For the first time in years, the countdown for a Minuteman 3 missile test will include blasting open the 106-ton silo door at Vandenberg Air Force Base.

The year's first liftoff from the Central Coast also marks a return of closed-door missile tests. It's planned for 12:01 a.m. Wednesday, Feb. 7, from Launch Facility 10 on north Vandenberg. The launch window remains open until 6:01 a.m. to accommodate any delays from unfavorable weather or technical problems.

Reflecting the test's return to closed-door launches, the commemorative patch for the mission, officially labeled Glory Trip-193, is shaped like an eight-sided launch enclosure door.

In recent years, the 576th Flight Test Squadron has conducted tests with the huge door already open, in what was intended to be a cost-saving measure, according to the unit's commander, Lt. Col. Stephen L. Davis.

“What we found over time were two things,” Davis said. “Number one, the environmental protection of the launcher was not as good as we would have liked it to be.”

To protect the weapon and keep it dry leading up to open-door tests, a temporary plastic cover was crafted. But that shelter leaked before launch during a March downpour and contaminated a test missile in 2005.

“The other issue we found is the launcher enclosure door also has impacts on the accuracy of the missile, so one of the reasons we're returning to closed-door launches is because our accuracy data is more operationally representative of the deployed force,” Davis said. “That's our key mantra here - to make sure we're testing it as close as possible to our deployed force to make sure we get accurate data.”

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In addition, the expected savings weren't as dramatic. Instead of an estimated $150,000, they saw just a $25,000 to $30,000 savings per launch.

Leading up to Wednesday's launch, the 576th conducted a dress rehearsal in October.

“We didn't fire the missile, but we did fire all the things that have to do with the door, just to make sure we have all the right procedures in place, that the equipment was still working right,” he said. “What we found is, it's easy to stop doing something; it's actually hard to restart it.”

The blastoff will culminate a yearlong effort to train crews and ensure the base has proper equipment and procedures in place for a closed-door test, according to Davis.

Vandenberg's huge launch enclosure is similar to those sheltering on-alert missiles based in Montana, North Dakota and Wyoming.

However, the California base's facilities are equipped with giant shock absorbers meant to catch the door as it blows open. That's because the launch facilities are designed for re-use.

Once the signal is sent, four ballistic gas generators activate an actuator, pulling on cables that slide the huge door open, he said.

In another milestone, the test will involve the first GPS-only flight, using space-based Global Positioning Satellites for navigation instead of radio transponders.

The military will track the missile's one unarmed re-entry vehicle as it travels thousands of miles to a target in the Kwajalein Atoll in the central Pacific ocean.

A task force of combat crew members traveled from 91st Space Wing at Minot Air Force Base, N.D., for the test.

“This launch represents six months of intense activity for the 576th maintenance personnel, operations folks and really the entire ICBM community, allowing us to conduct this reliability and accuracy test,” said Capt. Travis Brabec, test manager for this mission.

Janene Scully can be reached at 739-2214 or janscully@santa

mariatimes.com.

Feb. 5, 2007