Lantz@RUTGERS@sri-unix (09/03/82)
From: Lantz at RUTGERS (Brian Lantz) A 37-foot surplus military rocket is poised on a sandy Texas island, ready for the first launch of a spacecraft by private enterprise, a Houston company announced yesterday. "We're confident it's going to work like a charm," said Donald K. Slayton, a former astronaut who is mission director for the launch attempt next Wednesday north of Corpus Christi. The solid-fueled rocket, named Conestoga I, is scheduled to carry a dummy payload to 192 miles above the earth, where it will eject a shower of ice crystals and then fall into the Gulf of Mexico about 320 miles from the Matagorda island launch pad after a flight of about 10.5 minutes. Space Services Inc. of Houston is spending about $2.5 million for the project. A liquid-fueled rocket financed by the company exploded on the launch pad last year during testing, something company officials said won't happen with the simpler solid-fueled rocket. Slayton said the Conestoga I is built around a Minuteman I second-stage rocket engine that has a long history of successful lauches. The company purchased the rocket from the government for $365,000. Asked how confident he was the rocket would work, Slayton said, "About 99.4 percent." -------