Point Arguello (Spanish: Punta Argüello)Descripción de las Costas de CaliforniaJournal of the American Institute of Architects, Volume 2 is a headland on the Gaviota Coast, in Santa Barbara County, California, near the city of Lompoc. 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, at which time it became part of Vandenberg Air Force Base.
History 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. 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.
wrecked off Point Argüello in 1849.
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.
Launch pads 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-AgenaThor-AgenaThorad-AgenaAtlas E/F LC-1-2 SLC-3E Atlas-AgenaAtlas E/FAtlas HAtlas IIASAtlas V LC-2-3 SLC-4W Atlas-AgenaTitan IIIBTitan 23G LC-2-4 SLC-4E Atlas-AgenaTitan IIIDTitan 34DTitan IVFalcon 9 PALC-A N/A Sounding rockets PALC-B N/A Sounding rockets LC-C PLC-C Sounding rockets PALC-D SLC-5 Scout
PALC-A 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.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.
Launch history Date/Time (GMT)RocketMissionRemarks14 July 1959, 17:45Nike-Asp17 July 1959, 17:40Nike-AspFailed24 July 1959, 16:34Nike-Asp7 August 1959, 17:05Nike-Asp14 August 1959, 16:00Nike-Asp22 August 1959, 02:30Nike-Asp24 August 1959, 22:47Nike-Asp28 August 1959, 16:10Nike-Asp31 August 1959, 22:53Nike-Asp1 September 1959, 01:01Nike-Asp1 September 1959, 19:00Nike-Asp2 September 1959, 00:03Nike-Asp19 September 1960, 16:35Journeyman1 August 1961, 20:18Astrobee-150015 November 1961, 13:42Journeyman18 November 1961, 13:42Journeyman4 December 1961, 04:00Blue Scout JuniorO-28 December 1961Astrobee-150031 May 1962, 17:08Blue Scout Junior SLV-1CERCS 279L-19 July 1962Journeyman24 July 1962, 17:29Blue Scout Junior SLV-1CERCS 279L-221 November 1962, 18:20Blue Scout Junior SLV-1CERCS 279L-319 December 1962Blue Scout Junior SLV-1B2 February 1963, 06:56Blue Scout Jr SLV-1CERCS 279L-412 February 1963, 01:47Journeyman14 March 1963, 01:01Blue Scout Junior SLV-1CERCS 279L-517 May 1963, 23:00Blue Scout Junior SLV-1CERCS 279L-61 July 1963Black Brant III24 October 1963DAC Roc7 November 1963Black Brant III18 November 1963Honest John-Nike-NikeHAD-110 December 1963DAC Roc20 December 1963Seagull6 February 1964Honest John-Nike-NikeHAD-2Failed14 March 1964Honest John-Nike-NikeHAD-329 August 1964, 09:36Blue Scout Junior SLV-1B22 December 1964, 04:00Blue Scout JuniorFailed - premature third stage cutoff19 March 1966, 12:31JavelinHITAB-125 March 1966, 09:42JavelinHITAB-2
PALC-B 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.The 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.
Launch history Date/Time (GMT)RocketMissionRemarks4 February 1960Nike-Viper29 April 1960Nike-Viper27 June 1960Nike-Viper1 July 1960Deacon-Arrow8 July 1960Deacon-Arrow14 July 1960Deacon-Arrow20 July 1960Nike-Cajun12 August 1960Kiva-Hopi30 September 1960Nike-Viper12 October 1960Kiva-Hopi27 October 1960Kiva-Hopi21 November 1960Nike-Cajun22 November 1960Nike-Cajun6 December 1960, 18:44Kiva-Hopi14 December 1960Kiva-Hopi14 December 1960Kiva-Hopi16 December 1960Kiva-Hopi27 March 1961Deacon-Arrow14 March 1962Terrier-Asp9 July 1962Astrobee-1500Failed5 August 1962Kiva-Hopi13 December 1962Terrier-Asp11 May 1963Kiva-Hopi
See also
Point Arguello Light Honda Point disaster
References
External links Encyclopedia Astronautica