spacetoday.net: Weather delays Minotaur launch

Posted: Wed, May 6, 2009, 4:25 AM ET (0825 GMT)
The launch of an experimental military satellite and small NASA spacecraft was scrubbed Tuesday because of poor weather. The launch of a Minotaur 1 rocket carrying the TacSat-3 and PharmaSat spacecraft was scheduled for Tuesday evening from Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia, but weather conditions forced controllers to scrub the launch. The launch has been rescheduled for Thursday between 8 and 11 pm EDT (0000 and 0300 GMT Friday). The primary payload on the Minotaur is TacSat-3, a 400-kilogram satellite designed to test responsive space technologies, including a hyperspectral imager. Flying as a secondary payload is PharmaSat, a 5-kilogram satellite built by NASA's Ames Research Center to study the growth of yeast cells in space and the effectiveness of antifungal drugs.