Re: SpaceX NOT First Kwaj orbital launch


Derek Lyons wrote:
> "Ed Kyle" <edkyle99@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
>
> >
> >Damon Hill wrote:
> >> "Jim Oberg" <jameseoberg@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in
> >> news:sZzof.861$9e.193@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx:
> >>
> >> So, we'll fudge and say it's a launch from the smallest
> >> island ever? Flyspeck, er, Omelek could hardly be
> >> much smaller than it is.
> >>
> >> --Damon
> >
> >Perhaps we could say that it will be the first space launch
> >from an island that has to be *entirely* evacuated before
> >the final countdown?
>
> Hmm... What about the shots from Johnston Island during the atomic
> testing?

As near as I can tell, from sites like the following:

"http://www.aracnet.com/~pdxavets/barrow1a.htm";
"http://www.aracnet.com/~pdxavets/wisnia.htm";

they only evacuated "nonessential" personnel from
Johnston (to nearby ships) during the launches.
There seem to have been a number of "essential"
people on the island, probably in bunkers, when the
three Thor failures (including one right on the pad)
sprayed radioactive debris on the place.

Johnston Island itself is 1,000 yards long, much of
it dredge-fill, so it was a bit bigger than Omelek.

BTW, they've never really been able to clean Johnston
up completely, according to some reports. A lot of the
"cleanup" consisted of little more than painting and
adding a few inches of topsoil cover. The paint, of
course, eventually flaked off and the topsoil eroded,
exposing the nasty stuff to the wind. This might be
something for the folks in Florida to mull over while
waiting for the upcoming Pluto New Horizons launch.

I know - thermonuke plutonium and RTG fuel isn't
the same stuff!!

- Ed Kyle

.

Relevant Pages

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