With the countdown to the launch of a United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket ticking toward a 5:05 p.m. EST liftoff, we now can reveal the the name of the super-secret payload inside the vehicle's protective nosecone.Click to enlarge the United Launch Alliance photo taken by Pat Corkery, and click again and you'll see an emblem for the "Scorpius" mission -- also know as NROL-24.
Note the big scorpion on the emblem and the Latin phase Caveo Noster Morsus -- roughly translated, "Beware of our Sting."
In mythology, Scorpius is sent by Gaia to kill Orion, the hunter who vowed to rid the earth of all wild beasts.
An alternative myth says that Apollo convinced Gaia to send Scorpius after Orion, worried that Orion was in love with his sister, Artemis; in the sky, Scorpius chases Orion around the heavens but never catches him.
Interesting.
Of course, Scorpius also is a large constellation between Libra and Sagittarius. And it's the title of the seventh novel by John Gardner featuring Ian Fleming's secret agent, James Bond.
Scorpius is a fictional character in the television science fiction series Farscape. In the series, Scorpius is a half-Sebacean, half-Scarran Peacekeeper who pursues the secrets of wormhole technology to create a wormhole weapon.
And Scorpius also is the name of an audio drama based on the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who. In it, the human race is at war with its own android creations.
Stay with us for live coverage of the launch. We'll be webcasting the United Launch Alliance broadcast here in The Flame Trench when it begins about 20 minutes before launch -- around 4:45 p.m.
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