Weather Delays Test Firing of Titan Rocket
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EDWARDS AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. — A crucial test firing of a Titan-34D solid-fuel rocket was delayed at least a day Wednesday because of erratic winds, Air Force officials said.
“Wind conditions are just not amenable for what we need to have for firing,” said Ranney Adams, a spokesman for the Air Force Flight Test Center here. “Ground winds are proper, but 1,000 feet up, they’re blowing the wrong way . . . that’ll send the exhaust going in two different directions.”
Two back-to-back failures in 1985 and 1986 grounded the Titan-34D program indefinitely. The big rocket is the premier military launcher in the Air Force inventory.
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