No, It's Not a Scud

So we're at brunch on Sunday with our friends Chuck and Dawn, and, as is wont to happen when dining on crab legs and champagne, naturally the subject of missle launches comes up. If you live in Southern California, it's very probable that about a month ago (Sept. 22) you saw a quite spectacular evening sky show brought to you by the good folks at Vandenberg Air Force Base. Check out the great photos at Fred Bruenjes' site here.

And for a schedule of upcoming launches and viewing opportunities, click this link, which includes a lot of good info about Vandenberg.

Incidentally, I'll leave to others the task of pondering the rationale and implications of launching missles carrying classified Air Force satellites. My take is, the more hardware we chuck into space, the better.