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56-731: The systems were first installed in the Eastern Range , at the time the Atlantic Missile Range, and secondly in the Pacific, then known as the Pacific Missile Range . The Atlantic Missile Impact Location System and Pacific Missile Impact Location System were installed from 1958 through 1960. Design and development was by American Telephone and Telegraph Company (AT&T), with its Bell Laboratories research and Western Electric manufacturing elements and

112-649: A cemetery in Juarez , Mexico , leading to then Mexican President Miguel Alemán Valdés refusing to allow missiles to overfly Baja. The U.S. Navy transferred the Banana River Naval Air Station to the U.S. Air Force on 1 September 1948, and it remained on standby status. On 11 May 1949, President Truman signed Public Law 60 which established the Joint Long Range Proving Ground Base . On 10 June 1949,

168-694: A complex of ranges, was one of the three national missile ranges. PMR began installation of a Pacific MILS to support Intermediate Range Ballistic Missile (IRBM) tests with impact areas northeast of Hawaii. That system terminated at the Marine Corps Air Station Kaneohe Bay . The IRBM array was operational November 1958. Tests of the Intercontinental Ballistic Missile (ICBM) required MILS monitoring impacts between Midway Island and Wake Island and between Wake Island and Eniwetok . The ICBM range

224-461: A daily high of 55.4 °F (13.0 °C), with lows normally well above freezing at 40.6 °F (4.8 °C). The average window for freezing temperatures is from December 15 to March 6 (allowing a growing season of 283 days), between which there is an average of 16 nights with lows at or below the freezing mark. Extremes in temperature range from 6 °F (−14 °C) on January 21, 1985 up to 97 °F (36 °C) on June 27, 1952. Snowfall

280-668: A launch site at Cape Canaveral and a range over the Bahamas and into the Atlantic Ocean . The Washington site was quickly discarded due to difficulties with support due to cold weather and remoteness. El Centro was put forth as the primary choice (due to being close to missile manufacturers) with the Cape as second choice. However, the El Centro site had to be abandoned after a wayward V-2 missile from White Sands crashed into

336-807: A much longer range away from heavily populated areas would be needed. The Joint Research and Development Board established the Committee on the Long Range Proving Ground in October 1946 to study locations for such a range, with three potential sites emerging: along the northern coast of Washington state with a range along the Aleutian Islands ; El Centro, California , with a range along the Baja California Peninsula ; and Banana River Naval Air Station with

392-650: A period before the detonation until several hours after. Data has also been provided to support research and support for the International Monitoring System monitoring for nuclear weapons tests. That effort also monitors earthquakes. The Kaneohe BOA array, then part of the Pacific Missile Range , was used in the Long Range Acoustic Propagation Project (LRAPP) series of experiments designated Pacific Acoustics Research Kaneohe—Alaska (PARKA). The experiment

448-521: A sonobuoy field, typically four rings 3 nmi (3.5 mi; 5.6 km) apart with outside diameter of 20 nmi (23 mi; 37 km), sowed by aircraft and the reference transponder field for geodetic position. SMILS was not dependent on an island downrange and intended for use in remote ocean areas. The transponders were fixed with the sonobuoy field deployed as needed. The specially equipped aircraft did immediate processing with detailed analysis performed later ashore. A special sonobuoy interrogated

504-399: A special timing system and a monitoring and quick look capability. The sonobuoys were modified standard types, in particular with additional battery life and frequencies. Eastern Range The Eastern Range (ER) is an American rocket range ( Spaceport ) that supports missile and rocket launches from the two major launch heads located at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station and

560-443: A unique configuration based on purpose and local water column and bottom conditions. The target arrays were bottom fixed hydrophones connected by cable to the shore stations. A variant, Sonobuoy MILS (SMILS), was composed of bottom mounted hydrophones augmented by air dropped sonobuoys when in use. The third covered wide ocean areas with fixed hydrophones at distant shore sites was termed broad ocean area (BOA) MILS. All systems exploited

616-613: Is a cape located at a pronounced bend in Hatteras Island , one of the barrier islands of North Carolina . As a temperate barrier island, the landscape has been shaped by wind, waves, and storms. There are long stretches of beach, sand dunes, marshes, and maritime forests in the area. A large area of the Outer Banks is part of a National Park, called the Cape Hatteras National Seashore . It

