NASA Clears Satellite for Liftoff Tonight
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KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, Fla. — After eight delays, an Atlas-Centaur rocket carrying a $125-million military satellite was cleared Wednesday for blastoff tonight in a mission NASA hopes will end a disastrous year with success.
The rocket, the most powerful unmanned launcher in the agency’s inventory, is scheduled for liftoff from the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station at 6:04 p.m.
“The vehicle is ready and looks good,” said Charles Gay, launch director. “We’ve got a great forecast; it should be a gorgeous launch.”
It will be the National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s last major launch of 1986.
The Atlas-Centaur was scheduled for blastoff May 22 but after the Jan. 28 explosion of the shuttle Challenger, the April 18 explosion of an Air Force Titan 34-D in California and the May 3 failure of a NASA Delta, all three rocket programs were grounded.
Because of similarities between the Delta engine and those on the Atlas first stage, the Atlas-Centaur was grounded also.
On board the Atlas-Centaur is a $125-million satellite, the sixth “fleet satellite communications” relay station to be launched by NASA for the Defense Department.
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