Sea Launch

http://www.sea-launch.com/index.html

This still seems like Sci-Fi to me, but it's not. Six of our sats have been launched this way, actually got to watch the live feed from the cafe at work for one of them.

Pretty cool stuff.

 

Another satellite set sail last week, should arrive at the equator on June 15th.

http://www.sea-launch.com/

I'll let you know when it gets close to launch day.

If you've never seen this before, it's pretty amazing. The rocket is loaded onto a converted oil platform which is then sailed down to the equator. "Our equatorial launch site provides the most direct route to orbit, offering maximum lift capacity for increased payload mass or extended spacecraft life".

Even though this is not the first launch of one of our sats on this, it's still just mind boggling that this Sci Fi has become science fact.

Now if we could just iron out the shuttle problems... speaking of which on the National Geographic channel tonight:

8P et/pt
Seconds from Disaster
Columbia's Last Flight [TV-PG]

9P et/pt
Challenger: The Untold Story
Challenger: The Untold Story [TV-G]

http://channel.nationalgeographic.com/channel/