Minuteman III launch from Vandenberg AFB, August 25, 2005

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A Minuteman III missile was launched on a suborbital trajectory toward Kwajalein Atoll from Vandenberg Air Force Base at 1:01 A.M. on Thursday, August 25, 2005.

The Air Force periodically launches Peacekeeper and Minuteman missiles to demonstrate that they still work. They select a missile at random and pull it out of its silo. They bring the missile and a regular missile crew to VAFB. The crew launches the missile toward the Reagan Test Site at Kwajalien.

Minuteman III launch, August 25, 2005 This 204.2-second time exposure was taken with a Nikon D70 digital camera set to an effective film speed of ISO 200 with the 18mm lens aperture set to f3.5. It appeared in the August 26 edition of the Goleta Valley Voice newspaper.

Minuteman III launch, August 25, 2005 Following the separation of the first stage, it blinked as it tumbled end over end in a ballistic trajectary below the ascending upper stages.

Minuteman III launch, August 25, 2005 The arching trajectory of the Minuteman III carried it in front of the constellations Corona Borealis and Hercules.

Previous launches from Vandenberg AFB More Vandenberg AFB launch photography.

Link to the Federation of American Scientists' Minuteman missile page.

Link to the Federation of American Scientists' National Missile Defense page.

Link to the Ballistic Missile Defense Organization (BMDO) National Missile Defense (NMD) page.

Link to the Strategic Air Command's Minuteman Missile page.

The home page of the 30th Space Wing

Brian Webb's Space Archive Page provides launch schedule and ham radio information.

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