Encyclopedia
Vandenberg Air Force Base is a United States military installation with a spaceport, in
Santa Barbara County,
California,
United States. As of the
2000 census, the base population was 6,151.
Vandenberg is home to the 30th Space Wing and the Western Launch and Test Range , and is responsible for satellite launches for military and commercial organizations, as well as testing of
intercontinental ballistic missiles, including the
Minuteman III and
Peacekeeper ICBMs.
History
The base was originally established in 1941 as the
US Army's Camp Cooke. The facility served as a training center for armored and infantry troops through
World War II and again in the
Korean War.
The base was transferred to the
US Air Force in 1957 and began its transformation into a space and ballistic missile test facility. One year later, Cooke Air Force base was renamed in honor of General
Hoyt S. Vandenberg, the second chief of staff of the Air Force, who was an early advocate of space and missile operations.
Between March 1, 1966 and December 20, 1968, the Air Force also purchased approximately 15,000 acres from the Sudden Ranch property, located south of the installation's original boundaries through the law of eminent domain. This acquisition enlarged the base to its current 98,000 acres of which only 15% is developed. Its relatively remote location and proximity to the coast offers an excellent location to safely conduct test firings of strategic missile weapon systems , as well as launch satellites into polar orbit without overflying populated areas after liftoff.
On December 16, 1958, Vandenberg AFB launched the first Thor ballistic missile and boosted the world's first polar-orbiting satellite, Discoverer I, aboard a Thor/Agena booster combination on February 28, 1959. Both launches occurred from Space Launch Complex 10, which has since been preserved and maintained as an example of a
1950s era launch complex technology. SLC-10 is also classified as a
National Historic Landmark.
Vandenberg is still the only military installation in the United States that launches unmanned government and commercial satellites into polar orbit. It is also the only site from which ICBMs are launched toward the Kwajalein Atoll to verify weapon system performance.
The base is operated by
Air Force Space Command's 30th Space Wing. Its mission is to:
- Conduct and support space and missile launches;
- Operate the Western Range;
- Respond to world wide contingencies; and
- Host the Vandenberg AFB community
Space Shuttle
In 1972, Vandenberg was selected as the West Coast
Space Shuttle launch and landing site.
Space Launch Complex 6 , originally built for the abandoned
Manned Orbiting Laboratory project, was extensively modified for shuttle operations. Over $4 billion were spent on the new space shuttle modifications. The original Mobile Service Tower was lowered in height and two new flame ducts were added for the shuttle's Solid Rocket Boosters. Additional modifications or improvement included liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen storage tanks, a payload preparation room, payload changeout room, a new launch tower with escape system for the shuttle crewmembers, sound suppression system and water reclamation area and a Shuttle Assembly Building were added to the original complex.
There was talk about Vandenberg getting their own shuttle fleet early on in the program, and the
Space Shuttle Discovery was only months away from being officially handed over to the
United States Air Force when the Challenger disaster happened.
SLC-6 was nearly ready for its first Shuttle launch, targeted for October 15, 1986 when the
Challenger disaster grounded the program and set in motion a chain of events that led to the cancellation of all West Coast Shuttle flights.
Had the space shuttle program been successful at SLC-6, the West Coast operation would have contrasted with that at the
Kennedy Space Center by creating the orbiter stack directly on the launch pad, rather than assembling it and then moving it. Three movable buildings on rails, the Launch Tower, Mobile Service Building and Payload Changeout Room were used to assemble the Shuttle orbiter, external tank and SRBs. These buildings were designed to protect the shuttle "stack" from high winds in the area and were used during a series of "fit tests" utilizing the space shuttle Enterprise in 1985.
Since the demise of the shuttle program at Vandenberg, SLC-6 has once again been reconfigured to support polar-orbit satellite launches by the new
Delta IV family of launch vehicles, utilizing a Common Core Booster for class sizes all the way up to and including the
Delta IV launcher. As it is currently configured, the 132-acre launch site features structures similar to Boeing's Delta IV SLC-37 launch site at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla., with a Fixed Umbilical Tower, Mobile Service Tower, Fixed Pad Erector, Launch Control Center and Operations Building, and a Horizontal Integration Facility. SLC-6 also features a Mobile Assembly Shelter that protects the rocket from adverse weather.
The first of the Delta IV launch vehicles to fly from SLC-6 successfully lifted off at 8:33 p.m. PDT on June 27, 2006 when a Delta IV Medium+ rocket lofted NROL-22, a classified satellite for the
National Reconnaissance Office, into orbit. The payload was successfully deployed approximately 54 minutes later.
Space and Missile Heritage Center
The Space and Missile Heritage Center preserves and displays artifacts and memorabilia to interpret the evolution of missile and spacelift activity at Vandenberg from the beginning of the
Cold War through current non-classified developments in military, commercial, and scientific space endeavors.
