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Show Thursday Morning, July 26, 1973 Section E Page One -Associated Press Wirephoto Nine-year Utah firing of Athena missiles as above is set to end at Green River Friday. Green River,, Waits Last Missile GREEN RIVER, EMERY COUNTY (AP) - The last Athena missile firing from Green River to New Mexico is scheduled Friday at 10:20 p.m., ending a nine-year program in which 140 of the high-altitude research vehicles have been launched. The Friday night missile, No. 141,- will be aimed at White Sands Missile Range, N.M., about 500 miles to the south. not all of the previous 140 made it, however. The first missile, fired before a group of military officials and civilian dignitaries, began falling apart shortly after launch and landed in Colorado. The secon missile also aborted, falling near Shiprock, N.M. ,...; . Some Exceptions Over the years, however, most of the missiles fell within White Sands, the military says. There was Uie occasional exception, like the missile that flew beyond White Sand and landed deep into Mexico, touching off a diplomatic spat. The Athena firing program now shifts to Wake Island in the Pacific where 11 missiles are to be fired in tests to start in January 1974. The missiles will be assembled and prepared in Green River and flown to Wake for launch to Kwajalein Atoll, where tests of the United States' Safeguard antiballistic missile system (ABM) are headquartered. Flight Path The flight path will take it over hundreds of miles of ocean to Kwajalein, where a military spokesman has said the "Athena payloads are to be targets for the Safeguard testing." Athena is a less expensive means of simulating the larg-and costlier intercontinen- tal ballistic missiles (ICBMs). Athena payloads re-enter the atmoshpere at a high rate of speed and duplicate some characteristics of ICBM warheads. Missiles from the Safeguard system would be fired at an enemy ICBM warhead as it re-enetered the atmosphere in an attempt to "Neutralize" it with a nuclear explosion, Programs Thrive When the Air Force opened its Athena program at Green River in 1964, plans for only 20 missiles were announced, military spokesman said. But funding continued for a new test series, and Athena and other missile programs thrived for almost a decade, with about 200 permanent employes at Green River earning an annual payroll of about $2.5 million. |
