Lloyd keeps sending me advance notice of West Coast missile launches from Vandenberg and I keep forgetting to blog them. Heads up, as it were:
Hi All:
Be advised that a modified Minuteman II missile will be launched from Vandenberg AFB on California’s central coast several hours from now.
The vehicle is scheduled to leave northwest Vandenberg on Wednesday morning, December 11 at 00:01 PST (right after midnight), the start of a four-hour launch window. This translates to DEC 11 08:01 to 12:01 UTC.
Following launch, the vehicle will fly a ballistic trajectory and send an unarmed warhead and decoys to the central Pacific as part of a missile defense test. Several minutes later, an interceptor launched from the Marshall Islands will attempt to kill the warhead.
The Minuteman launch should be visible at least as far away as Phoenix, Arizona; Saint George, Utah; and Reno, Nevada. Look for a bright orange “star” in the direction of Vandenberg. If you have binoculars or an astronomical telescope, you might want to use it to view the launch (the view could be impressive).
If you see anything tonight, let me know.
Regards,
Brian Webb