A Delta IV evolved expendable launch vehicle carrying a Defense Meteorological Satellite Program satellite was launched from the Space Launch Complex-6 here Nov. 4 at 5:53 a.m.
"I'm extremely proud of the precision with which the base and Vandenberg launch team planned and executed this Delta IV mission," said Col. Terry Djuric, the 30th Space Wing vice commander. "This west coast launch helped kick off the Air Force's yearlong 60th anniversary celebration."
Colonel Djuric served as the spacelift commander, or final "go for launch" authority, for this mission.
"With today's launch, Vandenberg has provided 100 percent assured access to space, successfully launching 17 DMSP satellites since the 1st DMSP satellite was launched in 1976," she said.
The 30th Space Wing is the Air Force Space Command organization responsible for Department of Defense space and missile launch activities on the West Coast of the United States.
The 4th Space Launch Squadron oversees Vandenberg's evolved expendable launch vehicle programs including the Delta IV. The squadron is responsible for launch base and launch vehicle mission assurance.
"From an operational perspective, this was another perfectly executed mission by the entire team," said Lt. Col. David Goldstein, the 4th SLS commander and launch director. "Vandenberg worked extremely well with our launch partners to bring everything together for that one perfect shot."
Today, the vision of quieter and more environmentally friendly flying came a step closer as researchers from the University of Cambridge and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) unveiled their revolutionary concept for a silent aircraft.
Originally conceived as making a huge reduction in the noise experienced by people in the vicinity of airports, this highly-efficient design also offers improvements of around 25% in the fuel consumed in a typical flight compared to current aircraft.
Officials are saying the December launch of a tactical satellite, dubbed TacSat-2, will serve as the predecessor for rapid satellite production, launch and operation.
Managed by the Air Force Research Laboratory's Space Vehicles Directorate here, TacSat-2 has evolved into a responsive space demonstrator ready for flight in 24 months. Similar military spacecraft have taken 10 years or longer to go from the drawing board into space. In addition, the micro satellite provides an inexpensive alternative to most current defense-related space systems, which cost about 90 percent more.
The S-LCD Corporation a Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. - Sony Corporation joint venture, held a ceremony to celebrate a major milestone of the construction of the 8th-generation LCD fabrication line at the Tanjeong production complex.
S-LCD started mass producing LCD panels on the 7G line in April 2005, nine months after the company was officially launched. As a result of that collaboration, both Samsung and Sony have had access to a stable supply of large-screen LCD TV panels, helping the partners to become the global market leaders for LCD TV screens in the 40"-diagonal range.
The National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) has installed a new IBM (NYSE: IBM) supercomputer known as blueice that nearly triples the center's sustained computing capacity, IBM announced today. With a peak speed of 12 teraflops (12 trillion floating-point operations per second), the new machine will enable scientists to enhance the resolution and complexity of Earth system models, improve climate and weather research, and provide more accurate data to decision makers.