Held at Dr. Dave and Lane Sidebottom's house on Sunday, April 20th 2008.

Hello! Recently I was on a team of science and engineering educators, military personnel and representatives from the news media who were flown to Vandenberg AFB in California to witness the launch of a Minuteman III Intercontinental Ballistic Missile. The purpose of the launch was to test an improved guidance system. The Minuteman III is designed to carry up to three reentry vehicles, each carrying a separately targeted nuclear warhead.

The UNARMED missile, launched on the evening of September 19, precisely hit its target in the Mariana Islands. Because of the clear sky, the launch was seen as far east as Arizona. My video camera was able to zoom in on the third stage separation. (See Launch Photo Mm-04.) At that point the missile was at an altitude of 142 miles and 242 miles down range. A vast array of radar, telemetry and optical sensors located in California, Hawaii and throughout the Pacific enabled a safe over-ocean missile launch. The morning after the launch, we inspected the silo from which the missile was fired. (See Silo After Launch Photos.) The trip also included a stop at Minot AFB in North Dakota to inspect the training facilities for Missileers and B-52 Bomber pilots. While there, I experienced what it's like to land a B-52, as the copilot, in a LINK Simulator (the ultimate in virtual reality). The trip from Vandenberg back to Offutt AFB was aboard a Nebraska Air National Guard KC-135 Stratotanker, equipped for midair refueling of other aircraft. During the flight I got to briefly manipulate the joystick that controls the boom used for the fuel transfer. You do this on your belly looking through a window in the tail of the plane. While I was working the boom we happened to be flying over Las Vegas and Lake Mead. (See Midair Refueler Photos.)

All in all, it was better than a trip to Disneyland! Hope you like the pictures.

Dr. Tom Zepf

Pictures from Physics Retreat 2004 held at that Saint Benedict Center in Schuyler Nebraska.

The topic was "Awareness, Acceptance, and Donation" for the Friday morning session and "The New Physics Major" for the afternoon session.

Dr. Wiseman, Vice-President for Academic Affairs, and Fr. Gillick gave the morning presentations.