Space Launch Complex 6 (SLC-6) (Officially called Vandenberg's Space Launch Complex Six) at Vandenberg Air Force Base, California, locally referred to as "Slick Six". This expression can be translated in different ways: as fast, as slippery, and as brilliant. But, perhaps, the most correct translation would be something like "slippery six".
Indeed, over the forty years of the history of this launch site, none of the spacecraft launches have been crowned with success. Each time, failures happened for different reasons, but the locals are sure: the curse of the Indians gravitates over the complex.
Slick Six appeared on the map of military installations in 1966. It was then that it was decided to prepare the launch pad for the new powerful Air Force carrier Titan 3M. With its help, the military manned orbital laboratory MOL (Manned Orbiting Laboratory), a modified two-seater Gemini ship with a trailer-sized living block attached to it, was supposed to launch into space with secret missions. The first launch was planned by the Air Force leadership for the end of 1968, so construction work was carried out at an accelerated pace.
A lot of land was needed to build the complex. Therefore, the government allocated funds to purchase the sites closest to the construction site. The owners did not mind - after all, few would want to live next door to the cosmodrome. On March 12, 1966, all formalities were settled, and the arriving bulldozers began to clear the site for future construction. During the excavation work, the builders uncovered the ancient burial of the Chumash Indians.
Time-bleached bones appeared on the surface of the earth. As soon as this became known, the modern Chumash Indians literally bombarded the government with demands to stop construction. They spoke about the fact that one should not desecrate sacred places and disturb the peace of the departed.
But for the government, which has invested considerable funds in the purchase of land, the arguments of the Indians sounded unconvincing. Therefore, citing military necessity, the leadership of the Air Force continued the construction of the complex. Then the elder of the Chumash tribe put a curse on the Slick Six and all related projects.
Chumash
Promotional video:
At first, the military chuckled - they considered the beliefs of the Indians to be something like an atavism that had nothing to do with real life. But, as it turned out, in vain - the curse began to work. Despite the fact that the construction of the complex was completed by mid-1969, the creation of the module for which Slick Six was built was delayed. Initially, the first launch was postponed until 1972, and then President Nixon canceled the MOL program altogether.
There was no longer a need for an inhabited laboratory: automatic reconnaissance satellites were much cheaper and seemed to the president more reliable. The complex, on which more than one billion dollars was spent, was mothballed.
The ill-fated project was remembered only in 1984. New crews of workers were hastily preparing the site for the launch of the reusable spacecraft. The cosmodrome seemed just perfect: on three sides it was surrounded by mountains, on the fourth - by the sea, so that an outside observer could only see it for a few moments while driving along the railway. In addition, it was unwise to literally throw away the huge funds spent on the Slick Six.
However, it soon became clear that the costs were to increase: it was impossible to assemble the shuttle directly in the open air, and the existing buildings were not suitable for this. In the end, having spent 79.5 million dollars (instead of the planned forty million), it was possible to create a mobile tower 76 meters high. However, the troubles were just beginning … It turned out that due to frequent fogs, the outer fuel tank of the ship could freeze.
This could lead to a disaster, so the specialists designed a special unit with two turbojet engines, giving a stream of warm air through a diffuser above the tank. But after spending $ 13 million, its inventors made an unexpected statement: they are not sure that the installation will work. And even if it does, it won't completely solve the problem …
The date for the first launch of the shuttle was constantly postponed. Serious problems often arose at the future cosmodrome. Construction reports contain stories of sabotage, drug and alcohol use by workers, and 16-hour welders' workday that is completely unacceptable for Americans.
All this led to the fact that the FBI paid close attention to the Slick Six. The investigation revealed shocking facts: more than 8,000 defective welds were found at the launch site, many pipelines were cut or split, and important valves were clogged with construction debris.
Due to improperly designed gas pipes, liquid hydrogen could accumulate in them, draining from the ship's propulsion engines in the event of an emergency launch cancellation, which would lead to an explosion. In addition, the shuttle's attachment to the launch barrel turned out to be too rigid, so the ship could receive serious damage to the wing of the orbital stage even at the start.
And after discussing the results of the investigation, experts began to call the cosmodrome "disposable". They predicted that after the first launch of the shuttle, the launch complex would simply collapse. In one of the radio broadcasts, Slick Six was called "an accident waiting in the wings" and predicted that a shuttle launched from it would explode with a 20% probability.
But, despite the obvious imperfections, the Air Force insisted on the commissioning of the cosmodrome. This was required by the political moment. On October 15, 1985, President Reagan announced the next giant step in the Space Shuttle program - the completion of the launch and landing complex at Vandenberg AFB.
The first launch was scheduled for mid-1986. The ship was to be piloted by Robert Crippen, and the Deputy Minister of the Air Force planned to enter the crew. But after the Challengesra disaster on January 28, 1986, the Slick Six was again mothballed. From the launch complex worth about eight billion dollars, not a single launch vehicle, not a single satellite was launched!
For the third time, the complex underwent another modification in the early 90s. last century. In 1994 the long-suffering complex was rented by the Lockheed company. This time, the Slick Six was planned to be used to launch a new family of carriers, Athena. On August 15, 1995, a communications satellite was launched. It was carried by a small LLV-1 rocket.
It seemed that the curse of the Indians was over: the start was successful. But after three minutes of flight, the rocket suddenly changed course several times, and then … flew back towards the California coast! The landfill security officers had no choice but to blow it up over the Pacific Ocean.
After a long investigation into the causes of the accident, modifications were made to the design of the launch vehicle and a new launch was planned. This time NASA became the customer. The National Space Agency was planning to launch the Lewis science satellite. At first, the project seemed to be a success. At least the rocket launched on August 22, 1997 has reached orbit.
But after four days "Lewis" lost control, began to somersault, exhausted the battery life and at any moment could fall into the atmosphere. This is exactly what happened after a month of unsuccessful attempts to regain control of the apparatus. On September 28, 1997, Lewis left orbit and burned up in the atmosphere over the South Atlantic Ocean.
After the accident, the complex was left alone for almost two years. But the Lockheed Martin company decided to make another attempt to overcome the curse of the Indians. April 27, 1999 was another sad date in the history of astronautics. A commercial satellite was launched aboard the Athena 2 rocket from the Slick Six. He was supposed to take pictures and send high-resolution images to Earth. As in the previous time, the start was successful.
But soon the telemetry from the carrier stopped receiving, and the ground station in Alaska did not find the satellite. "Debriefing" ended with a disappointing conclusion: probably, the fairing did not separate from the upper stage, as a result of which the latter did not develop the appropriate speed and the satellite could not reach orbit …
Despite the chain of failures that literally follow the launch pad, there are still people willing to use it. Since 2000, the complex passed to the Boeing company. It was converted to launch Delta-4 missiles.
In 2006, the Delta IV Medium rocket was successfully launched. Then there were several more launches, which were also considered successful. Is the curse of the Indians finally lifted? It is known that the curse can be removed by those who imposed it. So maybe the Boeing management turned to the Chumash Indians and tried to find some kind of compromise?