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672-638: Is also the nearest landmass on the North American mainland to Bermuda , which is about 563 nautical miles (648 mi; 1,043 km) to the east-southeast. The treacherous waters off the coast of the Outer Banks are known as the Graveyard of the Atlantic . Over 600 ships wrecked here as victims of shallow shoals, storms, and war. Diamond Shoals, a bank of shifting sand ridges hidden beneath

728-504: Is observed only occasionally, and usually very light, with a median amount of 0. Precipitation, mostly in the form of rain, is over 61 inches (1,500 mm) per year, making Cape Hatteras the wettest coastal location in North Carolina. Precipitation is fairly evenly distributed throughout the year. However, April represents a slightly drier month than all others, while August to October are the wettest months. On average, September

784-670: Is the wettest month, owing to lingering summer thunderstorms and maximum frequency of tropical weather systems (hurricanes, tropical storms and tropical depressions) that affect the area with often-heavy to torrential rains, mostly from August to early October. Due to its exposed position, Cape Hatteras is virtually the highest-risk area for hurricanes and tropical storms along the entire U.S. eastern seaboard. Cape Hatteras can experience significant wind and/or water damage from tropical systems moving (usually northward or northeastward) near or over North Carolina's Outer Banks, while other areas (i.e. Wilmington, NC or Myrtle Beach and Charleston, SC to

840-596: The Atlantic Ocean to 90° East longitude in the Indian Ocean , where it meets the Western Range . The range consists of a chain of shore and sea-based tracking sites. "By January 1960, the Eastern Range included 13 major stations, approximately 91 outlying sites, a fleet of ships and three marine support stations. By September 1963, the Eastern Range extended around the tip of South Africa to

896-673: The Kennedy Space Center (KSC), Florida . The range has also supported Ariane launches from the Guiana Space Centre as well as launches from the Wallops Flight Facility and other lead ranges. The range also uses instrumentation operated by NASA at Wallops and KSC. The range can support launches between 37° and 114° azimuth . The headquarters of the range is now the 45th Space Wing at Patrick Space Force Base . The history of

952-768: The National Register of Historic Places . In 1956 the Naval Facility Cape Hatteras , adjacent to the lighthouse, became the eighth of nine shore terminals of the Atlantic Sound Surveillance System (SOSUS) operational for over twenty-six years. The antisubmarine ocean surveillance purpose was classified and covered under "oceanographic research" until well after its decommissioning in June 1982. By 1963 there were 122 Navy personnel and 180 dependents resident at

1008-471: The SOFAR channel , also known as the deep sound channel, for long range sound propagation in the ocean. The target arrays received the acoustic effect of an object's impact with the ocean surface then by the effect of an explosive charge with location calculated by the difference in arrival times at the hydrophones arranged to form a rough pentagon with a sixth hydrophone at the center. A particular advantage of

1064-619: The Banana River Naval Air Station was redesignated the Joint Long Range Proving Ground Base and Advance Headquarters, Joint Long Range Proving Ground and the Air Force Division, Joint Long Range Proving Ground was established. On 16 May 1950 and 17 May 1950, range and base dropped the "Joint" in their names due to a DoD decision earlier in the year to put the range exclusively under U. S. Air Force jurisdiction. On 24 July 1950, Bumper #8 became

1120-548: The East Coast meet. The cape's shoals are collectively known as Diamond Shoals . Cape Hatteras has a humid subtropical climate ( Köppen : Cfa ), with long, hot summers, and short, mild winters. Most of the area falls into USDA Plant Hardiness Zone 9. Cape Hatteras is surrounded by water, with Pamlico Sound to the west and the Atlantic Ocean to the east. The proximity to water moderates conditions throughout

1176-566: The Eastern Range began on 18 October 1940, with the activation of the Banana River Naval Air Station which supported antisubmarine sea-patrol planes during World War II . The station was deactivated and put into a caretaker status on 1 September 1947. Launches of captured German V-2 rockets had been ongoing since the end of World War II at White Sands Proving Grounds in New Mexico , but it became clear that

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1232-447: The Eastern Range suffered two hurricanes which caused extensive damage and only allowed 19 launches that year. By 2017, the Eastern Range had upgraded their legacy operational processes and equipment to be able to support a much faster cadence of rocket launches for SpaceX AFTS-controlled rocket launches, but they did not use the capability when an opportunity arose to increase range launch cadence in October 2018. The first planned use of

