Dec 8 1980
From The Space Library
The Washington Post reported that two Florida launches had lit up evening skies with brilliant colors and a streak of light that prompted calls to authorities from as far away as Nashville, Tenn.
In the second of four tests to see whether ionized clouds blocked communications among aircraft, satellites, and ground stations, a U.S. Air Force rocket from Eglin Air Force Base in the Florida panhandle sprayed the ionosphere 116 miles above the Gulf of Mexico with 106 pounds of barium Sunday, December 6, creating a pink, green, and purple haze monitored by scientists on the ground and in airplanes. One aircraft was positioned so that the barium cloud passed between it and an experimental satellite in orbit 25,000 miles up. About 30 minutes later, the INTELSAT 5A F2, largest communications satellite ever built, roared into orbit with the rocket trail familiar to Space Coast residents. (W Post, Dec 8/80, 4)
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