WASHINGTON, Jan. 25 — The U.S. Air Force and three contractors on Thursday announced a successful test of optical systems that a space-based laser would use to shoot down ballistic missiles.
THE SIX-SECOND TEST, carried out Dec. 8 in a California vacuum chamber that simulates space conditions, yielded important data on focusing a high-energy beam to zap a “distant boosting missile target,” the contractors said.
Lockheed Martin, TRW and Boeing have teamed up in the $240 million technology demonstration program, aimed at putting an experimental laser in space in 2012.
Under the current funding, a space-based laser would try to shoot down a dummy ballistic missile in 2013, en route to possible deployment as part of a layered missile shield for the United States and its allies.
The program could pick up steam if President George W. Bush opts to incorporate space-based weapons in his campaign promises to beef up former President Bill Clinton’s limited, land-based missile defense program. The Clinton program was projected by the Congressional Budget Office to cost at least $60 billion.
The test last month fed a laser beam through a 13-foot (4-meter) “beam director” telescope to gauge optical pointing and alignment while the laser was firing.
“The test was a solid success,” Col. Neil McCasland, director of the Air Force’s space-based laser project office, said in a statement released by the contractors.
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http://www.msnbc.com/news/521533.asp
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THE SIX-SECOND TEST, carried out Dec. 8 in a California vacuum chamber that simulates space conditions, yielded important data on focusing a high-energy beam to zap a “distant boosting missile target,” the contractors said.
Lockheed Martin, TRW and Boeing have teamed up in the $240 million technology demonstration program, aimed at putting an experimental laser in space in 2012.
Under the current funding, a space-based laser would try to shoot down a dummy ballistic missile in 2013, en route to possible deployment as part of a layered missile shield for the United States and its allies.
The program could pick up steam if President George W. Bush opts to incorporate space-based weapons in his campaign promises to beef up former President Bill Clinton’s limited, land-based missile defense program. The Clinton program was projected by the Congressional Budget Office to cost at least $60 billion.
The test last month fed a laser beam through a 13-foot (4-meter) “beam director” telescope to gauge optical pointing and alignment while the laser was firing.
“The test was a solid success,” Col. Neil McCasland, director of the Air Force’s space-based laser project office, said in a statement released by the contractors.
Want to learn more?
http://www.msnbc.com/news/521533.asp
------------------
"I'd like an order of fries, a quarter pounder with cheese, I love the light in your eyes, would you go out with me please? I am in love with a McDonald's Girl, she has a smile of innocence so tender and warm, she is an angel in a polyester uniform."