[Launch Alert] Minuteman Launch Rescheduled

[Brian Webb]

                             LAUNCH ALERT

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

				           2005 March 23 (Wednesday) 18:41 PST
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                    MINUTEMAN LAUNCH RESCHEDULED

                    Vandenberg AFB News Release

VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. – An unarmed Minuteman III
intercontinental ballistic missile is scheduled for launch from North
Vandenberg Friday morning as part of the Force Development Evaluation
Program. The six-hour launch window is from 12:01 a.m. to 6:01 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
Capt. Brian Koch, will launch the missile under the direction of the
576th Flight Test Squadron here. Capt. David Franklin, 576th FLTS, is
the launch director.

Col. Frank Gallegos, 30th Space Wing commander, is the spacelift
commander. The mission director is Lt. Col. Anthony Baylock, 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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