Y2K crisis averted and missile monitor center is no longer needed

No missiles launched by mistake over the New Year holiday and that means a special military facility set up in Colorado is no longer needed. It turns out no news was good news and the Y2K Cold War crisis is over.

In December, the United States and Russia joined forces and set up a special facility at the Peterson Air Force Base. The facility monitored missiles from both countries to make sure a Y2K bug didn’t get into a computer and launch a missile by mistake. There was fear that a radar failure could be taken as a threat or that a Y2K bug would misidentify a commercial aircraft as a bomber. None of those things happened, everything was quiet on New Year’s Eve and beyond so the joint radar tracking facility is no longer needed.

Russia and the United States had agreed beforehand to refrain from scheduling any launches while the center was operating.

The Center for Year 2000 Strategic Stability shut its doors after holding a ceremony to commemorate the collaborative facility. American and Russian offer worked together around-the-clock watching for long-range missile and rocket launches. At the ceremony, officers from both delegations called the mission a milestone in the relationship between the former Cold War rivals.

``We have made another journey down the road of cooperation and towards peace,'' Maj. Gen. Tom Goslin, director of operations for the U.S. Space Command told the group gathered for the closing ceremony.

Source: Associated Press

DATE: 1/17/2000

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