11,141
edits
The Facts on the Cloud: Difference between revisions
→The cloud
| (One intermediate revision by the same user not shown) | |||
| Line 13: | Line 13: | ||
==The cloud== | ==The cloud== | ||
# | #At 1:02 AM on the morning of February 28, 1963, an Atlas rocket, codenamed "Pitch Pine", was launched from Vandenburg Air Force Base in California. | ||
#A Nike-Zeus missile was launched a short time later which intercepted the Atlas rocket. | |||
#Later that same day, a thrust assisted Thor rocket was launched from pad 75-3-5 at Vandenburg Air Force Base in California carrying a Keyhole 4 military surveillance satellite. | |||
#The rocket started to veer off course and was intentionally destroyed at an altitude of 44 kilometers (144,000 feet) at 1:52 pm. | #The rocket started to veer off course and was intentionally destroyed at an altitude of 44 kilometers (144,000 feet) at 1:52 pm. | ||
#The "cloud" appeared around sunset on February 28, 1963 and remained sunlit for 28 minutes after sunset. | #The "cloud" appeared around sunset on February 28, 1963 and remained sunlit for 28 minutes after sunset. | ||
#The "cloud" appeared near Flagstaff, AZ (referred to as the "Flagstaff Cloud" in this article). | #The "cloud" appeared near Flagstaff, AZ (referred to as the "Flagstaff Cloud" in this article). | ||
#The height of the Flagstaff Cloud was estimated to be approximately 43 kilometers (141,000 feet). | #The height of the Flagstaff Cloud was estimated to be approximately 43 kilometers (141,000 feet). | ||
#A second cloud was reported off to the northwest of the main cloud, with a shape very much like that of the main cloud, but only about a quarter as large. The correctness of these reports was established from photographic evidence. | |||
#No one recorded the wind speed on the day of the Thor explosion Vandenburg but the wind speed recorded by scientists at other times, according to Dr. Macdonald, was "tantalizingly close" to the required wind speed to get the Flagstaff Cloud from California to Flagstaff by sunset. | #No one recorded the wind speed on the day of the Thor explosion Vandenburg but the wind speed recorded by scientists at other times, according to Dr. Macdonald, was "tantalizingly close" to the required wind speed to get the Flagstaff Cloud from California to Flagstaff by sunset. | ||