Wallops Island rocket launch rescheduled for Friday

Posted to: Business Eastern Shore

By Diane Tennant
The Virginian-Pilot
© August 21, 2008

A launch planned for this morning from Wallops Island has been delayed by one day.

The launch is scheduled for tomorrow morning between 5:10 and 6:10 a.m.

Tomorrow’s event will test a new rocket carrying instruments to study hypersonic flight and a new design for spaceships entering the atmosphere.

The ALV X-1 rocket will carry HYBOLT, a NASA experiment testing temperature and pressure during hypersonic flight, which is anything over Mach 5, or five times the speed of sound. It also will carry SOAREX, a new design for more efficiently delivering astronauts or equipment through the atmosphere on Earth or Mars.

In addition, the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory will have aboard a test of a receiver and transmitter intended to help with ocean recovery.

ADVISORY: Users are solely responsible for opinions they post here and for following agreed-upon rules of civility. Comments do not reflect the views of The Virginian-Pilot or its Web sites. Comments are automatically checked for inappropriate language, but readers might find some comments offensive or inaccurate. If you believe a comment violates our rules, click the "Report Violation" link below the comment.