgt. Rebecca Danet, 30th Space Wing Public Affairs --ed.]

FMI: www.af.mil; www.onizuka.af.mil/titan_II.htm