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Show Martin Marietta NEWS January 25, 1974 Two Pershings, Are Good Ones Despite Cold By Paul C. Rapp It can be cold in the Utah desert at 3:15 on a December morning. The thermometer says 20 degrees, but the open plain and a dry wind combine to suggest a colder reading. You have just been aroused from broken sleep at a motel in Green River and driven four or five miles into the desert to Geyser firing point. A three-quarter moon helps light the prairie and reveals a platoon or more of parka-clad soldiers and a half dozen civilians cluttered outside a mobile van. All are pacing or stamping their feet against the chill, then pause when a public address system comes to life from somewhere atop the van. "On my mark we will pick up the count at T minus ten minutes at one dash one," it announces with authority. "Mark!" Using reflected light from the van, a spectator checks his watch, then turns his attention to the south where floodlights outline four Pershing 1-A erector-launchers with missiles in the horizontal mode. Troops can be seen scurrying around one of the launchers and you know it must be launch point one dash one from where a missile is soon to be fired. You estimate the distance to be about a half mile from your position. The Pershing veterans among you suggest you move a few feet to improve your vantage point, and even as you shift the PA speaker is saying: The 1973 fall series of Pershing launches came to a close December 6 with two spectacular launches during the early morning darkness. The launches, from Green River, Utah, to White Sands Missile Range, N.M., were conducted by troops of the Seventh U.S. Army brought to the United States from Europe for the firing operations. To date, a total of 279 Pershings have been launched since the first 35-foot missile roared into the skies over Cape Canaveral, in 1960. "We are now at T minus two and holding. . . . ." The old hands explain that the hold is primarily a safety factor. For example, it might be necessary to conduct a "sweep" of U.S. Highway 70 in New Mexico nearly 400 miles away to assure no motorists are parked or stranded. This is normally done between Las Cruces and Alamogordo where the highway abuts the impact area of White Sands Missile Range. You are reminded that the flight path of a Pershing missile launched at Geyser Point includes the Four Corners area where Utah, New Mexico, Arizona and Colorado touch. The reliable Pershing is the first such missile to be fired over areas of the United States that are even lightly populated. Also included in the cleared zone is a nearby area of Utah known as Dead Horse Point. You remember having visited there only a few hours before to gaze over sheer, vertical cliffs at the brownish, ice-spotted,. Colorado River e. PERSHING MISSILES stand erect on mobile launchers to form striking silhouettes against early dawn in Utah desert. . . . U.S. Army jjjioto frightening, but breathtaking, and you observe that its beauty parallels that of Grand Canyon. All that area needs is promotion and it could be.. . "Area clear," interrupts the range officer on the PA. Another voice directs: "Switch to remote." "We are at T minus two minutes and counting," announces the speaker while the coarse rasp of a klaxon pierces the night from the direction of the launch point. The troops now scurry from the launch area and disappear into the darkness to a safety area. You check the sweep-second hand on your watch and estimate 30 seconds to launch time, just as the voice announces "range green," followed almost immediately by "press the fire Unexpectedly, at about T minus 15 seconds, the erector-launcher springs alive and the 35-foot missile stands upright. You watch as the erector cradle drops away, leaving the missile pointed into the cold, dark sky. "Five, four, three, two, one, zero," drones the speaker as you watch the umbilical pop away from the missile. "Mast eject," announces, the PA, followed by "Alpha, bravo, charlie, delta, echo, fox trot, golf, ho ... we have ignition!" The soldiers and civilians unconsciously cheer as the desert takes on the look of near daylight and the roar of a controlled explosion leaps across the sagebrush to your position. Slowly the missile lifts, then hangs the roar of the first-stage engine is deafening as the missile accelerates. It appears to be almost overhead, trailing its white-hot tail of fire. Gradually the artificial light fades as the missile climbs to the southeast. The fire tail disappears, then, seconds later, the second stage ignites-but by now too far away to be felt on the ground. You watch as residual propellant burns in short spurts to mark the drift back to earth of the first stage motor destined to land in the Dead Horse area, miles away. Meanwhile, the Pershing missile has become just another star as it enters its ballistic pattern for impact on target at White Sands Missile range. 1 "Mark one minute," directs the j PA as the spectator troops begin to board nearby trucks to move to the firing point to take their turn at the next launch, scheduled for 3:45 a.m. "Mark two minutes, forty seconds," it continues. You realize the cold has grown more intense. "Mark five minutes, ten seconds," intones the faceless voice, and eventually announces "Impact. We have a good one!" You look across the desert to the firing point and can see troops again moving around another launcher. "On my mark we will pick up the count at T minus ten minutes at two dash one," says the voice. "Mark!" Again, you check your watch, then hunch your shoulders against the cold. You hope for-and soon get- another "good one." |