US to arbitrarily rape Canada to the tune of $250 million

[Drake Tungsten]

So the crying is over?

[notyoueither]

Yep. We've had our weenie roast. We've bashed the Yanks some. Now everybody can go home happy.

[DanS]

Were any Canadian oil platforms hit with debris?

Go Titan! Go prometheus!

THE LAST OF THE TITANS

Giant leaves on last flight

BY R. NORMAN MOODY
FLORIDA TODAY

CAPE CANAVERAL - The last satellite carried by a Titan-family rocket from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station soared into space Friday night after a spectacular liftoff.

The nearly 20-story tall giant of a rocket seemed to punch slowly through clear skies as it blasted off at 8:50 p.m. with its spy satellite cargo.

The sight of the Titan IV-B's twin solid-rocket boosters falling from the main body was clearly visible through the cloudless skies as far away as Fort Myers, on the state's west coast.

The successful launch came after a 19-day delay because of technical problems with ground equipment used to fuel the rocket. The Titan IV-B released its National Reconnaissance Office payload into orbit less than 10 minutes after launch, making for a successful final flight from the Space Coast.

"You couldn't have asked for anything better," said Cathy Bowers, a spokeswoman for the National Reconnaissance Office. "We had some technical issues leading up to this launch, but you would have never known it."

The Titan is the last of a family of 168 to be launched from Cape Canaveral. One last flight is scheduled to take off from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California.

The Titan program employed thousands of people during the past four decades. Many of those still with the Lockheed Martin program will be given 60-day layoff notices sometime in June.

Derived from an early ICBM design, a predecessor of the contemporary Titans launched the manned Gemini missions, helping to pave the way for moon missions. "It is the end of an era, there is no other way of saying it," said Jim Banke, vice president of Florida operations for the Space Foundation.

Banke recalled covering the first launch of the Titan IV in 1989 as a reporter.

At the time, reporters were allowed to be much closer than they are now allowed, he said. "It's one of those things you never forget," Banke said.

They also launched twin Voyagers to outer space and Viking probes to Mars. In October 1997, a Titan IV rocket successfully carried the plutonium-powered Cassini satellite into space from Cape Canaveral.