Shuttle Launch

SITREP: Middle East

Reports that the Iranian Navy has ported temporarily in Jeddah, S.A.

Revival of the Ottoman Empire?

At the height of its power, in the 16th and 17th centuries, the empire spanned three continents,[7] controlling much of Southeastern Europe, Western Asia and North Africa.[8] The Ottoman Empire contained 29 provinces and numerous vassal states, some of which were later absorbed into the empire, while others were granted various types of autonomy during the course of centuries. The empire also temporarily gained authority over distant overseas lands through declarations of allegiance to the Ottoman Sultan and Caliph, such as the declaration by the Sultan of Aceh in 1565; or through the temporary acquisitions of islands in the Atlantic Ocean, such as Lanzarote in 1585.[9]
With Constantinople (now called Istanbul) as its capital city,[10][11] and vast control of lands around the eastern Mediterranean during the reign of Suleiman the Magnificent (ruled 1520 to 1566), the empire was at the center of interactions between the Eastern and Western worlds for six centuries.

Image of Raven Rock, Site-R

Southern California Airspace Today

Airspace activity near Bend, Oregon today

Legend .........
The black lines represent published high-altitude jet routes, they exist from approximately 18,000 feet to 45,000 feet.
The light blue lines represent aerial refueling tracks published by the Department of Defense.
The areas outline in red are restricted airspace (Yakima, WA) area
The areas outline in dark orange offshore are warning areas, and
The areas outline in light orange are military operating areas.

DOD Testing GPS Jamming

Something amuck in GPS ? ? ?

The following are GPS NOTAMS (Notice to Airmen) pertaining to GPS availability ...

ZJX NAV GPS IS UNRELIABLE AND MAY BE UNAVAILABLE WITHIN A CIRCLE RADIUS OF 370 NM AND CENTERED AT 304906N/0802811W OR LOCATION ALSO KNOWN AS 105.25 DEGREE RADIAL 52.1 NM FROM THE SSI VOR AT FL400; DECREASING IN AREA WITH A DECREASE IN ALTITUDE TO A CIRCLE WITH A RADIUS OF 325 NM AT FL250; A CIRCLE WITH A RADIUS OF 260 NM AT 10,000 FEET MSL AND A CIRCLE WITH A RADIUS OF 215 NM AT 4000 FT AGL 0000-0245 DLY WEF 1102160000-1102210245

ZAB NAV GPS IS UNRELIABLE AND MAY BE UNAVAILABLE WITHIN A CIRCLE WITH A RADIUS OF 375 NM AND CENTERED AT 333807N/1063425W OR LOCATION ALSO KNOWN AS 58.9 DEGREES AND 41.3 NM FROM THE TCS VOR AT FL400; DECREASING IN AREA WITH A DECREASE IN ALTITUDE TO A CIRCLE WITH A RADIUS OF 325 NM AT FL250; A CIRCLE WITH A RADIUS OF 240 NM AT 10,000 FT MSL AND A CIRCLE WITH A RADIUS OF 235 NM AT 4000 FT AGL. 0400-1200 DLY WEF 1102080400-1102111200

The first is in reference to the circles on the East Coast of the United States, and the second over the vicinity of the White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico.

Now remember, GPS is a Space-based navigation system which shouldn't be limited to ground-based systems line-of-sight requirements.

The East Coast area specifies:
* a 370 nautical mile radius at FL400 (40,000 feet)
* a 325 nautical mile radius at FL250 (25,000 feet)
* a 260 nautical mile radius at 10,000 feet
* a 215 nautical mile radius at 4,000 feet above ground level.

The White Sands area specifies:
* a 375 nautical mile radius at FL400 (40,000 feet)
* a 325 nautical mile radius at FL250 (25,000 feet)
* a 240 nautical mile radius at 10,000 feet
* a 235 nautical mile radius at 4,000 feet above ground level.

Also depicted in the image are:
+ the locations of the reports of dead birds, manatees and other animals.
+ the locations of earthquakes (yellow and orange dots)
+ the locations of Yellowstone, Mt. St. Helens, Long Valley Caldera, and the New Madrid Seizmic Zone, and the forecast location of a potential earthquake with its forecast window set to close on the 8th of February.
+ Also plotted are the Kings Bay Submarine Base, Kennedy Launch Complex 39-A, Holloman AFB, and the Trinity Nuclear Test Site (historic marker); and two laser tests one at NASA's Goldsboro, Maryland, and the other at Apache Point Observatory in New Mexico.

The "normal" ground based line-of-sight data for ...
40,000 feet is 246.6 nautical miles, for
25,000 feet is 195.24 nautical miles, for
10,000 feet is 124.19 nautical miles, and for
4,000 feet is 79.67 nautical miles.

The East Coast area line-of-sight corresponds to:
* a 370 nautical mile radius approximately 90,000 feet, a diffence of 50,000 feet.
* a 325 nautical mile radius approximately 70,000 feet, a differnce of 45,000 feet.
* a 260 nautical mile radius approximately 45,000 feet, a differnce of 35,000 feet.
* a 215 nautical mile radius approximately 30,000 feet, a diffence of 26,000 feet.

The White Sands area line-of-sight corresponds to:
* a 375 nautical mile radius approximately 93,000 feet, a difference of 53,000 feet.
* a 325 nautical mile radius approximately 70,000 feet, a diffence of 45,000 feet.
* a 240 nautical mile radius at approximately 38,000 feet, a difference of 28,000 feet.
* a 235 nautical mile radius at approximately 36,000 feet, a diffence of 32,000 feet.

So using "normal" line-of-sight calculations we have a variance of between 53,000 feet and 26,000 feet in elevation above what should be line-of-sight.

