HETE at Vandenburg AFB (take two)

We went out just after Labor Day (what is it with this mission and holidays?) to deliver HETE to Orbital's Vehicle Assembly Building at VAFB, where the rocket's been sitting for the better part of the last year.

We shipped FedEx again, and got wonderful handling. HETE's in the big red box. (Bigger)

Your's truly got to operate the crane again. Here we moved HETE (in the bag) to the workstand. (Bigger)

This is my favorite shot from the Mate procedure. The big cone is the adaptor between HETE and the rocket, but it looks like a big rocket nozzle, doesn't it? (Bigger)

Here's HETE on the rocket *AGAIN*. (Bigger)

Here's the fire as seen from the VAB. (Bigger)