The initial display area is made up of two exhibits, the "Chronology of the Cold War" and the "Evolution of Technology". The exhibits incorporate a combination of launch complex models, launch consoles, rocket engines, re-entry vehicles, audiovisual and computer displays as well as hands-on interaction where appropriate. The Center will evolve in stages from these initial exhibit areas as restorations of additional facilities are completed.
The Center is located at Space Launch Complex 10, site of the first IRBM tests of the
Thor and
Discoverer series of launches. It is Vandenberg's only National Historic Landmark that is open for regularly scheduled tours through the 30th Space Wing's Public Affairs office.
Mission
Vandenberg's location on the northern
Pacific Ocean makes it possible to easily launch satellites into polar orbit, unlike the
Kennedy Space Center. This, along with its location relative to the
jet stream, makes Vandenberg a good site to launch reconnaissance satellites.
Vandenberg is also used for the launch of non-military satellites in polar orbits. The space probe "
Clementine" was also launched there, using a "recycled"
Titan II ICBM.
Geography
Vandenberg AFB is located at
1.
According to the
United States Census Bureau, the base has a total area of 57.3 kmē . 57.1 kmē of it is land and 0.2 kmē of it is water.
Much of the base is rugged, mountainous, and undeveloped; predominant groundcover includes
chaparral with coastal sage scrub and
oak woodland. Because of its protected nature — none of the backcountry areas are open to the public or to any kind of development — the base contains some of the highest quality coastal habitat remaining in southern or central California and is home to numerous threatened or endangered species. The western terminus of the
Santa Ynez Mountains is on the base, and is dominated by Tranquillion Peak, which rises 2,297 ft above sea level. An optical tracking station is located at the top of the peak, which overlooks the various space launch complexes.
Demographics
As of the
census2 of 2000, there were 6,151 people, 1,707 households, and 1,601 families residing in the base. The
population density was 107.7/kmē . There were 1,992 housing units at an average density of 34.9/kmē . The racial makeup of the base was 72.26%
White, 11.74%
African American, 0.54% Native American, 3.90% Asian, 0.65% Pacific Islander, 4.96% from
other races, and 5.95% from two or more races.
Hispanic or Latino of any race were 11.10% of the population.
There are 1,707 households, out of which 71.8% have children under the age of 18 living with them, 87.2% were married couples living together, 3.8% had a female householder with no husband present, and 6.2% were non-families. 5.4% of all households were made up of individuals and none had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 3.33 and the average family size was 3.44.
In the base, the population was spread out with 38.0% under the age of 18, 15.2% from 18 to 24, 44.7% from 25 to 44, 1.9% from 45 to 64, and 0.2% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 24 years. For every 100 females there were 109.0 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 116.2 males.
The median income for a household in the base was $39,444, and the median income for a family was $40,000. Males had a median income of $27,352 versus $22,283 for females. The per capita income for the base was $13,570. About 6.0% of families and 7.1% of the population were below the
poverty line, including 10.4% of those under age 18 and none of those age 65 or over.
Vandenberg supports a population greater than 18,000 composed of military, family members, government contractors, and civilian employees.
The majority of the workforce that doesn't live on base resides in the immediate northern Santa Barbara county communities of
Lompoc,
Vandenberg Village,
Santa Ynez,
Orcutt or
Santa Maria. A small percentage commute from as far south as
Santa Barbara and
Isla Vista to as far north as the Five Cities area near
San Luis Obispo, which are all roughly an hour's drive along
U.S. Route 101 and
California State Route 1 to the base's five access gates.
Launch sites
- Space Launch Complex 1
- Space Launch Complex 2, active, Delta II
- Space Launch Complex 3-East, active, Atlas V
- Space Launch Complex 3-West, active, Falcon 1
- Space Launch Complex 4, active, Titan IV
...
Vandenberg in fiction
In the
computer game Deus Ex, Vandenberg is the headquarters of X-51, a group of ex-
Majestic 12 scientists and
US military soldiers.
In the 2000 made-for-television movie Rocket's Red Glare, starring Robert Wagner and Marilu Henner, Vandenberg was the launch location of a restored Mercury Redstone rocket. The movie included several
USAF members playing themselves as launch technicians.
Vandenberg was the launch site of the American space shuttle in the James Bond film
Moonraker.
Vandenberg has also been featured in episodes of the television series
Lassie,
The Bionic Woman ,
The Fall Guy, and as the base where the Scoop Mission Control from
The Andromeda Strain is located.
In the movie,
Terminator 3, Vandenberg was mentioned as one of the bases that were annexed by Skynet.
See also
- Joint Functional Component Command for Space and Global Strike
External links
