NASA launches robotic explorer to moon.

[Beyond]

NASA launches robotic explorer to moon from Va.


http://www.wfsb.com/story/23361762/nasa ... on-from-Va

[neufer]

Had a great view of launch from Ocean City, Maryland!

(Too bad it won't be able to keep the Peace anymore, however.)

[b][color=#0000FF]The LGM-118A Peacekeeper[/color][/b]

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<<The LGM-118A Peacekeeper, also known as the MX missile (for Missile-eXperimental), was a land-based ICBM deployed by the United States starting in 1986. The Peacekeeper was a MIRV missile; it could carry up to 10 re-entry vehicles, each armed with a 300-kiloton W87 warhead/MK-21 RVs. A total of 50 missiles were deployed after a long and troubled development period.

Under the START II treaty, which never entered into force, the missiles were to be removed from the U.S. nuclear arsenal in 2005, leaving the LGM-30 Minuteman as the only type of land-based ICBM in the U.S. arsenal. Despite the demise of the START II treaty, the last of the LGM-118A "Peacekeeper" ICBMs (but not their warheads) were decommissioned on September 19, 2005. Current plans are to switch 500 decommissioned Peacekeepers' W87/Mk-21 warheads to the Minuteman III. Among the reasons cited for decommissioning of the Peacekeeper ICBM was its failure to achieve the program's range objectives.

Minotaur IV, also known as Peacekeeper SLV and OSP-2 PK is an active expendable launch system derived from the LGM-118 Peacekeeper ICBM. It is operated by Orbital Sciences Corporation, and made its maiden flight on 22 April 2010, carrying the HTV-2a Hypersonic Test Vehicle. The Minotaur IV vehicle consists of four stages and is capable of placing 1,735 kilograms (3,830 lb) of payload into a Low Earth orbit (LEO). It uses the first three stages of the Peacekeeper missile, combined with a new upper stage. A five stage derivative, the Minotaur V, made its maiden flight on 6 Sep 2013.>>

[geckzilla]

A rocket by any other name would launch just as swift.

We've got a photo of the launch over at our Flickr group already.

LADEE First Stage Separation by Radical Retinoscopy, on Flickr

[Beyond]

Geckzilla, i actually saw a picture of what you posted, but because of the term "LADEE", i didn't connect it to the launch that i found later and started this thread with. Must have something to do with those darned alien implants.