Pegasus/AIM launch, April 25, 2007 |
The Aeronomy of Ice in the Mesosphere (AIM) mission was launched into orbit by an Orbital Sciences Pegasus-XL booster at 1:26 PM PDT on Wednesday, April 25, 2007. The rocket was carried to the launch position off the Pacific coast near Monterey by Orbital Sciences Lockheed L-1011 N140SC Stargazer, which staged out of Vandenberg Air Force Base.
This Antonov Design Bureau An-124 UR-82027 showed up at Vandenberg from Rome Leonardo da Vinci Fiumicino Airport by way of Bangor, Maine at 10:50 AM. Low lying clouds partially obscured the view of its approach.
Antonov Design Bureau An-124 UR-82027.
Orbital Sciences Lockheed L-1011 N140SC Stargazer took off with the Pegasus-XL/AIM at 12:27 PM PDT. The crew of Stargazer initiated the drop of the booster at 1:26 PM PDT. The four-stage rocket successfully boosted the AIM satellite into orbit 350 miles above the Earth.
Stargazer passed overhead southbound about 20 minutes after the launch of the Pegasus-XL.
Stargazer returned from the successful launch of the AIM mission just after 2:00 PM.
Orbital Sciences Lockheed L-1011 N140SC Stargazer
Orbital Sciences Lockheed L-1011 N140SC Stargazer
More Orbital Sciences Corporation L-1011, N140SC Stargazer photos.
More Antonov An-124 Ruslan photos.
More Vandenberg AFB
launch photography.
Link to the Aeronomy of Ice in the Mesosphere mission web site.Link to Encyclopedia Astronautica's Pegasus XL launch chronology.
Link to NASA Dryden's L-1011 Photo Gallery Contact Sheet.
Link to the Orbital Sciences Corporation home page.
The home page of the
30th Space Wing
For national and international space coverage visit SPACE.com
Brian Webb's Rawhide Space Page provides launch schedule and ham radio information.
You can buy a 2011 calendar featuring my photographs of rocket launches from Vandenberg Air Force Base.
Photos of thirteen rocket launches from Vandenberg Air Force Base:
Pegasus-XL/Wide-Field Infra-red Explorer (WIRE) March 4, 1999
Atlas-IIAS/Terra December 18, 1999
Delta II/Gravity Probe B, April 20, 2004
Minotaur/Streak September 22, 2005
Titan IV/National Reconnaissance Office satellite, October 19, 2005
Minuteman III, February 16, 2006
Minuteman III, April 2, 2008
Target Launch Vehicle, September 24, 2008
Delta-II/GeoEye 1, September 6, 2008
Delta II/Jason 2, June 20, 2008
Delta II/COSMO-Skymed, October 24, 2008
Taurus/Orbiting Carbon Observatory, February 24, 2009
Delta-II/Worldview 2, October 28, 2009
Put a copy of the Rocket Launches from Vandenberg Air Force Base: 2011 Calendar in your Lulu.com shopping cart for $16.95.
Send a message to Brian.