I don't know if Brian was going to post about this but I am taking the
liberty of posting it so those interested and in position will know and be
able to plan. The one Oct.2, 1999 was spectacular. Hope this one goes in
twilight.
Jake Rees
Burbank, California
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ASTRONOMY/SPACE ALERT FOR SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
Brian Webb, KD6NRP
Ventura County, California
E-mail: 102670.1206@compuserve.com
Web Page: http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/rawhide_home_page
2000 July 05 (Wednesday) 20:50
PDT
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Missile Defense Test This Friday
A missile launch from Vandenberg AFB scheduled to occur between 19:01 and
23:01
PDT on July 7th might be visible across the southwestern U.S.
The U.S. Air Force will launch an MSLS missile (a modified Minuteman II) on
a
steep ballistic arc towards the west-southwest. The refurbished ICBM will
reach
a maximum altitude of about 900 miles and send an unarmed warhead and
balloon
decoy towards the central Pacific. The objects will be used as targets to
test
the proposed National Missile Defense system.
As the warhead and decoy close in, a second missile carrying a Kill Vehicle
(KV)
will be launched from the Marshall Islands. The KV will attempt to detect,
track, and collide with the warhead.
Although the launch is listed as being at 19:01 PDT, which is well before
sunset, there's a good chance that the actual launch time will be at
Vandenberg's sunset or during evening twilight.
If the missile is launched between 20:00 and 21:30 PDT, the sun will have
set
and the missile's smoke trail and exhaust plume will be backlit by the sun.
This will create an impressive sight that could be visible as far away as
southern Oregon and Idaho, southwestern Colorado, and western New Mexico.
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Launch Status
For the status of Friday's launch, consult the following sources:
Joint Pacific Area Scheduling Office
http://mocc.vafb.af.mil/launchsched.asp
This is the official Vandenberg AFB launch schedule and is usually only
updated during normal working hours Monday through Friday.
Vandenberg Launch Update Line
30th Space Wing Public Affairs Office
805-606-1857
A tape recorded message regarding the status of the next scheduled
launch.
It is NOT updated during the countdown or in the event of a hold.
Vandenberg Launch Net (VHF)
WB6OBB Repeater
147.000 MHz, +600 KHz Offset, 131.8 Hz PL
Countdown updates for ham radio operators and scanner listeners by way
of
the WB6OBB ham radio repeater west of Santa Barbara. This repeater's
signal
reaches from Thousand Oaks to San Luis Obispo. This net will be convened
at
18:30 PDT on launch day.
Vandenberg Launch Net (HF)
3,815.5 KHz LSB
For the benefit of hams in outlying areas, a second launch net will be
conducted on HF (shortwave) in the 80-meter ham band. Hams who are
within
range of the Santa Barbara repeater and can operate on 80-meters will
pass
information from the local VHF net over to this net. This net will also
start at 18:30 PDT.
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This archive was generated by hypermail 2b29 : Fri Jul 07 2000 - 00:04:08 PDT