Preparations are being
completed at Fort Wingate near Gallup, N.M. for a Juno target missile firing
from the old depot to White Sands Missile Range. The launch is tentatively
scheduled for Dec. 10 between 6:30 and 7:30 a.m., and may be viewed from Red
Rock State Park in Gallup.
The Juno missile will drop a booster into an evacuation safety zone during
its flight to the missile range. In addition to this safety drop zone near
Datil, N.M., there will be short safety roadblocks and evacuations around
the immediate Fort Wingate area - mostly to the south and east.
Roadblocks include the following: Forest Rte. 191 between New Mexico Rte.
400 and six miles to the west; Forest Rte. 547 between Sixmile Spring and
McGaffey Lake. New Mexico Hwy. 380 will be blocked at 6 a.m. for
approximately two hours.
In addition to the roadblocks, Quaking Aspens campground will be evacuated
for the launch. Since the firing will be in the early morning, camping will
not be allowed the night before so that Forest Service officials can be
assured the area is evacuated.
The evacuation area for the booster drop zone is comprised of private and
national forest lands north of Datil to include the northern portion of the
Datil Mountains. The area is north of U.S. Hwy. 60, west of State Hwy. 52
and east of Forest Rd. 6A. Perimeter roadblocks of the area will be set at
4 a.m.
The airspace over Fort Wingate and the booster drop zone will be restricted
for several hours for the launch. The avoidance area will be posted by the
Federal Aviation Agency in the form of a Notice to Airmen. The airspace at
the end of the flight is over White Sands Missile Range, a military
restricted airspace.
There have been 14 target missions from Fort Wingate to White Sands Missile
Range. The first mission was conducted in November of 1997 and the most
recent mission was in September of 2012.