Atlas 5 launches with clandestine payload

[Waspie_Dwarf]

Atlas 5 thunders to milestone in U.S. rocket history

Marking a milestone in flight at the fore of American rocketry, an Atlas 5 majestically rose away from Cape Canaveral this morning on the 50th mission for the Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle program.

Topped with a clandestine cargo for the U.S. National Reconnaissance Office, the United Launch Alliance rocket lifted off at 8:28 a.m. EDT (1228 GMT) and headed eastward before entering a news blackout to perform its orbit-shaping and satellite deployment in secrecy.

An hour later,official press releases from ULA and the NRO proclaimed that the ascent had gone well, keeping the EELV score card at 100 percent successful in the eyes of the boss -- the U.S. Air Force.

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Edited June 30, 2012 by Waspie_Dwarf
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