[Launch Alert] Wednesday Minuteman Launch

Mon Sep 13 22:27:18 EDT 2004

                            LAUNCH ALERT

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

				          2004 September 13 (Monday) 19:20 PDT
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                     MINUTEMAN LAUNCH SCHEDULED

VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. – An unarmed Minuteman III
intercontinental ballistic missile is scheduled for launch from North
Vandenberg Wednesday morning [September 15] as part of the Force
Development Evaluation Program. The six-hour launch window is from
1:01 to 7:01 a.m. The purpose of the launch is to verify the continued
reliability and accuracy of the Minuteman III ICBM force.

Operations crewmembers from the 341st Space Wing, Malmstrom Air Force
Base, Mt., led by Capt Bernie Isenberg, will launch the missile under
the direction of the 576th Flight Test Squadron here. Capt Jerry
Buchanan, 576th FLTS, is the launch director.

Col Frank Gallegos, 30th Space Wing Commander, is the spacelift
commander. The mission director is Lt Col Don Hale, 576th FLTS
Operations Officer. 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 three unarmed re-entry vehicles are 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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                     LAUNCH VIEWING INFORMATION

Information on viewing Vandenberg AFB missile launches is posted at:

     http://www.spacearchive.info/vafbview.htm

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