American Notes SPACE

"Many of us in the Air Force are about six feet off the ground," said Air Force Secretary Edward Aldridge. They had every right to be. For the first time in 35 months, a Titan 34D rocket blasted into space last week. The troubles of the 161-ft. Titan, the nation's most powerful unmanned space vehicle, had come to symbolize the paralyzed U.S. space program. In August 1985 a Titan exploded only a few minutes into flight. In April 1986 disaster struck again during lift-off. In the interim, the Challenger tragedy put a halt to manned space flight.

Last week's launch from Vandenberg Air Force Base ended the string of failures. The rocket carried into orbit a secret military payload that independent experts believe to be a KH-11 photo-reconnaissance satellite, enabling the U.S. to monitor Soviet compliance with arms agreements.