Rescue Wing Airmen clear range for Atlas 5 rocket

  • Published
  • By 2nd Lt. Leslie Forhsaw
  • 920th Rescue Wing Public Affairs
CAPE CANAVERAL AIR FORCE STATION, Fla. --  Air Force Reserve combat-search-and-rescue Airmen from the 920th Rescue Wing, Patrick Air Force Base, Fla., supported the successful launch of the United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket carrying two heavily shielded 1,400-pound satellites Thursday at 4:05 a.m. from launch Complex 41.

The Reserve Airmen work side-by-side their active duty counterparts at the 45th Space Wing to maintain safety on the range for each rocket that launches from the Space Coast.

Rescue Wing Airmen who pilot the HH-60G Pave Hawk helicopter took flight several hours before the scheduled launch to secure the Eastern Range. They patrolled the stretch of Atlantic Ocean beneath the launch trajectory ensuring no mariners veered into harm's way of potential rocket debris hazards.

These satellites, Radiation Belt Storm Probes - RBSP, will fly in tandem through Earth's energetic Van Allen radiation belts in a two-year $686 million mission to probe the structure of the huge doughnut-shaped zones, how they are affected by titanic solar storms and the threat they pose to astronauts and costly spacecraft, according to CBS News "Space Place".

As a combat-search-and-rescue unit, the Airmen are trained to provide search and rescue services in humanitarian and combat environments.

"(During a rocket launch) We'll stay airborne until the rocket launches, as long as the launch window remains open, "said Lt. Col. Robert Haston, 920th Pave Hawk pilot, and the chief of safety for the 920th RQW.

This rocket, originally scheduled to launch on August 23, has been scrubbed numerous times for software issues and weather.

"We've been waiting for this mission for decades," said Project Scientist Richard Fitzgerald of the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory. "The Van Allen belts were discovered in 1958 and since that time, we know something about the radiation belts but not enough. This mission is designed to really understand the whole solar interaction with the radiation belts and understand why they are excited (by the sun) and sometimes, why they're not."

The twin RBSPs are expected to shed light on the fundamental physics governing behavior of fields and particles across the cosmos and on the more immediate impacts of space weather, which can cripple satellites, disrupt power grids, scramble communications and interfere with Global Positioning System navigation beacons, according to CBS News "Space Place".

The 45th Space Wing commander was also pleased with the performance of the team for this historic launch.

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Editor's note: Information for this article was compiled from a 45th Space Wing news release and a story written for CBS News "Space Place".