Posted on 06/15/2007 5:13:39 PM PDT by nypokerface
CAPE CANAVERAL, Florida (Reuters) - An unmanned heavy-lift Atlas 5 rocket blasted off from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida on Thursday to put a secret payload into orbit.
The rocket, built by Lockheed Martin Corp. and marketed under a new Lockheed-Boeing Co. joint venture called United Launch Alliance, lifted off at 11:12 a.m. EDT (1512 GMT) and headed out over the Atlantic Ocean.
The launch was for the U.S. National Reconnaissance Office, which develops and operates the nation's spy satellites.
Details about the rocket's destination and payload were not released. The industry trade magazine Aviation Week and Space Technology reported in April that the Atlas rocket would carry a pair of ocean surveillance satellites.
The launch was the first Atlas V flight for the National Reconnaissance Office. All nine previous flights of the Atlas V have been successful.
Shhhhh.
wow, really secret...didn’t know FR was cleared for this kind of info....
Ha,ha, another well kept secret !!!
Not accurate as usual. Launch was postponed on Thursday and lifted off at 11:04 Friday morning. I watched it go.
Part of the “virtual fence?”...

No. Defense of the Sacred Mexican Nation must be accomplished at all costs, so this is just a part of that obligation of ours.
Civilization demands it.
Because they certainly can't defend themselves, or much else. Except smuggler convoys.
It was a decoy flight for the real one being launched out of Gitmo?
I guess it’s pretty tough to get the MSM to keep a big loud rocket launch for NRO secret. But that’s a sure sign of the times.
Nothing to see here.
I had a Little Orphan Annie secret decoder ring about seventy years ago. If I could find it now I could probably find out what was in that “secret” payload. I wonder if Ovaltine has an update on the secret decoder ring.
and Soyuz 
Cargo is still going into space on lash-ups based on the 50 year old technology of the first generation "interim" ICBMs, Kinda amazing.
Actually I hear it is manned! They get the volunteers from Gitmo!
Understand the missions are one way only!
“B-O-S-C-O”
“Cargo is still going into space on lash-ups based on the 50 year old technology of the first generation “interim” ICBMs, Kinda amazing.”
But they work, just about every time. Something to be said for that......
“Two top secret National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) ocean surveillance spacecraft were fired into the wrong orbit...”
Well, NOW I feel better.
A ruse to confuse the enemy?! /sarc /sarc
” A ruse to confuse the enemy?! /sarc /sarc”
..or the taxpayers....???
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