What's normally a routine test launch of an unarmed intercontinental ballistic missile from the Central Coast was a little different on Wednesday, with the flight's mission control aboard an airborne plane.
A Minuteman III missile was launched from Vandenberg Space Force Base at 1:25 a.m. It flew 4,200 miles to a test range in the South Pacific, where a dummy payload was deployed.
The Air Force routinely conducts launches of this type from the base to test equipment and flight crew readiness.
But, instead of being in one of the base's launch control facilities, the launch team was on board a Navy aircraft. They were testing the preparedness of alternative launch control facilities in case the primary one at the base became inoperable or was destroyed during a conflict.
