Launch Alert (http://www.spacearchive.info/newsletter.htm) reports that the Air Force will launch a Minotaur IV from Space Launch Complex-8 at Vandenberg Air Force Base tomorrow, Aug. 10, between 7 a.m. and 1 p.m. This is the second flight of the Hypersonic Technology Vehicle 2 by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA).
The liftoff is most likely to happen right at 7am when the launch window opens, but it can happen any time from 7am-1pm. Barring clouds or fog, you should be able to see the launch 50 to even 100 miles away if you are looking in the right direction — so Westlake Village residents are at the edge of this being visible. The solid propellant should produce a thick, white smoke trail. If you look West, you may see the launch.
“The early morning launch is the second flight of HTV-2 in a test series designed to validate technologies that will enable high-performance, long-duration, and maneuverable hypersonic flight. Furthermore, the HTV-2 program serves as a demonstration of the hypersonic technologies that are needed to achieve a prompt global reach capability,” according to the news release.
