Location
Cocoa Beach, FL
Start Date
7-3-1966 8:00 AM
Description
The range safety problem is truly "a thorn in the flesh" to the user of the missile test ranges. The range user has one objective in mind: to get his missile off the ground and successfully complete his test objectives. Any thing that interferes with that objective is, to him, an evil he can do without. Range Safety has often been considered such an evil - albeit a necessary one. Possibly a misunderstanding of the problem is the basis for this feeling. This paper endeavors to present the problem in its proper perspective by defining the problem and presenting the means used by the Range Safety Division of the ranges to assess, control and/or eliminate the risks involved in a missile flight. It starts by describing a typical flight, defines the problem, describes how the problem is controlled, and how it is qualitatively measured.
This paper is limited to flight safety, i.e., that period which commences with liftoff of the missile. Pad safety and ground safety (e.g., propellant handling) are not d i scussed.
The discussions herein are general insofar as possible. When it becomes necessary to be specific, examples are chosen from the AFETR, since we are more familiar with the operating procedures and philosophies of that range. They are, however, typical of all U.S. test ranges.
We have tried throughout this report to differentiate between range safety as a function of the range, and Range Safety as a personification of that function in the Range Safety Division by means of capital letters.
The Range Safety Problem, "A Thorn In The Flesh"
Cocoa Beach, FL
The range safety problem is truly "a thorn in the flesh" to the user of the missile test ranges. The range user has one objective in mind: to get his missile off the ground and successfully complete his test objectives. Any thing that interferes with that objective is, to him, an evil he can do without. Range Safety has often been considered such an evil - albeit a necessary one. Possibly a misunderstanding of the problem is the basis for this feeling. This paper endeavors to present the problem in its proper perspective by defining the problem and presenting the means used by the Range Safety Division of the ranges to assess, control and/or eliminate the risks involved in a missile flight. It starts by describing a typical flight, defines the problem, describes how the problem is controlled, and how it is qualitatively measured.
This paper is limited to flight safety, i.e., that period which commences with liftoff of the missile. Pad safety and ground safety (e.g., propellant handling) are not d i scussed.
The discussions herein are general insofar as possible. When it becomes necessary to be specific, examples are chosen from the AFETR, since we are more familiar with the operating procedures and philosophies of that range. They are, however, typical of all U.S. test ranges.
We have tried throughout this report to differentiate between range safety as a function of the range, and Range Safety as a personification of that function in the Range Safety Division by means of capital letters.
