Next week we’ll be supporting a NASA mission, where this L1011 aircraft (the “Stargazer”) will take off from Kwajalein and launch the attached Pegasus rocket, which will fly into space and release NuSTAR, the Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array, an X-ray satellite that will study black holes and other stuff. (See NASA mission page: http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/nustar/main/index.html)
Touchdown!
Turning around to park at the other end of the runway
The payload
Great shots, especially the landing. I wanted to get my own pics but I guess I missed out :*(
Thanks Chris! At least you can still get photos of it sitting on the runway the next few days.
Hi Rebekah,
I like your site. I’m considering taking a position on the island next year. Look forward to doing some underwater photography too. Do you know if families can get high speed internet in their homes? or is it all dial up?
Nathan
Nathan,
Unfortunately at present it’s all dial-up in the homes, although there is some hope that the high speed internet will be in place next year. Some faster internet is available on the wifi networks at a few places around the island (e.g., the food court), as well as at work places. Good luck with the job search and the move if you come out!
Rebekah
Some pictures of a Pegasus booster lying on a beach at Rongelap: pegasus relic – probably launched from the airspace around Kwaj (just a guess). I know Rongelap is the middle of nowhere but still, how safe is it if it if boosters are landing on the beaches at another atoll?
Wow, that’s very interesting, thanks for sharing! I have no doubt that’s the first stage from a Pegasus launched from Kwaj. I bet it was from the IBEX mission in 2008; the rocket was launched very close to Rongelap. Scroll down here and you’ll see the flight path: http://spaceflightnow.com/pegasus/ibex/081009preview.html I imagine the pieces of the rocket were meant to fall in the ocean, but you are right that it is a little disconcerting that they’re landing on an island; it could still hurt someone.
Well I did a bit of googling and now I think it must have floated there, like this one did from the July NuSTAR launch: “rocket booster washes up on Marshalls atoll” It might not be a bad idea to tell Range Ops about the one on Rongelap, one of their guys has already commented in your Kwaj blog, if I recall correctly, Dave I think his name was… (?)