Rocket Launch Delayed Again; Mystery Light Illuminates NorCal Sky

Update:

LOS ANGELES, CA – A satellite launch was delayed yet again Wednesday in Southern California.

The launch of the Delta IV Heavy rocket, from Vandenberg Air Force Base in Santa Barbara County, has been scrubbed repeatedly. It was the fourth attempt.

At the time the launch was supposed to happen, residents in Northern California reported seeing an "odd light" in the sky. The light may be from the undocking of the Soyuz spacecraft with the International Space Station Expedition 57 crew. It was scheduled at 5:42 p.m., according to NASA.

However, the National Weather Service weighed in, suggesting the strange light was more likely a meteor.

"We're thinking this might have been a #meteor sometime between 5:30 & 5:40 PM.," the weather service tweeted.

Scott Carroll, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Eureka told USA Today, the light showed signs of emanating in the sky and heading in the direction of Earth rather than the other way around.

"It looked like the trail was brighter the closer it was to the ground," he told the newspaper.

If it was a meteor, it could have broken up in the sky or landed somewhere on Earth, he added.

The Southern California launch launch of a spy satellite was scrubbed for the fourth time Wednesday. As thousands looked to the sky expecting a light show, the launch was postponed at the last minute. It's now scheduled for Thursday.

The launch by United Launch Alliance was tentatively reset for 5:31 p.m. Thursday. ULA did not immediately give an official reason for the delay. Spaceflight Now reported that the scrub was prompted by a suspected hydrogen leak in the port booster engine section of the Delta IV Heavy rocket.

The launch, from Vandenberg Air Force Base in Santa Barbara County, has been scrubbed repeatedly. On Tuesday night high winds forced the launch to delay a day. Back on Dec. 8, a technical glitch discovered just 7.5 seconds before liftoff forced crews to scrub the launch. And an another day, an operational problem delayed a planned launch. Despite the bad luck plaguing the launch, it's expected offer another spectacular aerial light show when it finally happens.

The launch by United Launch Alliance -- a joint venture of Lockheed Martin and Boeing -- was slated for 5:44 p.m. Wednesday. Launches from Vandenberg, especially those carried out after sundown, typically create impressive aerial light shows over Southern California and the southwestern United States.

The Delta IV Heavy rocket will be carrying a secretive satellite for the U.S. National Reconnaissance Office.

"We are proud to launch this critical payload in support of our nation's national security mission," Gary Wentz, ULA vice president of government and commercial programs, said in a statement prior to the two delays. "As the nation's premiere launch provider, the teams have worked diligently to ensure continued mission success, delivering our customer's payloads to the precise orbits requested."

According to the company, the Delta IV Heavy rocket includes three Rocketdyne liquid hydrogen/liquid oxygen engines that can produce a combined 2.1 million pounds of thrust. ULA has carried out 27 launches for the National Reconnaissance Office over the past 12 years.

City News Service and Patch Staffer Paige Austin contributed to this report.

Photo by Autumn Johnson/Patch