1288-457: The Eastern Range. For all future SpaceX launches, AFSS has replaced "the ground-based mission flight control personnel and equipment with on-board Positioning, Navigation and Timing sources and decision logic. The benefits of AFSS include increased public safety, reduced reliance on range infrastructure, reduced range spacelift cost, increased schedule predictability and availability, operational flexibility, and launch slot flexibility". In 2017,

1344-674: The Wake—Eniwetok—Midway impact area. The BOA MILS sites were involved in events beyond missile testing. Those included both intentional experiments and acoustic incidents in which they were tasked after the fact to examine records. In some experiments MILS was a major participant while in others participation was mainly monitoring and contributing data. An example of that monitoring role is the nuclear shot "Sword Fish" in Operation Dominic in which both MILS and SOSUS operated normally simply making recordings and strip charts for

1400-402: The accuracy tests. Accuracy was improved by pre test calibration by a ship precisely located by a fixed transponder field releasing SOFAR bombs . The BOA hydrophones were located near the deep sound channel axis and were located at Cape Hatteras , Bermuda , Eleuthera ( Bahamas ), Grand Turk , Puerto Rico , Antigua, Barbados and Ascension. In the Pacific a BOA system was installed to cover

1456-792: The acoustic detection was of a near surface nuclear explosion in the vicinity of the Prince Edward Islands . SMILS was exclusively used to support the Navy's fleet ballistic missile programs under the Strategic Systems Project Office with much of the information classified. The range supported the fixed transponder arrays of ten transponders each on a reimbursable basis. The Atlantic range had seven transponder arrays located from 550 nmi (630 mi; 1,020 km) to 4,700 nmi (5,400 mi; 8,700 km) down range. The sonobuoy type impact area used

1512-464: The area is known as the " Graveyard of the Atlantic ". Cape Hatteras is also well known for surfing. The first lighthouse at the cape was built in 1803; it was replaced by the current Cape Hatteras Lighthouse in 1870, which at 198.48 feet (60.50 m) from the ground to the tip of its lightning rod is the tallest lighthouse in the United States and one of the tallest brick lighthouses in

1568-401: The beaches of the Outer Banks. Cape Hatteras National Seashore protects parts of three barrier islands: Bodie Island, Hatteras Island, and Ocracoke Island. Beach and sound access ramps, campgrounds, nature trails, and lighthouses can be found and explored on all three islands. The community of Buxton lies on the inland side of the Cape itself, at the widest part of Hatteras Island . It is

1624-534: The east and west coasts of North America. The Ascension array was one of the systems involved in the Vela incident acoustic signal. Three hydrophones correlated acoustic arrivals with the time and estimated location of the double flash detected by the Vela satellite . The detailed study of the Naval Research Laboratory that was based on models from French nuclear testing in the Pacific concluded

1680-842: The first missile to launch from the Cape Canaveral. The Long Range Proving Ground Base was renamed Patrick Air Force Base on 1 August 1950, in honor of Major General Mason M. Patrick and the following year, on 30 June 1951, the Joint Long Range Proving Ground Division became the Air Force Missile Test Center and the Joint Long Range Proving Ground became the Florida Missile Test Range (FMTR). These would not be

1736-443: The first phase of SOSUS, starting in 1951, were engaged on MILS installation and activation. Atlantic MILS target arrays, intended to precisely locate nose cone splashdown and then nose cone location on the bottom, were located down range from Cape Canaveral about 1,300 km (810 mi) at Grand Turk Island , 2,400 km (1,500 mi) at Antigua and 8,100 km (5,000 mi) at Ascension Island . The range managed

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1792-684: The fixed transponders for Sonobuoy MILS (SMILS), exclusively used by the United States Navy Strategic Systems Project Office supporting the Navy's fleet ballistic missile programs . Much of that system's exact details were classified. As recently as July 2007, NASA spacecraft such as Dawn have depended upon the availability of airborne and sea-based tracking assets associated with the East Range to monitor launch and ascent. Cape Hatteras Cape Hatteras / ˈ h æ t ə r ə s /

1848-465: The inlet was filled. On September 6, 2019, Hurricane Dorian made landfall at Cape Hatteras. See or edit raw graph data . The name Hatteras is the sixth oldest surviving English place-name in the U.S. An inlet north of the cape was named "Hatrask" in 1585 by Sir Richard Grenville , the admiral leading the Roanoke Colony expedition sent by Sir Walter Raleigh . It was later applied to

