The State - News from Nov. 4, 1987

An unarmed intercontinental ballistic missile was launched on a 4,200-mile flight to a South Pacific military target range, Vandenberg Air Force Base officials said. About 30 minutes after the launch of the Minuteman 3 missile, its three unarmed reentry vehicles were tracked to targets in the Kwajalein missile range, Master Sgt. Bruce Zielsdorf said. It was the 129th in a series of Strategic Air Command test launches. The launch did not have the fanfare that followed last week’s twilight test of a Minuteman 2 missile, which produced a spectacular aerial display in four states. That launch tinted the sky blue, red, yellow and turquoise as fading sunlight reflected off frozen particles of rocket fuel.