On 22 Oct 2003 10:30:13 -0700, in a place far, far away,
(Rusty B) made the phosphor on my monitor glow
in such a way as to indicate that:

I found a web page on Edwards Air Force Base website that describes
early captive silo test launches of the Minuteman ICBM.

In the article it is claimed that, "a Minuteman passes through Mach
1.0 by the time it travels its own length above the launcher."

A Minuteman I is 55.9-ft tall, A Minuteman III is 59.75-ft tall.

Can anyone verify this claim?

Seems dubious to me. Unless I screwed up the calculation, that means
over 300 g acceleration (zero to 760 mph in sixty feet). I'm pretty
sure its liftoff T/W is nowhere near that...

--
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interglobal space lines * 307 733-1715 (Fax) http://www.interglobal.org

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