While the last Canaveral Titan mission (B-30) is on hold, it is apparently going to happen this week.
Since people are still hunting for information - my counter program tells me so) I thought I'd toss up some older but still curious stuff.
For example, this news story (datelined 08 Apr 05 - two days into the crisis) ledes with the oil companies being asked to evacuate by the rigs by government. An unidentified spokesperson for ExxonMobil" says that the rig kept producing as usual at that point, but that the company would comply with any order to evacuate.
Odd thing is that the Canada Newfoundland Offshore Petroleum Board release, issued on 07 Apr 05, says something a little bit different."The production operators HMDC and Petro-Canada informed the board of their plans to remove personnel, offload crude inventory and shut-in production over the weekend as a precautionary measure as debris from a rocket launch may fall within 15 nautical miles of the Hibernia platform. The drilling rig GSF Grand Banks will be towed out of the potential hazard zone."
The crisis story was picked up with varying degrees of accuracy by most of the major news services including Reuters and United Press International. Here's a UPI story, for example, that made the Washington Times. Here's one that made Agence France Press, albeit in English. Here's a Reuters one that was posted to DefenseNews.com.
Someone should find a decent-sized boat and sell tickets to spend the launch and impact time bobbing around near the platforms, just in case. At the very least there might be a decent light show as the sustainer falls into the ocean - likely up to 100 nautical miles away from the oilfields.
