It was an interesting launch of the ICON spacecraft the week of October 9th, here at the Space Sciences Lab. During a “normal” launch, there are many things that all need to line up, such as, Observatory (ICON), Rocket (Pegasus), Plane (Stargazer L-1011), Eastern Test Range (Tracking), Weather, and of course our Mission Operations Center (MOC). Here are 2 different articles on some of the challenges that came up and that were solved here to keep the launch on track. This one from the The Mercury News How PG&E’s power shutdown threatened a NASA mission and This one from Wired magazine UC Berkeley Was About to Launch a Satellite. Then PG&E Said It Was Cutting Power