Eastern Test Range
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The Eastern Test Range is the former name of the rocket range associated with missile and rocket launches from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station and Kennedy Space Center. The range is managed by the US Air Force. The range starts at the launch pads at Cape Canaveral and Merritt Island and extends eastward and south over the Atlantic Ocean and into the Indian Ocean. Until 1964, the range was known as the Atlantic Missile Range[1]. The ETR was redesignated as the Eastern Space and Missile Center in 1979.
The range consisted 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 the island of Mahé in the Indian Ocean.[2]" Eventually all of the sea based tracking and many of the land based stations were replaced by space based tracking,[dubious ] including the present TDRS.
The current Range Contractor is Computer Sciences Raytheon (CSR).[3]
[edit] See also
- Ascension Island
- Cape Canaveral Air Force Station
- DAMP Project
- Missile Test Project
- Pacific Missile Range Facility
- Pan American Airways Guided Missile Range Division
- US Air Force ships
[edit] References
- ^ Lethbridge, Keith. THE HISTORY OF CAPE CANAVERAL CHAPTER 3 NASA ARRIVES (1959-PRESENT). Retrieved on 2006-08-19.
- ^ Fact Sheets : Development of the 45SW Eastern Range. Retrieved on 2008-01-12.
- ^ http://computersciencesraytheon.com/home.html CSR homepage
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