[Launch Alert] Wednesday Minuteman Launch

[Brian Webb]

                             LAUNCH ALERT

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

				         2005 September 3 (Saturday) 18:53 PDT
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                     VANDENBERG TO LAUNCH MMIII
                     Vandenberg AFB News Release

VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. – An unarmed Minuteman III
intercontinental ballistic missile is scheduled to launch from North
Vandenberg Wednesday morning. The six-hour launch window is from 1:01
to 7:01 a.m. PST*.

The mission tests the reliability and accuracy of the weapon system.
The launch is a team effort by members of the 30th Space Wing and the
576th Flight Test Squadron here and the 91st Space Wing from Minot
AFB, N.D.  The task force from the 91th Space Wing from Minot AFB,
N.D., led by Capt. Carl Bottolfson, will launch the missile under the
direction of the 576 FLTS.  Capt. Rod Smith, 576 FLTS, is the launch
director.

The mission director is Lt. Col. Stephen Davis, 576 FLTS commander.
The spacelift commander is Col. Jack Weinstein, 30th Space Wing
commander.

Members of the 576 FLTS performed maintenance activities to include
missile emplacement and installation of unique missile tracking,
telemetry and command destruct systems to collect test data and meet
safety requirements.

The missiles’ two unarmed re-entry vehicles are expected to travel
approximately 4,200 miles in about 30 minutes, hitting pre-determined
targets at the Ronald Reagan Test Site on the Kwajalein Atoll in the
western chain of the Marshall Islands.

Designated Glory Trip 187-1, this operational test launch continues a
long history of Western Range launches used to verify, validate and
improve the capability of the nation’s ICBM force--a key component to
continued global stability.

* To eliminate any confusion, be advised that the launch is scheduled
  for Wednesday, September 7, between 1:01 to 7:01 a.m. PDT - Editor

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