[Launch Alert] Vandenberg AFB to Launch Missile

Sun Sep 21 21:57:05 EDT 2008

                             LAUNCH ALERT

                              Brian Webb
                     Ventura County, California
                         kd6nrp at earthlink.net
                     http://www.spacearchive.info

                              2008 September 21 (Sunday) 18:54 PDT
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         VAFB TO LAUNCH MISSILE IN SUPPORT OF MDA EXPERIMENT
                     Vandenberg AFB News Release

VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. – Team Vandenberg is scheduled to
launch a modified Minuteman missile to support the Near Field Infrared
Experiment (NFIRE) boost phase missile defense data collection effort
on Sept. 23, with a launch window from approximately 11:30 p.m. to
12:30 a.m.

The launch is set to occur after having been delayed so that program
officials could continue to optimize data collection equipment on
board the orbiting NFIRE satellite. Program officials want to be very
precise in preparing for the missile launch due to the fact that the
overall objective is to collect as much data as possible from the
boosting missile.

The primary mission of the NFIRE satellite is to collect high and low
resolution images of a boosting rocket to improve understanding of
missile exhaust "plume" observations and plume-to-rocket body
discrimination during three plume signature types: targets of
opportunity, dedicated missile fly-bys, and ground observations.

The collected data will be used in the development effort for boost
phase missile defense technology, which will help to develop missile
defense systems capable of shooting down a hostile ballistic missile
within the first few minutes after it is launched.

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                            LAUNCH NOTES

If my recollection is correct, the satellite that will observe the
September 23 launch from Vandenberg AFB is in a low earth orbit. This
means that it would probably only be above the horizon and able to
see the launch for several minutes at best. This means that the
announced 11:30 p.m. to 12:30 a.m. launch window may better be
described as the launch period - a large time block of time that
contains the much shorter launch window.

Weather permitiing, this launch should be visible as far away as San
Francisco, Reno, and San Diego. For information on viewing Vandenberg
rocket ans missile launches, go to:

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

Since the launch is part of a military experiment, the countdown will
probably not be available to the public.

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