Lunar Prospector Visibility

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When Minuteman II and III and Peacekeeper missiles are launched from
Vandenberg AFB towards the central Pacific, they fly a ballistic arc and
reach an altitude of about 500 miles. These launches are visible at least as
far away as central Arizona.

If the Lunar Prospector booster will climb nearly straight up and burn for
13 minutes, it may be visible over a vast area.

I believe that the booster is an Athena (fomerly "LMLV"). I saw an LMLV night
launch last August from Vandenberg for several minutes after liftoff. All of
the stages were very bright.

It might be worth contacting Lockheed-Martin in Denver to get more info on
trajectory, burn times, etc. If any gets any good info on this launch, please
post it to SeeSat!

Regards,

Brian Webb

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