[Launch Alert] Thursday Missile Launch

Tue, 17 Sep 2002 18:41:34 -0700

 	     ASTRONOMY/SPACE ALERT FOR SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA

 			      Brian Webb, KD6NRP
 		        Ventura County, California
 		       E-mail: [email protected]
 	       Web Site: http://home.earthlink.net/~kd6nrp

 				         2002 September 17 (Tuesday) 18:35 PDT
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                        THURSDAY MISSILE LAUNCH

A Minuteman III ICBM is scheduled for launch this Thursday evening
from Vandenberg AFB. The vehicle will probably leave its silo at 18:01
PDT, the start of a 6-hour launch window.

Because Thursday's launch will occur before sunset, the event will
probably not be visible beyond a 100 mile radius from the silo.

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 The following is an Air Force news release about Thursday's launch.

                         MINUTEMAN III LAUNCH

VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. - An unarmed Minuteman III
intercontinental ballistic missile is scheduled for launch from North
Vandenberg Thursday evening as part of the Force Development
Evaluation Program. The six-hour launch window is from 6:01 p.m. to
12:01 a.m. PST. The purpose of the launch is to verify the continued
reliability and accuracy of the Minuteman III ICBM. 

A task force from the 341st Space Wing, Malmstrom AFB, Mont., led by
Lt. Col. Ronald Samic, will launch the missile under the direction of
the 576th Flight Test Squadron here. Capt. Michael Calvaresi, 576th
FLTS, is the launch director.

Col. Wayne Louis, 30th Space Wing vice commander, is the spacelift
commander. The mission director is Lt. Col. Michael Fortney, 576th
FLTS commander. Members of the 576th FLTS installed tracking,
telemetry and command destruct systems on the missile to collect data
and meet safety requirements.

The missile's two unarmed re-entry vehicles are expected to travel
approximately 4,200 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 and affordable weapon system that delivers
deterrence.