Wind postpones spaceport launch

(BURNS FLAT, Okla.) - Strong winds Saturday morning forced the postponement of the first launch of a spacecraft in Oklahoma. <br><br>A California company had planned to use 10 large balloons to lift the

Saturday, March 23rd 2002, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

(BURNS FLAT, Okla.) - Strong winds Saturday morning forced the postponement of the first launch of a spacecraft in Oklahoma.

A California company had planned to use 10 large balloons to lift the spider-like space platform into the sky from the site of the soon-to-be Oklahoma Spaceport. But the windy conditions forced the postponement until Sunday morning.

The platform will carry a 60-pound payload that includes a camera to photograph the Earth's curve at 100,000 feet and up to three instruments that gather weather data such as wind speed and humidity.

Also aboard will be hundreds of paper airplanes made by junior high students from more than 40 schools across the state. Upper-level winds could carry the planes as far away as the East Coast.

The launch is being financed by $32,000 from a federal education grant and comes almost three years after Oklahoma legislators created the state's space agency. Retired Air Force Maj. Gen. Jay Edwards is its executive director.