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Show Program Takes Precision Teamwork "... six, five, four, three two, one, zero. . . " "Missile away.!" The place is east of Green River, in Grand County, Utah Here is located the northern terminus of White Sands Missile Range, the Utah Launch :Comiplex. Voicing the countdown for the sleek Athena launchjngs is Chief of Launch Operations Joe iGelo or an alternate. Gelo . works for the Atlantic Research Corporation, the prime contractor for the Air Farce's Athena program. Before a launch Gelo's crew has performed the final assembly of the multi-stage Athena missile and with the cooperation of -range instrumentation has done the prepunch checkouts, normally a five-day task. ' Everything that the "bird" is to1 do in the air, it must first do for the missile experts on the ground. Every "bird" goes through a simulated flight before the final countdown and is required to perform all steps of the in-flight operation. Lift Off When a missile lifts there is a great deal of tenseness on the part of personnsl who have spent hours, days and weeks preparing for a successful flight. During this time a vast amount of communication, both automatic and voluntary, is underway and is monitored by communication and instrumentation networks located at Green River and tied in with similar communication panels at White Sands Missile Range. During that very first movement of the , missile's lift off, an extremely-precise switch is thrown and all personnel and networks are' geared for action from that moment on. The Command Network flashes the appropriate signals to the range control facilities in tihe computer building at White Sands, some 470 miles to the southeast. The missile is launched ac-ccrdng to a computer-analyzed direction determined by the pre-launeh Loki (a small ten-foot missile fired vertically to measure wind direction and strength). There are also 100-foot towers at each launch pad as well as a 500 foot tower nearby equipped to measure the wind. As the Athena rises from its launching rail two small missiles, called Recruits, fire to provide additional initial thrract. The Recruits provide enough first motion to prevent dipping of the Athena The Recruits burn for about 40 seconds. . „ Missil® Spfris . ....'. Also when the missile leaves the rail small motors mounted on the fins are ignited and the missile begins spinning at about three revolutions per second. The spinning motion is much like thhat of a rifle bullet, caused to spin to create a steadier flight. About 40 seconds after lift off the first stage of the mul-ti -stage Athena ceases firing and falls. Signals transmitted directly to computers by radar provide the infor mation as to where the first stage will hit the ground and recovery teams set out at the most logical convenience to get the pieces. The first stage impact area for the high angle shots (around 40 degrees reentry) is located south of Mo-ab in the region designated by the BLM as the Cannon Rims Recreation Area. This area is posted prior io launching and people are warned to remain outside of the boundaries. If persons come across aay of the first stage remains they are warned to> stay away from them due to dangers of ;possMe unburned solid propellent and jagged edges of the equipment. The missile is now enroute to White Sands Missils Range. On the ground highly complicated procedures are being followed by the experts from within the buildings provided for the pucpose at the Green River base. Radar Signals There's the radar crew whose instruments are sending out signals to the fast moving missile and receiving information back all instantaneously coordinated by computer. In one of the prefabricated buildings at Green River are several plotting boards. The crew is busy at work during the almost eight minutes keeping exact track of the missile as it speeds to its destination. Then there's tihe telemetry system which consists of a series of transmitters on board the missile itself. The signals reaching the men at Green River provide a number of details such, as the tailpipe temperature or the instant the 1st stage separates. These items are all recorded on tape at the tele1-rnetiry station in the blockhouse and can be played back for detailed analysis later on. Another department at the Utah Launch Complex monitors all frequencies of signals in the atmosphere and keeps tabs: on whatever type of signals may interfere with the performance of theh missile while in flighht. This is one of'the two* FPS16 radar receiving units which tracks a launched missile from Green River to White Sands. moao, uran Times-Independent Thursday, December, 5 1968 |