A Pegasus rocket carrying the NuStar spacecraft is set to launch from the belly of a Lockheed L-1011 flying 40,000 feet over the Pacific Ocean at 12:00 pm ET on Wednesday.
The Orbital Sciences Corporation Lockheed L-1011 “Stargazer” (N140SC) took off from Kwajalein Atoll in the central Pacific and will fly a racetrack pattern until the designated launch time.
The Pegasus rocket will drop 5,000 feet below the aircraft before igniting.
NuSTAR (Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array) is described by NASA as “a black hole hunter with sharp X-ray eyes.”
This will mark the 41st launch of a Pegasus rocket from the Stargazer aircraft. The L-1011 jet began its life with Air Canada in 1974.