1904-491: The island and cape as well, and modified to "Hatteras". Hatteras is the name of the Hatteras Indians . Because mariners use ocean currents to speed their journey, many ships venture close to Cape Hatteras when traveling along the eastern seaboard , risking the perils of sailing close to the shoals amid turbulent water and the frequent storms occurring in the area. So many ships have been lost off Cape Hatteras that

1960-439: The island of Mahé, Seychelles in the Indian Ocean ". Much of the sea-based tracking and many of the land based stations have been replaced by space based tracking, including the present Tracking and Data Relay Satellite System (TDRSS). Ground stations associated with the range are located at: Major decommissioned stations associated with the range are located at: The Missile Impact Location System (MILS)

2016-408: The largest community on the island, and is home to the governmental offices and schools for the island. Cape Hatteras lies in the chain of long, thin barrier islands of the Outer Banks , which arch out into the Atlantic Ocean away from the U.S. mainland, then back toward the mainland, creating lagoons and estuaries sheltered from the Atlantic Ocean . It is the site where the two great basins of

2072-503: The means to tie everything together. Target arrays were high accuracy systems usually covering a target area of about 10 nmi (12 mi; 19 km) radius. The Atlantic MILS target arrays were located down range from Cape Canaveral about 700 nmi (810 mi; 1,300 km) at Grand Turk Island , 1,300 nmi (1,500 mi; 2,400 km) at Antigua and 4,400 nmi (5,100 mi; 8,100 km) at Ascension Island . The Pacific Missile Range (PMR), then Navy managed as

2128-515: The more rapid cadence was in August 2019. As of 2019 , the range said that it could "support up to 48 launches per year from Florida" with an "eventual goal [to] get to a capability to launch two different rockets within 24 hours". By year: In early 2018, the plan was to get to 48 launches a year by about 2023. The range starts at the launch pads at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station and John F. Kennedy Space Center and extends eastward over

2184-731: The only name changes for the range or the agency that controlled it. The Florida Missile Test Range was renamed the Atlantic Missile Range (AMR) in 1958 and the Eastern Test Range in 1964; the Air Force Missile Test Center was redesignated the Air Force Eastern Test Range (AFETR) in 1964, then control of the range was transferred to Detachment 1 of the Space and Missile Test Center located at Vandenberg Air Force Base when AFETR

2240-422: The pentagon configuration was that a rapid approximate position could be calculated on simple time sequence of the acoustic wave at the hydrophones with detailed analysis producing a more exact location. The effectiveness depended on placement of the hydrophone in the deep sound channel. Since the downrange islands did not offer ocean bottom at that depth in the required configuration a system of suspended hydrophones

2296-695: The range from ESMC; on the same day the Eastern Test Range became the Eastern Range. The transition on the west coast occurred one week later on 19 November 1991, when the Western Space and Missile Center became the 30th Space Wing and the Western Test Range became the Western Range . In 2014, Raytheon Technologies won a contract to operate the Western and Eastern Ranges for the next 10 years through their subsidiary Range Generation Next . In February 2017, SpaceX 's CRS-10 launch

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2352-689: The signals were fed into a signal processing system. Ascension was one of the observing sites for the Heard Island Feasibility Test conducted to observe both the strength and quality of signals traveling at inter-ocean distances and whether those signals were capable of being used in ocean acoustic tomography . A source ship, Cory Chouest , near Heard Island in the Indian Ocean generated signals that were received at Ascension at some 9,200 km (5,700 mi; 5,000 nmi) distance after passing around Africa. Those signals were received as far away as receiving sites and ships on

2408-466: The south and Norfolk, VA and Maryland's Eastern Shore to the north) experience much less, minimal or no damage. The Cape Hatteras area is infamous for being frequently struck by hurricanes that move up the East Coast of the United States . The strike of Hurricane Isabel in 2003 was particularly devastating for the area. Isabel devastated the entire Outer Banks and also split Hatteras Island between

2464-600: The transponder field for position of the sonobuoy pattern to the geodetic referenced transponders and another special sonobuoy established the relative of the sonobuoys within the pattern. Before the sonobuoy deployment a special buoy gathered the data to determine actual sound velocity at various depths at deployment time. Data could be collected by specially modified Navy P-3 aircraft or an Advanced Range Instrumentation Aircraft . The P-3 aircraft, flown from Naval Air Station Patuxent River by Air Test and Evaluation Squadron One , were modified to receive and record more sonobuoys,

