Avi Blizovsky
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An unmanned Titan 4 rocket lifted off from the Cape Canaveral Air Force Base on Friday evening and put into orbit a classified military satellite, ending a nearly five-decade period in which Titan missiles were launched from Florida.
The launch was carried out on Friday at 20:50 EST (Saturday 03:50 Israel time). Missiles of this type began flying from Cape Canaveral in 1959.
"It was a very successful mission tonight," said a representative of the missile manufacturer Lockheed Martin in the control center as the satellite successfully separated from the missile nine and a half minutes later.
The twin-engine Titan 4 rocket was visible for miles in the clear evening sky as it headed north toward the Atlantic coast.
The missile waited on the launch pad for no less than eight months before finally receiving permission to take off. During that time he experienced three hurricanes, a tropical storm and a series of technical problems. The project managers said.
It also caused an international incident when Canada expressed a diplomatic protest over its flight path and because of the area where the boosters could fall into the sea, the Canadians had to shut down oil drilling rigs near New Poundland.
Without having to worry about the second stage engine, the crew expected an easy launch. "It's going to be performed like a professional dance on a stage," said Heav Friels, Titan 4's flight engineer at Lockheed Martin, during an informal press briefing Thursday.
It was a sweet but also bittersweet moment for Titan's staff members who had already sent their resumes to potential employers in search of a new job.
"Getting out of here for the last time is going to be tough," said Perils, who joined the Titan program in 1973. "We have a lot of good cronies, from a lot of good people we've worked with."
