Explanation:
On
October 19th, a rocket blasted off from
Vandenberg Air Force Base - the
last Titan rocket.
Carrying a payload for the US
National Reconnaissance Office, the successful
Titan IV B launch brings to a close the Titan program
whose first launch was in 1959.
Originally designed as an intercontinental ballistic missile,
the
Titan rocket ultimately evolved into a heavy lift workhorse,
launching defense, commercial, and scientific payloads to
Earth orbit and beyond.
In fact, many historic space explorations
began with Titan launches, including manned
Gemini missions, the
Viking
missions to Mars, the
Voyager tours of the
outer solar system, and the
Cassini
spacecraft now orbiting Saturn.
Cassini's probe Huygens accomplished
the most distant landing
on another world, while
Voyager 1 is now humanity's most
distant
spacecraft.