For example if you have an E-3C AWACS plane flying at 35,000 feet, it would be able to detect another aircraft flying at 65,000 feet approximately 389 nautical miles away; or if you had an SR-71Blackbird flying at 100,000 feet it would be able to detect a radio signal coming from a ground-level transmitter also 389 nautical miles away.

The other interesting aspect is look at the time data in the NOTAM .... 0000-0245 DLY WEF 1102160000-1102210245 (0000UTC - 0245 UTC Daily, from February 6, 2011 at 0000 UTC until February 21, 2011 at 0245UTC) for the East Coast, and .... 0400-1200 DLY WEF 1102080400-1102111200 (0400 UTC - 1200 UTC Daily from February 8, 2011 at 0400 UTC until February 11, 2011 at 1200 UTC).

Something is very, very hinky here .... because "normally" at any given time, my hand-held GPS unit is capable of receiving data-signals from between six to eleven satellites, and only a six-satellite constellation is necessary to provide position fix information.

Vantage Products Corporation

Vantage Products Corporation

960 Almon Road

Covington, GA

Today's Airspace Activities

Hawaiian Islands Continental United States

Vandenburg Missile Launch-Feb 6th

From Vandenburg Launch Schedule Website

http://www.spacearchive.info/vafbsked.htm
Date: FEB 5
Launch Window: To beannounced (See NOTAM below)
Launch Vehicle: Minotaur I
Launch Site: SLC-8
Comments: Vehicle will launch the U.S. National Reconnaissance Office's NROL-66 payload

From National Notices to Airmen Database:

!CARF 02/049 ZLA AIRSPACE DCC ON 2 ROPS AIROP DO-1102 STATIONARY RESERVATION WITHIN AN AREA BNDD BY 3115N/12130W 3324N/12116W 3318N/12005W 3109N/12020W WITHIN AN AREA BNDD BY 3420N/12036W 3420N/12040W 3434N/12040W 3434N/12036W AREA OUTSIDE US CONTROLLED AIRSPACE IS FOR INFORMATION ONLY SFC-UNL WEF 1102061145-1102061535

Launch Window: 6 Feburary 2011 at 3:45am local until 7:35am local

About the launch:

The U.S. military plans to launch a Minotaur rocket Saturday with a secret technology research mission for the National Reconnaissance Office, the government agency that oversees the country's spy satellites.

The Minotaur rocket's lower assembly, composed of retired Minuteman missile stages, is stacked on the launch pad. Credit: U.S. Air Force The solid-fueled Orbital Sciences Corp. Minotaur 1 launcher is scheduled to lift off some time Saturday from Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif. The launch window is a secret for now, but the Air Force plans to announce a time for the blastoff Thursday evening.
The release of the launch time will come after the Launch Readiness Review adjourns Thursday to give approval for final flight preparations, according to an Air Force spokesperson.
The NRO is keeping quiet on the mission's specifics, but the agency says it is part of a science and technology development effort to lay the groundwork for future systems.
"If you have heard our director speak, one of his priorities is to have a healthy science and technology effort," said Rick Oborn, an NRO spokesperson. "This particular payload carries some of the work we do in techniques and methods to improve intelligence collection. All part of our work to keep improving the value of our data."
The satellite is known as RPP, which stands for the Rapid Pathfinder Program. The launch is codenamed NROL-66 in the spy agency's rocket acquisition naming system.
"It is an NRO mission using a small rocket, which would denote a lighter payload," Oborn told Spaceflight Now.
Bruce Carlson, director of the NRO, told an Air Force Association meeting in September the agency is renewing its commitment to science and technology programs.
Carlson said he was troubled by a drop in science and technology investment when he became director in 2009.
Next year's NRO budget request will call for more science and technology funding, increasing the agency's research budget back to historical levels, according to Carlson.
"My plan is that ten years from now, when somebody is standing up here, they'll be able to say 60 percent of the technology that we put into this [new] satellite came out of our [science and technology] program," Carlson said in September. "Unlike the Air Force's and the other services' science and technology, mine is a little bit more predictable because even though what the particular advances are I don't know, I know that I'm pretty much going to be doing signals intelligence, I'm going to be doing imaging intelligence, and I'm going to be doing communications."
Stacking of the Minotaur 1 rocket's third and fourth stages and the 50-inch payload fairing. Credit: U.S. Air Force The NRO's overall budget and the cost of the RPP mission are classified.
The spacecraft could be testing new radar or optical imaging sensors to be employed on the next generation of U.S. reconnaissance satellites.
The Minotaur rocket will travel south from the California coast, according to a notice to pilots released Wednesday. Launches flying south from Vandenberg usually deploy payloads in polar orbits used by Earth observation satellites.
The 62-foot-tall rocket will launch from Space Launch Complex 8 in the southern part of Vandenberg. The vehicle is now fully assembled at the launch pad, according to the Air Force.
Minotaur 1 rockets are made up of decommissioned Minuteman missile stages and parts from Pegasus and Taurus commercial launchers.
The booster could lift up to 800 pounds to a low-altitude polar orbit. Its 50-inch-diameter payload fairing could fit a satellite the size of a large kitchen refrigerator. The Minotaur's specifications provide an upper limit for the size and mass of the spacecraft to be launched Saturday.
Most NRO payloads are much larger.
The agency often uses Atlas and Delta rockets to haul hefty satellites into space. A Delta 4-Heavy launch Jan. 20 from Vandenberg orbited a high-resolution imaging platform the size of a school bus.
Saturday's launch will be the first time the NRO has flown a payload on a Minotaur rocket.
"We will use smaller vehicles from time to time as we match payloads," Oborn said.

http://spaceflightnow.com/minotaur/nrol66/110202launchpreps/

Cyclone Yasi