[Launch Alert] Monday Missile Launch

[Brian Webb]

	     ASTRONOMY/SPACE ALERT FOR SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
				  
			 Brian Webb, KD6NRP
		     Ventura County, California
		    E-mail: kd6nrp@earthlink.net
	      Web Site: http://home.earthlink.net/~kd6nrp
				       
				       2002 April 7 (Sunday) 09:15 PDT
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The following is a news release from Public Affairs at Vandenberg AFB

			 Minuteman III Launch
				  
VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. - An unarmed Minuteman III
intercontinental ballistic missile is scheduled for launch from North
Vandenberg Monday morning as part of the Force Development Evaluation
Program. The six-hour launch window is from 1:01 to 7:01 a.m. PST. The
purpose of the launch is to test the reliability and accuracy of the
weapon system. 

A task force from the 90th Space Wing, F.E. Warren AFB, Wyo., led by
Lt. Col. Derek Avance, and an airborne launch control team from Offutt
AFB, Neb., are launching the missile.

Capt. Dave Slye, 576th Flight Test Squadron, is directing launch
countdown team activities. Col. Robert M. Worley II, 30th Space Wing
commander, is the spacelift commander. The mission director is Lt.
Col. Michael Fortney, 576th FLTS commander.

The missile's three unarmed re-entry vehicles are expected to travel
approximately 4,800 miles in about 30 minutes, hitting pre-determined
targets at the Kwajalein Missile Range in the western chain of the
Marshall Islands. The nation's ICBMs are a key component of global
stability - a safe, secure, affordable weapon system that delivers
deterrence.