Point Arguello

Point Arguello

Point Arguello (Spanish: Punta Argüello)<ref>Descripción de las Costas de California</ref><ref>Journal of the American Institute of Architects, Volume 2</ref> is a headland on the Gaviota Coast, in Santa Barbara County, California, near the city of Lompoc.<ref>Template:Cite gnis</ref> The area was first used by the United States Navy in 1959 for the launch of military and sounding rockets. It was transferred to the United States Air Force in 1964,<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> at which time it became part of Vandenberg Air Force Base.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }} Template:PD-notice</ref>

HistoryEdit

In 1769, the Spanish Portola expedition became the first Europeans to explore this area by land. Soldiers of the expedition named a nearby point Los Pedernales or Punta Pedernales, because they found flints there.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> The point was given that name on some early maps, but in 1792 British naval explorer George Vancouver dubbed it Point Arguello for José Darío Argüello, a Spanish frontier soldier who was Commandant of the Presidio of Santa Barbara and acting governor of Alta California.<ref name=gudde>Template:Cite book</ref>

Template:USS wrecked off Point Argüello in 1849.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

A High-frequency direction finding (HFDF) was established here by the Navy during World War II. These radio intercept sites along the coast could track Japanese warships and merchant marine vessels as far away as the Western Pacific. The other stations in California were at Farallon Islands, Point Saint George, and San Diego. Bainbridge Island, Washington also hosted a station.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

Rockets listed in italics were launched from the complex after its transfer to Vandenberg Air Force Base in 1964.

Original Designation	Later Designation (Vandenberg Air Force Base, from 1966)	Rockets
LC-1-1	SLC-3W	Atlas-Agena Thor-Agena Thorad-Agena Atlas E/F
LC-1-2	SLC-3E	Atlas-Agena Atlas E/F Atlas H Atlas IIAS Atlas V
LC-2-3	SLC-4W	Atlas-Agena Titan IIIB Titan 23G
LC-2-4	SLC-4E	Atlas-Agena Titan IIID Titan 34D Titan IV Falcon 9
PALC-A	N/A	Sounding rockets
PALC-B	N/A	Sounding rockets
LC-C	PLC-C	Sounding rockets
PALC-D	SLC-5	Scout

Launch Complex A or LC-A at the Point Arguello Naval Air Station in California, United States, subsequently Point Arguello Launch Complex A or PALC-A at the Vandenberg Air Force Base, is a launch complex that was used for a number of sounding rocket launches between 1959 and 1966. It was originally built as Launch Complex A or LC-A at the Point Arguello Naval Air Station, and was subsequently transferred to Vandenberg Air Force Base as PALC-A following the merger of Point Arguello into Vandenberg AFB in 1964.Template:Infobox launch pad Blue Scout Junior, Astrobee, Black Brant, DAC Roc, Honest John-Nike-Nike, Javelin, Journeyman, Nike-Asp and Seagull rockets were launched from the complex whilst it was active.

Date/Time (GMT)	Rocket	Mission	Remarks
14 July 1959, 17:45	Nike-Asp
17 July 1959, 17:40	Nike-Asp		Failed
24 July 1959, 16:34	Nike-Asp
7 August 1959, 17:05	Nike-Asp
14 August 1959, 16:00	Nike-Asp
22 August 1959, 02:30	Nike-Asp
24 August 1959, 22:47	Nike-Asp
28 August 1959, 16:10	Nike-Asp
31 August 1959, 22:53	Nike-Asp
1 September 1959, 01:01	Nike-Asp
1 September 1959, 19:00	Nike-Asp
2 September 1959, 00:03	Nike-Asp
19 September 1960, 16:35	Journeyman
1 August 1961, 20:18	Astrobee-1500
15 November 1961, 13:42	Journeyman
18 November 1961, 13:42	Journeyman
4 December 1961, 04:00	Blue Scout Junior	O-2
8 December 1961	Astrobee-1500
31 May 1962, 17:08	Blue Scout Junior SLV-1C	ERCS 279L-1
9 July 1962	Journeyman
24 July 1962, 17:29	Blue Scout Junior SLV-1C	ERCS 279L-2
21 November 1962, 18:20	Blue Scout Junior SLV-1C	ERCS 279L-3
19 December 1962	Blue Scout Junior SLV-1B
2 February 1963, 06:56	Blue Scout Jr SLV-1C	ERCS 279L-4
12 February 1963, 01:47	Journeyman
14 March 1963, 01:01	Blue Scout Junior SLV-1C	ERCS 279L-5
17 May 1963, 23:00	Blue Scout Junior SLV-1C	ERCS 279L-6
1 July 1963	Black Brant III
24 October 1963	DAC Roc
7 November 1963	Black Brant III
18 November 1963	Honest John-Nike-Nike	HAD-1
10 December 1963	DAC Roc
20 December 1963	Seagull
6 February 1964	Honest John-Nike-Nike	HAD-2	Failed
14 March 1964	Honest John-Nike-Nike	HAD-3
29 August 1964, 09:36	Blue Scout Junior SLV-1B
22 December 1964, 04:00	Blue Scout Junior		Failed - premature third stage cutoff
19 March 1966, 12:31	Javelin	HITAB-1
25 March 1966, 09:42	Javelin	HITAB-2

Launch Complex B or LC-B at the Point Arguello Naval Air Station in California, United States was a launch complex which was used for twenty three sounding rocket launches between 1960 and 1963. Astrobee-1500, Deacon-Arrow, Kiva-Hopi, Nike-Cajun, Nike-Viper, Terrier-Asp rockets were launched from the complex whilst it was active.Template:Infobox launch padThe complex was transferred to the Vandenberg Air Force Base as a result of a merger between it and Point Arguello in 1964, however by that time it was already inactive.

Date/Time (GMT)	Rocket	Remarks
4 February 1960	Nike-Viper
29 April 1960	Nike-Viper
27 June 1960	Nike-Viper
1 July 1960	Deacon-Arrow
8 July 1960	Deacon-Arrow
14 July 1960	Deacon-Arrow
20 July 1960	Nike-Cajun
12 August 1960	Kiva-Hopi
30 September 1960	Nike-Viper
12 October 1960	Kiva-Hopi
27 October 1960	Kiva-Hopi
21 November 1960	Nike-Cajun
22 November 1960	Nike-Cajun
6 December 1960, 18:44	Kiva-Hopi
14 December 1960	Kiva-Hopi
14 December 1960	Kiva-Hopi
16 December 1960	Kiva-Hopi
27 March 1961	Deacon-Arrow
14 March 1962	Terrier-Asp
9 July 1962	Astrobee-1500	Failed
5 August 1962	Kiva-Hopi
13 December 1962	Terrier-Asp
11 May 1963	Kiva-Hopi