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Air Force News Service

03/14/03

Vandenberg prepares for last Atlas II launch
By 2nd Lt. Jennifer Whitaker, 30th Space Wing Public Affairs

VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. (AFPN) -- The last Atlas
IIAS rocket scheduled to be launched arrived here March 12.
A C-5 Galaxy ferried the historic booster and its Centaur
upper stage from Denver, landing at the airfield here
around 10:30 a.m. 

Lt. Col. Clinton Crosier, 2nd Space Launch Squadron
commander, said the booster and upper stage would spend a
week at a processing facility before being moved to Space
Launch Complex-3 for stacking. The Atlas is slated to
launch June 16. 

Crosier said he recognizes the significance of this launch. 

"The Atlas was one of the first (intercontinental
ballistic missiles)," Crosier said. "John Glenn rode
an Atlas into orbit in the first (U.S.) manned space
program. This launch closes out the Atlas program for
Vandenberg." 

Capt. Ram Riojas, from the 2nd SLS, leads a 400-member
team in this historic launch. 

"The excitement will just grow now that the Atlas is
actually here," Riojas said. "We have many people working
long hours to prepare this rocket for launch." 

He added that since the booster's inception at Vandenberg,
people have seen about 283 Atlas launches here. 

There are eight variants of the Atlas booster, and the
Atlas V will continue to be used at Cape Canaveral Air
Force Station, Fla., Riojas said. 

In 1988, the Air Force contracted General Dynamics, now
Lockheed-Martin, to build the Atlas II booster for the
primary mission of launching Defense Satellite
Communications System payloads and commercial satellites.
This Atlas carries a classified payload to be used by
the National Reconnaissance Office for national security. 

"We are playing a direct role in ensuring the freedoms
and liberties of the United States," Crosier said. "I
tell people every day not to lose sight of how important
this mission is for us because it does have national
security implications." 

The impressive size of this projectile belies its weak
outer skin. 

"The rocket is all stainless steel about the thickness
of a dime," Riojas said. "We have to keep it pressurized
with an inert gas like nitrogen. Otherwise, it would
just collapse on itself." 

He added that the booster is kept light to maximize the
size of payload the Atlas IIAS can carry. 

Crosier said the final Atlas launch from Vandenberg is
truly historic, as the Atlas program has served the Air
Force well over the years. 

"As we fly this last one out, it really is kind of
bittersweet," he said.

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