2520-488: The turbulent sea off Cape Hatteras, has never promised safe passage for ships. In the past 400 years, the graveyard has claimed many lives, but island villagers saved many. As early as the 1870s, villagers served in the United States Life-Saving Service . Others staffed lighthouses built to guide mariners. Few ships wreck today, but storms still uncover the ruins of the old wrecks that lie along

2576-473: The two small towns of Frisco and Hatteras . NC 12 , which provides a direct route from Nags Head to Hatteras Island , was washed out when the hurricane created a new inlet . Students had to use a ferry to get to school. The inlet was filled in with sand by the Army Corps of Engineers, in a process which took nearly two months to complete. The road, electrical and water lines were quickly rebuilt when

2632-417: The world. In 1999, as the receding shoreline had come dangerously close to Cape Hatteras Lighthouse, the 4830-ton lighthouse was lifted and moved inland a distance of 2,900 feet (880 m). Its distance from the seashore is now 1,500 feet (460 m), about the same as when it was originally built. The E.M. Clark (shipwreck and remains), Empire Gem (shipwreck and remains) , and USS Monitor are listed on

2688-667: The year, producing cooler summers and warmer winters than inland areas of North Carolina. The cape is the northern limit of tropical fauna. For all narrative below, consult the climate table, showing climate data for the 1991–2020 period. During the summer, average daily highs are in the 86–87 °F (30–31 °C) range, and occasional intense (but usually brief) thundershowers occur. As a result of its proximity to water, temperatures above 90 °F (32 °C) are rare, with an average of only 2.3 days annually above 90 °F (32 °C); one or two years out of each decade will not see any 90 °F readings. The coolest month, January, has

2744-489: Was deactivated on 1 February 1977, which put both the Eastern and Western ranges under the same leadership. On 1 October 1979, control of the range passed to the newly activated Eastern Space and Missile Center (ESMC). The ESMC was transferred from Air Force Systems Command to Air Force Space Command on 10 October 1990; finally, on 12 November 1991, the 45th Space Wing was activated and assumed operational control for

2800-458: Was established in the then Atlantic Missile Range (AMR) from 1958 through 1960. The system was developed by American Telephone and Telegraph Company (AT&T), with its Bell Laboratories research and Western Electric manufacturing elements and was to an extent based on the company's technology and experience developing and deploying the U.S. Navy's then classified Sound Surveillance System (SOSUS). The company and Navy assets that had installed

2856-472: Was operational in May 1959 with two target arrays. One was located about 70 nmi (81 mi; 130 km) northeast of Wake and another in the corridor between Wake and Eniwetok. Shore facilities were at Kaneohe and each of the islands. This system has less accuracy but extensive coverage area including whole ocean basins. It would cover test vehicles not making the target or other events not directly related to

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2912-401: Was required to develop improved models for predicting performance of antisubmarine detection systems and explain the long detection ranges of two to three thousand miles being observed by SOSUS. The Kaneohe shore facility was the operational control center for PARKA I with a hydrophone, bottom sited at 2,070 ft (630.9 m), serving as the secondary receiving site. The main receiving site

2968-544: Was the "first operational use" of the Autonomous Flight Safety System (AFSS) on "either of Air Force Space Command 's Eastern or Western Ranges ". The following SpaceX flight, EchoStar 23 in March 2017, was the last SpaceX launch utilizing the historic system of ground radars, tracking computers, and personnel in launch bunkers that had been used for over sixty years for all launches from

3024-474: Was the research platform FLIP with hydrophones suspended at 300 ft (91.4 m), 2,500 ft (762.0 m) and 10,800 ft (3,291.8 m). The MILS hydrophones at Midway and the SOSUS array at Point Sur were also used in the experiment. The Ascension BOA site had twelve hydrophones in six pairs cabled to the island. All but two pairs were suspended near the deep sound channel. After amplification

3080-568: Was to an extent based on the company's technology and experience developing and deploying the Navy's then classified Sound Surveillance System (SOSUS). Early studies were done at Bell Laboratories' Underwater Systems Development Department examined the problem then the Bell System's other organizations began implementation. The company and Navy assets that had installed the first phase of SOSUS, starting in 1951, were engaged on MILS installation and activation. MILS took several forms and each had

3136-412: Was used. The difficulty of computing the calibration results for the Atlantic systems led to development of computer programs that became the standard for MILS operational data solutions. The distant placement of the systems revealed the limitations of the existing world geodetic system with various datum systems based on the local geoid, something that would be solved by satellite systems that would develop

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