Also the firing igniter is prepared and put in place. Inside the control room, it is a veritable beehive of excitement and action with tension dense enough to cut. Signals of range safety networks are coming into the monitoring switch board communications are humming with contacts to all points of the range last minute weather checks, reports of radar or camera troubles or readiness, etc. The Range readiness board is under continual monitoring, for all the stations. At X-3 the last flare goes up and the base sirens are sounded.
Personnel take their positions for either operating equipment or observing.
Safetymen have been standing by water valves to control outside spray lines for emergency. This is an important split-second decision and one upon which the success or failure of the extremely expensive flight fully depends. At this point all earthly connections are dropped by the missile and it stands shuddering under it s own power as the roar of its combustion motor reaches a deafening pitch. Only the roar persisting above serves to approximate what it is doing, until the radar station starts reporting on altitude. Inside the recorders are keeping electronic contact and the radar station continues to report the progress of the flight.