
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: FRIDAY, April 6, 1990                   TAG: 9004060056
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A6   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: EDWARDS AIR FORCE BASE, CALIF.                                LENGTH: Medium

PEGASUS ROCKET FULFILLS MISSION

An experimental Pegasus rocket was blasted into space Thursday from a B-52 and delivered its first satellite payload into a polar orbit, officials said.

"Pegasus is on its way," bomber pilot Gordon Fullerton radioed to controllers at 12:11 p.m. as the 50-foot rocket was dropped from its perch beneath the jet's right wing.

Twelve minutes later, tracking crews at the Ames-Dryden Flight Research Facility at Edwards determined the 440-pound satellite had reached orbit 368 miles above Earth.

"Everything went according to the mission profile," said C.J. Fenrick, spokesman for Ames-Dryden. "This is a big step for the Air Force, NASA and private corporations interested in space."

Developed by Virginia-based Orbital Sciences Corp. and Delaware-based Hercules Aerospace Corp., Pegasus was designed to put small satellites into orbit at low cost. It has been called the poor man's satellite booster.

"You are watching history, guys," Orbital Sciences spokeswoman Barbara Zedina told reporters. `

The estimated cost of a Pegasus launch was between $6 million and $8 million, a fraction of the cost of an Atlas or Titan rocket firing, officials said.

The Pentagon and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration want to use Pegasus for military and science satellites, but Pegasus also is expected to attract business from companies, foreign governments and university scientists who need a cheap way to put small payloads in orbit.

In addition to placement of the Navy communications satellite, two other missions were accomplished, said Jan Bodanyi of the Pentagon's Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency.

Remaining on the frame was an instrument package to send data back to scientists about the stress on Pegasus and its payload as it goes through the atmosphere and into space, Bodanyi said.

Also, two canisters aboard the rocket will release barium, mixed with a small amount of strontium, over central Canada to allow NASA scientists to study the resulting glowing space cloud to learn more about the Earth's magnetosphere and ionosphere.

by CNB