Community Corner

NASA Rocket Launch Set for Skies Over Maryland

Forecast great for seeing the rocket.

By Todd Richissin

Look up Tuesday night and you may just see a rocket.

U.S. Air Force Minotaur I rocket is scheduled to lift-off at 7:30 p.m. from the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport’s Pad-0B at NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia.

Find out what's happening in Columbiawith free, real-time updates from Patch.

The Minotaur will launch the Air Force's Operationally Responsive Space Office's ORS-3 mission, which features the deployment of 29 satellites in space.

The launch window is 7:30 to 9:30 p.m. The backup launch days run through Nov. 26. And the prospects for seeing the rocket are good: The weather forecast calls for clear skies during launch hours.

Find out what's happening in Columbiawith free, real-time updates from Patch.

The launch may be visible from northern Florida to southern Canada and west to Indiana.

Among the goods being hurled into space: A "cubesat" built by students at Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology.

From NASA: 

"The Minotaur's primary payload is the Space Test Program Satellite-3 (STPSat-3), an Air Force technology-demonstration mission. Thirteen small cubesats aboard are being provided through NASA's Cubesat Launch Initiative. Among the cubesats is NASA's Small Satellite Program PhoneSat 2 second generation smartphone mission. Also included is the first cubesat built by high school students."


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