Oct 18 2003
From The Space Library
Soyuz TMA-3/ISS-9S launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan transporting to the ISS the Expedition 8 crew~American Mission Commander C. Michael Foale, Russian Flight Engineer Alexander Y. Kaleri, and Spanish astronaut Pedro Duque. Foale and Kaleri were traveling to the ISS for a 200-day mission, replacing American Edward T. Lu and Russian Yuri I. Malenchenko who were completing a six-month stay aboard the orbiting station. Duque would conduct 10 days of scientific experiments on the ISS and would return to Earth with Lu and Malenchenko.(Spacewarn Bulletin, no. 600; Dmitry Solovyov for Reuters, “ISS Crew Blasts Off at Baikonur,” 20 October 2003; Justin Ray, “New Station Residents Arrive at Their Orbiting Home,” Spaceflight Now, 21 October 2003.
The U.S. Air Force launched its Defense Meteorological Satellite Program (DMSP) F16 craft aboard a Titan 2 rocket from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, marking the final launch of the Lockheed Martin launch vehicles. In keeping with its 1986 agreement with the U.S. Air Force, Martin Marietta had converted 14 Titan 2 intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) into space launch vehicles. The Air Force had used the converted missiles to launch weather and spy satellites into low Earth orbit; the first such converted missile launched in September 1988. The Titan 2 that launched the DMSP F16 satellite was the 13th of the 14 converted ICBMs to launch; the Air Force had no plans for the 14th converted ICBM except to hold it as a spare. The successful launch of the satellite marked the end of the 33 months of postponements of the US$450 million mission that had resulted from technical problems. The Air Force intended for the craft to track clouds, storm systems, and hurricanes, planning to use the data that the satellite collected to forecast weather and to monitor ice and snow coverage, pollution, and fires. The constellation of two primary DSMP satellites and older backups provided meteorologists with information for generating forecasts, which commanders and troops relied upon for strategic and tactical planning. DSMP F16 replaced DSMP F15, which had launched in December 1999, as the lead craft in the constellation's mid-morning orbit. (Spacewarn Bulletin, no. 600; Justin Ray, “US Weather Satellite Finally Escapes Grasp of Hard Luck,” Spaceflight Now, 14 October 2003; Roger Fillion, “Titan II Rocket Soars into Retirement,” Rocky Mountain News (Denver, CO), 21 October 2003.
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