GEORGE DILLER: This is Pegasus Launch Control, where we are now about 20 minutes into the mission of ST5. Chuck, we've just witnessed something rather
unique here with these deployments. I can't recall we've seen something happen quite like that before.
But at any rate, as far as the flight went, how do you believe, from what you've seen, this mission is going?
CHUCK DOVALE: It's going excellent, George. It looks like we're three for three. We saw three deployments of the ST5 spacecraft come off kind
of like a Frisbee fashion, which was kind of neat to see, and it followed as smooth a count as I can remember on the Pegasus program.
I think we were rewarded tonight for the trouble we had the other night. But it was an excellent count, and all things looked like they were going very well.
DILLER: Well, indeed, there was not much discussion on the channels prior to launch, so we could tell things were well.
And I guess we were actually ahead of the game at one point, weren't we?
DOVALE: Yeah. We were, because we didn't work any problems, you know, the Pegasus count doesn't have any built-in holds,
so it does allow for a lot of time to work problems.
The fact that we didn't have any, we were well ahead of the time, so we just sat on the runway, waited for the proper takeoff time to approach
and then the captive carry is always nerve-wracking because you're starting a 58-minute clock and things have got to go per the script.
And with a moving target there, and especially a lot of times when we lose communication with the L-1011,
but none of that happened today and we were able to drop right on the mark and it looks like a very successful mission so far.
DILLER: Well, Chuck, we have two missions coming up out here at Vandenberg. One is in about a month. Tell us a little bit about that one.
DOVALE: We've got a dual mission going off a Delta II, two spacecraft -- CALIPSO and CloudSat -- will be launched off of a Delta II on April 20 off of SLC 2,
Space Launch Complex 2, the Delta pad here in, in Vandenberg. And then the follow on
Pegasus is the AIM mission that hopefully will go in September this year.
DILLER: Well, Chuck, thank you very much. And I guess next time we talk with you,
it's going to be in a completely new facility, in a new Mission Director's Center.
DOVALE: Yes, we proved that out during this launch.
And we'll be priming that facility for CALIPSO/CloudSat, so we'll see you over there shortly.
DILLER: Thank you very much, Chuck. DOVALE: Thank you.