| OCR Text |
Show Salt Lake Tribune, Tuesday, January 21, 1964 Athena Firing • A.F. Dockets Launch at Green Rivei NORTON AIR FORCE BASE, CALIF. (UPI)-The Air Force plans to launch its fihst Aethena .space vehicle from Green River, Utah, to White Sands Proving Grounds, N.M., early in February, a spokesman said Monday. TENTATIVE plans cal for the JAif. Force's ballistics systems division in conjunction with the :Atlantic Research Firm of Duarte, Calif., to launch the four-stage solid fuel vehicle 417 nautical miles over sparsely populated area. The spokesman said the Athena program is designed to provide a controlled test environment for reentry vehicles, decoy feasibility studies and development of advanced reentry systems for operational use. THE ATHENA incorporates an attitude system which enables reentry angle variations, he said. The path of the projected test will head in a southeasterly direction with the payload aimed for the White Sands Missile,: Range. | ACTUAL launch date will be announced later, the spokes-said. .epen-' dent' Athena Shot .jvfoaT3 Tlm.es-.mai Postponed Until July 10 11'June 6k Launching of the Athena missile, scheduled for Tuesday, June 9, was postponed due to bad firing weather, according to information from the Green River base. This is the second postpon-ment because of weather. The next launching date now being planned is July 10,! the information said. TUESDAY EVENING, JANUARY 14,-1964 f THE DAILY SENTINEL. GRAN^_JUNCTION. COLORADO j Rocket Test Set At Green River GREEN RIVER, Utah - A!traveled - to residents for the Loki research rocket /will be j fired from the new launch com-I plex at Green River on Jan. 24 to checkout of equipment prior to the upcoming Air Force Athena missile tests. The Loki, not related to the Athena study of the physics of Monticello; a 1,318-square-mJle re-entry, will impact in a pre-[d e t e r m i n e d area south of iMoab. About 30 residents of 1 this area will evacuate their i homes for the Loki firing in ! accordance with contracts with ;the government. The evacua-j'tion period on Jan. 24 will be 'from 6 a.m. till 6 p.m. i Under terms of the contracts [worked out with the residents j of the three evacuation tracts involved in the Athena firings, the government pays a per diem rate - based on the number of people in each family land the distance that must be times they are away from their homes, usually about 12 hours at a time. ,; ; The three Athena evacuatfe^ tracts are: The 424-square-mflfe i Moab area west of U.S. 160 bfe-j tween Lal Sal Junction icios a 4 Tour Missile Facilities Soeit Representatives from the Green River Missile Base will accompany the county road foreman and County Commissioners. Thursday or/ a tour over the Sand Flat road to the missile tracking site on North Wilson Mesa, with a view to checking feasibility of the route as a winter access to the tracking station. At the present time the Missile officials and workers travel through the Castleton route to arrive at the station; however, snow and mud conditions which prevail durnig winter and spring months make the road ftnpassable, they state, during a portion of the year. They have requested the Grand County Commissioners to construct a winter route through the area. No decision will be made until after Thursday's tour, Commissioner Mars Pope stated today. area with a population of approximately 750 near Data,. N. M.; and a. tract comprised of two areas adjacent to the eastern and western boundaries of the range proper, totaling 988 square miles and with a population of about 25. > The Athena vehicles, whieh will impact at intercontinental ballistic missile speeds on White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico, will be firefl by the Air Force Ballistic Systems Division of Norton Air Force Base, Calif. Instrument ation on the White Sands ran|js will perform the analysis of the re-entering payloads. , Misaiies ami Rockets 17 Feb 64 Athena Test Program Halted Following failure of the first Athena test vehicle, the Air Force has ordered a halt to the program until the difficulties are isolated and corrected. The 50-ft, 15,750-lb. Athena strayed off-course in an overland firing from Green River, Utah, to White Sands Missile Range, N.M. The vehicle landed some 50-75 miles . off course, impacting 20 miles southeast of Durango, Colo. Booster for the Air Force's ABRES (Advanced Ballistic Reentry Systems) program, Athena is a four-stage missile. In this test it carried a scaled version of the Mark 6 re-entry vehicle. Failure appeared to be in the guidance package which, following second stage ignition, had falsely oriented the missile toward White Sands. Investigations are being conducted, however, to determine precisely what went .wrong- .. |
