An Atlas V rocket successfully launched from Vandenberg Air Force Base on Sept. 20—the 604th Atlas mission in United States history, according to base officials.
When asked how officials figured the number, spokesperson Lt. Ann Blodzinski said: “We have a wing historian who keeps track of all things historical here.”
The launch was a joint effort among the base, the United Launch Alliance, and the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO). The rocket carried a national security payload for the NRO—the exact contents of which are classified, Blodzinski said.
This was the second of three launches the base has scheduled for September. The next launch will be a Minotaur IV carrying the first Space Based Space Surveillance satellite, and is scheduled for Sept. 25 from the base’s Space Launch Complex 8.
This article appears in Sep 23-30, 2010.