Posted on 02/22/2016 12:14:13 PM PST by Ernest_at_the_Beach
A Minuteman 3 missile was test-launched from Vandenberg Air Force Base northwest of Los Angeles Saturday at 11.34pm PST
(Excerpt) Read more at dailymail.co.uk ...
The Vandenberg launch site was specifically chosen to allow a “south-facing” launch path out over the Pacific: This lets those launch pads launch military and science satellite that cross very near over the pole, and also military test launches out towards the Kwalegilen and Hawaiian radar ranges (to test accuracy of the warhead capsule) and the test anti-missile launch sites.
The Minuteman 3 is a a960s design. It is time to upgrade our nuclear arsenal.
Abd how far is North Korea from Vandenberg....I wonder?
Hush
If they spend money on a new ICBM some freeloaders might have to give up some FREE STUFF.
I know its a long way to Tipperary..
Not sure from Pyongyang to SF.. Or LA.
Its gonna be a Summer Of Love for sure..
In other words, the US doesn’t like launching over habitable land. PR isn’t very good if you drop a booster on someone or if a rocket blows up over land. The Russians and the Chinese don’t have such qualms.
...and crony capitalists...
About 5500 miles, assuming Google earth calculates great circle distances.
When the Germans began actually launching IRBM’s (the V-2) they lost 2/3 to 3/4 of the rockets at low altitude, off course, immediate engine destruction.
By the time we began launching our own rockets and engines (Redstone, Vanguard, Atlas, Titan, Jupiter, Explorer, Atlas-Centaur, and the hundreds of sounding rockets from Wallops Island, Lake Superior, Alaska, etc.) the loss rate got down to 1/5 to 1/3 - after a few years of 2/3 to 3/4 losses. Yeah - NASA and the US government was very reluctant to shoot many large rockets from anywhere but the huge ranges out west: Edwards, Nevada, and El Paso/White Sands.
The comparative loss rate of NASA’s Gemini-Titan and Saturn I/II/IIB and Saturn 5 were unheard of by anybody worldwide.
Many years ago SAC actually set up a test launch of a Minuteman from an operational Launch Facility, LF, but it failed.
The safety requirements for isolating the test LF and the test Launch Control Centers made it impossible for the missile to properly receive the commands needed to launch while ensuring none of the other 49 missiles saw the commands.
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