William Walkowiak - Cape Town Bound

Without the successful transfer of fuel, the ARIA would not have the range to reach its support point, and the Delta II launch from Vandenberg AFB, CA would be forced into a costly postponement. The airmanship of both flight crews was evident as the refueling went off without a hitch. A jubilant crew continued to another ARIA first; crossing the Antarctic Circle, traveling to 69 degrees south. Ready to support, the ARIA arrived on station only to have the mission canceled due to excessive upper level winds at the launch site at Vandenberg AFB. Returning to Cape Town, the crew found themselves going into immediate crew rest to prepare for the next day's mission.

The locals say, “the table is set." The phrase describes the breathtaking view of morning fog rolling off the Table Mountain summit that greeted us the next day.

Our take off was to the south, and within a few minutes, the Cape of Good Hope passed beneath the right wing. Five hours passed with nothing to see but water and icebergs. The pilot pans, “Lots of water down there.” The co-pilot retorts as he has a thousand times before, “And that’s just the top of it.” Again, AGAR 94 met the tanker, call sign TURBO 95, successfully refueled, and headed south for the second support attempt. After a smooth refueling, trouble struck our mission equipment section. With recorder problems, communication difficulties and processing equipment failures, the mission equipment crew of seven enlisted and one officer had their hands full. With over 30 years experience amongst them, the crew solved every problem. By the time the Delta II was ready to launch, AGAR 94 was ready to receive it. Two additional ARIA aircraft supported the launch near the equator and the initial launch data was perfect (“nominal” in space lingo). Once out of range of the first two ARIA, the Polar vehicle, true to its name, traveled south over the pole and AGAR 94 began to receive telemetry. At this point, the NASA operators looking at the re-transmitted data at Cape Canaveral noticed an unauthorized user on the satellite channel. Increasing to full authorized power on the SATCOM transmitter, we managed to override the interloper and soon Cape Canaveral announced the clear reception of our data which continued through the rest of the mission.

In high spirits the ARIA crew returned to South Africa, departing the next day to return home. The monotony of the final, 15 hour flight, from Ascension Island to Edwards AFB was broken only by the radio talk:

MIAMI CENTER: “Just curious AGAR 94, Do you have time for a question?”

William Walkowiak