by Dr. Ken Kremer

In an unprecedented event in space history, NASA and Orbital Sciences Corporation successfully blasted a pair of historic and high stakes missions to the moon and the International Space Station from NASA’s Wallops Island center in Virginia on Sept. 6 & 19.

The flawless on-time liftoff’s of NASA’s Lunar Atmosphere and Dust Environment Explorer (LADEE) Observatory atop a Minotaur V rocket and the privately developed, Cygnus resupply capsule atop the commercial Antares rocket took place from America’s newest spaceport located just a few hours drive south of Princeton.

The duo of spectacular launches were visible to millions of spectators along the US Mid-Atlantic region who never before had the opportunity to witness powerful rockets blast off within sight of their homes.

LADEE launched at 11:27 p.m. in the evening of Sept. 6. Cygnus launched at 10:58 a.m. on Sept. 19. LADEE is due to arrive in lunar orbit on Oct. 6 and Cygnus should dock at the ISS in late September. I reported on both launches for Universe Today from NASA Wallops.

At the Oct. 8 AAAP monthly meeting, I will present an eyewitness account of both missions in my talk entitled; “NASA’s Historic LADEE Lunar Orbiter and Antares/Space Station Rocket Launches from Virginia”. I’ll also give an update on Curiosity, MAVEN and NASA’s future human spaceflight programs.

See a preview of my talk and my Universe Today articles here:
Antares Picture Perfect Blastoff
NASA’s Antares Rollout

Astronomy Outreach by Dr. Ken Kremer
AAAP at Princeton U: Princeton, NJ: Oct. 8, 8 PM. “LADEE Lunar orbiter and Antares ISS Rocket Launches from Virginia.”
STAR Astronomy Club: Monmouth Museum at Brookdale Community College, Lincroft, NJ, Oct. 3, 8 PM, “Curiosity, MAVEN and the Search for Life on Mars (3-D).”

Dr. Ken Kremer: Universe Today & AAAP
Please contact Ken for more info, science outreach presentations and his space photos.
Email: kremerken@yahoo.com website: www.kenkremer.com
http://www.universetoday.com/author/ken-kremer/