rhib@mhuxm.UUCP (irving) (08/31/84)
According to press reports of a few months ago, all launches at Vandenberg AFB will be off-limits to the public due to the classified nature of most payloads originating from there, as well as the general security needed at this air base. If recent press about VAFB construction deficiencies is correct, I wonder whether NASA will have to place KSC off-limits for some launches which could be rescheduled there from VAFB.
smb@ulysses.UUCP (Steven Bellovin) (09/01/84)
I expect that there will also be non-classified launches at Vandenburg, for any payload that needs to be in a polar orbit. There are already weather satellites and the like in such orbits.
henry@utzoo.UUCP (Henry Spencer) (09/09/84)
I'm told that, although there will be plenty of opportunity to see
Vandenberg launches from a considerable distance, *nobody* (barring
launch crews) gets to see them close up. The reason has nothing to
do with security -- it's a problem of geography. The Shuttle launch
pad has high hills on all sides except the ocean side. You can't
watch from the ocean, because that's where debris would fall in a
major just-after-launch accident. You can't watch from the hills,
because they're too close in the event of a major explosion. And
once you move back to a safe distance, the hills are in the way and
you can't *see* the pad any more.
--
Henry Spencer @ U of Toronto Zoology
{allegra,ihnp4,linus,decvax}!utzoo!henry