A Successful Launch

[lokheed]

Well, this afternoon we officially launched Mercury -- literally. The site itself went online this morning, and this afternoon we had a BBQ outside the office. During the festivities I launched a Mercury Redstone model rocket, which was a huge hit. It launched beautifully, but the wind died down just as it arced out over the water and the rocket came down in the marina behind harbor island. Although true to form for a NASA splashdown, we lacked the flotilla of battleships to go out and rescue the rocket. Fortunately one of the spectators also brought his dog, who was overjoyed to swim out and snag the parachute and drag the whole thing to shore. As a reward he got some choice ribs to chew on from the BBQ table, so everybody involved was happy.