European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - April 30, 1968, Darmstadt, Hesse Stripes Daviv Magazine Ace by Ralph Dighton a staff writer space spectaculars of breath Tak s ing design and Beauty arc occasional i. Delighting and awing residents Ofil turn and Western Sta Tes % is the Broad Canvas of the morning evening sky Miles Long plumes of Astel smoke appear As if by magic egging looping and Spirat Fng in psychedelic splendor. Occasionally there Are bursts of Green Jur Blue Light that dazzle bidders so hundreds of mites from rocket centers at Vandenberg afr be .calif., and at gape Ken Tedy Bla. Patrons at drive in movie Are treated to double feature As Atlas missile smears of Art Over West coast Skyline. Missile men Call these displays of spatial fireworks Twilight the King size pyrotechnics come a Dawn or dusk when the Sim is below the horizon and in the right position forts rays to be Bent earthward by particles in the exhaust of a just launched missile or space Booster. Rockets fired from Vandenberg on the Central California coast have created exhaust trails seen As far North As Ore gon and As far East As Utah. Some Cape Kennedy rockets have been spotted from Points along the entire lower East coast. Other spectaculars have Bee near the Wallops Island station in Vir Ginia. The weird geometry of the Zigzag trails is due to High Speed Cross winds As the 17,500 mile an hour rocket Streak through the thin air at the Edge of space. Up there40 Miles or higher air molecules Are so scattered they can be blown at speeds of 300 . Without bumping into each other and slowing Down. These thin shifting winds twist and twirl the exhaust smoke into formation incredible to those unfamiliar with the whims of upper atmosphere pastel colors of the smoke trails and the occasional prismatic flares of Rainbow hues Are credited to particles of metals and Frozen vapor in the gases ejected As the rocket s fuel Burns. In the near vacuum at 200,000 fee these hot gases expand swiftly Over great distances at rates impossible in w. Shifting Ivins to twist and Tiv irl the exhaust smoke in formations the lower atmosphere. They also fluoresce the process which yields the Many colors of Neon lights on a giant scale producing oohs and has from on lookers on the brighter displays apparently Are generated by minuteman missiles which have a significant amount of metallic particles in their solid direction of the launch missiles from Here usually Are fired West to Ward a target area near Kwajalein is land and satellites Are aimed South int Polar orbit determines the length of the exhaust Trail visible in the Angle of the viewer also plays a role. Observers looking up the Tail pipe of a rocket fired West Are Likely to see a brighter but smaller Cloud than those who watch the same launch from Points North or South of the base. He Mac my flu. a ignition smoke ring leads Way a incredible 99 minuteman puffs from launch site. N air Force spokesman said the Maneule ability of recently developed missiles is not responsible for the wild zigzagging apparent in some exhaust do make adjustments in their course he says but these Are not Sharp enough to cause the crazy patterns sometimes seen in the sky. Our scientists Tell us the truly spectacular patterns Are caused by air Force has documented eight Twilight Phenomena at Vandenberg dec. 18, 1962, scout space Booster March 2, 1965, minuteman 1 dec. 15,1965, minuteman 2 Jan. 17, 1967, Atlas of sept. 21, 1967, minuteman 1 sept.26, 1967, minuteman 1 dec. 5, 1967, scout space Booster and dec. 21, 1967,minuteman 1. The spokesman said there May have been earlier displays missile launch Ings started Here in 1958but no record were kept. Prior to 1962, firings generally were in the air Force scientists know in and Vance that a certain launch is Likely to produce space fireworks we know that this is possible if the launch Falls Between certain hours in Clear weather he said but i can As sure you we Are not going to advertise them. Most of our launch times Are secret until the Bird goes Nasa Wallops Island rocket pierces Virginia sky like roman Candle. Tuesday april 30, 1968 the stars and stripes Page 11
