LAUNCH MISSION
USAF Titan II SLV QuikScat
Launch Pad
Space Launch Complex 4W
Description
The SeaWinds instrument on the QuikScat (Quick Scatterometer) mission is a "quick recovery" mission to fill the gap created by the loss of data from the NASA Scatterometer (NSCAT), when the ADEOS 1 host satellite lost power in June 1997. The SeaWinds instrument is a specialized microwave radar that measures near-surface wind speed and direction under all weather and cloud conditions over the Earth's oceans.
Titan II SLV
Rocket Description
The Titan 23G, Titan II(23)G, Titan 2(23)G or Titan II SLV was an American expendable launch system derived from the LGM-25C Titan II intercontinental ballistic missile. Retired Titan II missiles were converted by Martin Marietta, into which the Glenn L. Martin Company, which built the original Titan II, had merged. It was used to carry payloads for the United States Air Force, NASA and NOAA. Thirteen were launched from Space Launch Complex 4W at the Vandenberg Air Force Base between 1988 and 2003.