Point Arguello facts for kids
Point Arguello is a special piece of land that sticks out into the Pacific Ocean. It's located on the Gaviota Coast in Santa Barbara County, California, close to the city of Lompoc. This area first became important in 1959. The United States Navy started using it to launch military rockets and special "sounding rockets" that fly high to gather information. In 1964, the area was given to the United States Air Force. It then became a part of Vandenberg Air Force Base, which is a big place for launching rockets.
History of Point Arguello
In 1769, a group of Spanish explorers led by the Portolá expedition were the first Europeans to explore this land by walking. The soldiers with them found a lot of flint stones in a nearby area. Because of this, they named that spot Los Pedernales or Punta Pedernales. This name means "Flint Point."
Later, in 1792, a British explorer named George Vancouver gave the entire point a new name: Point Arguello. He named it after José Darío Argüello. José Argüello was a Spanish soldier who was in charge of the Presidio of Santa Barbara. He also served as a temporary governor of Alta California, which was a large Spanish territory.
During World War II, the Navy set up a special station here. It was called a High-Frequency Direction Finding (HFDF) station. These stations along the coast could listen to radio signals. They helped track Japanese warships and trading ships far away in the Pacific Ocean. Other similar stations were in California at the Farallon Islands, Point Saint George, and San Diego. There was also one in Washington State on Bainbridge Island.
Rocket Launch Sites
Point Arguello has been an important place for launching rockets for many years. When the area became part of Vandenberg Air Force Base in 1964, some of the launch sites were renamed. The table below shows the different launch pads and the types of rockets that took off from them. Rockets listed in italic text were launched after the area joined Vandenberg Air Force Base.
| Original Name | New Name (from 1966) |
Rockets Launched | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| LC-1-1 | SLC-3W | Atlas-Agena Thor-Agena Thorad-Agena Atlas E/F |
|
| LC-1-2 | SLC-3E | Atlas-Agena Atlas E/F Atlas H Atlas IIAS Atlas V |
|
| LC-2-3 | SLC-4W | Atlas-Agena Titan IIIB Titan 23G |
|
| LC-2-4 | SLC-4E | Atlas-Agena Titan IIID Titan 34D Titan IV Falcon 9 |
|
| LC-A | N/A | Sounding rockets | |
| LC-B | N/A | Sounding rockets | |
| LC-C | PLC-C | Sounding rockets | |
| LC-D | SLC-5 | Scout |
See also
In Spanish: Punta Argüello para niños
