Next launch will be February 18 at 0700. Public viewing at Red Rock State
Park. Expect reduced speed limits on Interstate 40. Further details in local
media (Gallup).
As before, if anyone gets a good shot with an Olympus (OM content), I would
appreciate a copy.
Gary Edwards
"Missile contrail raises curiosity in SW
WHITE SANDS MISSILE RANGE, N.M., March 2 (UPI) - A fireball seen at
daybreak in a wide area of the Southwest was the contrail of a missile
test fired in New Mexico.
Military officials say the two-stage missile - used as a target for
interceptor missiles - was fired from Fort Wingate in western New Mexico
and came down as planned seven minutes later at the White Sands Missile
Range.
White Sands spokeswoman Debbie Bingham tells United Press
International that ``ice crystals aloft were backlit by the sun,''
making the contrail of the second stage stand out.
The phenomenon sparked phone calls to police and radio stations in
Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado and Texas, said Bingham. Such launches
have triggered phone calls before, she said.
The Hera missile is used as a target in tests of interceptor missiles
- such as the Advanced Patriot - but today's firing was made to validate
the Fort Wingate site and no second firing was made.
The launch sent the missile 60 miles above the earth and 200 miles to
the southeast at the 2 million-acre White Sands testing facility near
Alamagordo, N.M.
The contrail was seen by early risers from Tucson, Ariz., to the
Denver area and El Paso, Texas, shortly after 6 a.m.
--
Copyright 1998 by United Press International."
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