The National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) successfully launched a satellite from an Atlas 2AS rocket from Space Launch Complex 36A at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla. Tuesday at 9:47 p.m.
"This success is a tribute to an outstanding team effort," said Brig. Gen. Donald P. Pettit, commander of the 45th Space Wing, the Air Force unit which launched the booster. "Everybody had the same goal, which was to get the payload into the right orbit, at the right time. I'm proud to say our string of successful launches continues."
The launch team consisted of the NRO, the 45th Space Wing, the Air Force's Space and Missile Systems Center, Los Angeles AFB, Calif., and Lockheed Martin Astronautics, Denver, Colo.
The mission was dedicated to Mr. Dan Potter, a longtime NRO employee who was a volunteer in the Partners in Education Program at Cub Run Elementary School in Centreville, VA. Potter died two years ago and to commemorate his dedicated work as a tutor and mentor at the school, a logo was displayed on the Atlas II's payload fairing representing the Great Bear constellation - Ursa Major. (The bear is the mascot of Cub Run Elementary School.) More than 700 entries were submitted by the school's students and the winning logo was designed by Samantha Wingo.
