Last week’s successful Falcon 9 launch from Vandenberg Space Force Base (formerly Air Force Base) brought back memories of a less successful Vandenberg launch on April 18, 1986. I was just offshore from the base on Texaco’s Platform Harvest at the time. That is where the photo below was taken.
The Titan rocket carrying a secret spy satellite exploded in a huge orange cloud seconds after the launch. Because this was a classified mission, few residents knew that a launch was occurring. Fifty-eight people were treated for skin and eye irritation. Not a shining moment for the space program, particularly given the Titan failure the previous August and the tragic Challenger disaster earlier in 1986.
Bud's Offshore Energy (BOE) 