[Launch Alert] Wednesday Launch

[Brian Webb]

                            LAUNCH ALERT

			          Brian Webb
		         Ventura County, California
		        E-mail: kd6nrp@earthlink.net
	          Web Site: http://www.spacearchive.info


				              2004 March 22 (Monday) 17:04 PST
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                        MINUTEMAN III LAUNCH
                     Vandenberg AFB News Release

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

Missile Combat Crews from the 90th Space Wing at F.E. Warren AFB,
Wyo., led by Capt. Matt Guenther, will launch the missile under the
direction of the 576th Flight Test Squadron here. Capt. William
Hojnowski, 576th FLTS, is the launch director.

Col. Frank Gallegos, 30th Space Wing commander, is the spacelift
commander. The mission director is Lt. Col. Anthony Blaylock, 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 single unarmed re-entry vehicle is expected to travel
approximately 4,200 miles in about 30 minutes, hitting a
pre-determined target 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.

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                            EDITOR'S NOTE

This launch will probably occur at, or shortly after, one minute past
midnight on Tuesday night-Wednesday morning. Weather permitting, it
should be visible for hundreds of miles - perhaps as far as western
Nevada, Arizona, and southwest Utah. To see this launch in neighboring
states, you will need a dark location away from city lights and
optical assistance such as binoculars. You will also need to be
looking in the right direction (consult a map).

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		                  GLOSSARY

AFSPC  Air Force Space Command

FLTS   Flight Test Squadron

ICBM   Intercontinental ballistic missile