Launch of Lewis from VAFB

Stut L Huston (slhuston@juno.com)
Sat, 23 Aug 1997 13:46:53 -0700

I observed the launch of the Lewis spacecraft from Vandenberg AFB from
Newport Beach, about 180 miles southeast.  Without binoculars or a
stopwatch, it's hard to give details, but the first stage burn seemed to
go normally.  After burnout, however, the thing disappeared for about 30
seconds.  The sky seemed quite clear, although there were clouds to the
southeast of me, around the moon.  The booster appeared again, around 30
seconds later and perhaps 20 degrees farther south than when it
disappeared.

The VAFB launch hotline (805-734-8232, x6-1857) said the launch was
successful, although I haven't seen anything in the local news today.

Stu Huston