Another day of proof the zombies continue to hold me under visual surveillance as I travel behind the lines of insurrection in Seattle and King County, Washington.
http://www.orbital.com/SpaceLaunch/Pegasus/index.html
On April 5, 1990, Orbital began a new era in commercial space flight when our Pegasus rocket was launched for the first time from beneath a NASA B-52 carrier aircraft in a mission that originated from Dryden Flight Research Center in California. In the decade since its maiden flight, Pegasus has become the world's standard for affordable and reliable small launch vehicles. It has conducted 38 missions, launching 78 satellites.
The three-stage Pegasus is used by commercial, government and international customers to deploy small satellites weighing up to 1,000 pounds into low-Earth orbit. Pegasus is carried aloft by our "Stargazer" L-1011 aircraft to approximately 40,000 feet over open ocean, where it is released and then free-falls in a horizontal position for five seconds before igniting its first stage rocket motor. With the aerodynamic lift generated by its unique delta-shaped wing, Pegasus typically delivers satellites into orbit in a little over 10 minutes.
This patented air-launch system reduces cost and provides customers with unparalleled flexibility to operate from virtually anywhere on Earth with minimal ground support requirements. Pegasus launches have been conducted from six separate sites in the U.S., Europe and the Marshall Islands, the first time a space launch vehicle has demonstrated such operational flexibility.
Pegasus "Firsts"
World's first privately developed space launch vehicle
Maiden 1990 mission marked the first all-new, unmanned space launch vehicle developed in the U.S. in more than 20 years
First winged vehicle to accelerate to eight times the speed of sound
First air-launched rocket to place satellites into orbit, using its carrier aircraft as an "air breathing reusable first stage"
http://www.orbital.com/SpaceLaunch/stargazer.htm
"Stargazer" L-1011 Carrier Aircraft
"Stargazer" is a Lockheed L-1011 commercial transport aircraft modified to carry the air-launched Pegasus rocket . Marshall Aerospace of Cambridge, England performed the modifications, removing unnecessary equipment such as passenger seats, reinforcing the internal wing structure and adding Pegasus support equipment. When not in use for Pegasus operations, Stargazer is available for aerospace research and development applications.
From 4/5/1990 (Pegasus rocket) to 1/10/1994 ("The Pegasus") is 5 days, 9 months, 3 years
'59-3'
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Pegasus_%28Star_Trek:_The_Next_Generation%29
"The Pegasus" is the 164th episode of the science fiction television series Star Trek: The Next Generation and the 12th episode of the show's seventh season. It was first broadcast on January 10, 1994.
In a future retcon, TNG-era events of the Star Trek: Enterprise series finale, "These Are the Voyages...", would be detailed as taking place during the storyline of this episode.
In this episode, the Federation Starfleet Starship USS Enterprise-D crew attempts to recover the Pegasus, a Federation ship possibly containing experimental technology of vital strategic importance, and the first assignment of Enterprise First officer Commander William Riker. Divided loyalties between Captain Jean-Luc Picard and Riker's old commander torment the First officer at the same time that decisions made 12 years earlier return to haunt him.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/These_Are_the_Voyages..._%28Enterprise_episode%29
"These Are the Voyages..." is the title of the 98th and final episode of the UPN television series Star Trek: Enterprise. It aired on May 13, 2005 in the United States. Written by series creators Rick Berman and Brannon Braga, the episode is the series finale of Enterprise.
