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Show Covering about 60 seconds, this sequence takes the Athena missile from a moment after launch, left, to the instant of destruction. Photos by Jack ructe THE DAILY SENTINEL, "GRAND JUNCTION, COLORADO 29 May 6k* 'Tried By JACK KISLING Sentinel Staff Writer GREEN RIVER, Utah-The Athena missile that was de-structed seconds after it blasted away from its launch pad Thursday may have failed because it tried too hard, an Air Force observer said. The blast-ofi came at 5:03 p.m., delayed more than two hours because of strong winds aloft. The 50-foot-long bird streaked into a cloudless sky, jj, varying winds caught them in successfully ignited its second their ascent, faintly The destruct sent the powerless second stage crashing to earth about 20 miles northwest of Shiprock, N. M. The first stage landed in its dropout area a few miles south of Green River. High winds that delayed the shot from its 2:15 p.m. scheduled firing continued to buffet ground observers until the time of the'launch. Weather balloons released before the lunch veer- stage, then, tracing a corkscrew-shaped vapor trail, was destroyed by the range safety officer 63 seconds after I trigger time. The destruct button was pushed by Army Maj. Nathan Wagner. "The missile," the official statement said, "appeared td be \ progressing ''path." out of its flight ,: Lt.-Gol. James Titsworth, Air Force information officer at the observation ridge a mile from the launch pad, said the missile is" capable of steering itself to compensate for varying wind qffects that it'-encounters in flight, and speculated that it may have gotten itself off course by overcompensating for the wind forces. ....... Industry observers from Atlantic Research Corp., Thiacol Corp., and Hercules Powder Co. sent up a cheer as the Athena second stage ignited and the spent first stage arced away from the flight path. Then there was a .puff of smoke high' overhead.. "What happened?" someone asiced. The answer came quickly from the blockhouse loudspeaker. "Destruct." Titsworth said later that the exact reason for the destruction will not be known until the mis-1 sile's remains are found and its recorded data analyzed. The first Athena firing at Green River was on Feb. 10. That missile, aimed for White Sands Missile Range in-New-Mexico, went astray and.crashed south of Durango. A second date the bird fail a 3%-hour countdown. Thursday's shot got off the pad two hours and 48 minutes late. Disappointment showed among the missile men. Officials of ARC, the firm that assembles the rocket, had no comment on the second in-flight failure. ' The experimental firing series is to be a 76-shot sequence in iwhich the Athena is to simulate A re-entry conditions of an intercontinental ballistic missile. The ARC-built missiles are fired by the Air Force from the Green' Rivef base. The Thursday failure brought gloomy speculation from one of the Green River women who operated a lemonade stand on the observation ridge. "If -th0 Russians were coming," she asked, "would we have to wait for the wind to stop blowing t0 do something about it?" Tuesday, June .4 was the baefe up date assigned for Thursday's flight, but there has been nQ official word that there will bt another firing then. postponed until May 19. On that |