Posted on 03/27/2002 9:30:08 PM PST by green team 1999
Wednesday, 27 March, 2002, 16:41 GMT
Sudden impact in space
Heading for the edge of space, the interceptor takes off
By Dr David Whitehouse
BBC News Online science editor
The United States has released details of its latest test involving the interception of a missile target in space, part of what used to be called the Star Wars project.
It took place over the central Pacific Ocean on 15 March when a modified Minuteman Intercontinental Ballistic Missile (ICBM) was launched from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California.
The prototype interceptor was launched 20 minutes later 7,725 kilometres (4,800 miles) away from Kwajalein Atoll, in the Marshall Islands.
Just before impact: The target is on the left, the impactor on the right
Ten minutes after the interceptor was launched, when it was at an altitude of 225 km (140 miles) above the Earth, it smashed into the target missile, destroying it completely.
According to analysts, the test, the fourth success out of six attempts, demonstrates that a so-called exoatmospheric kill vehicle (EKV) is able to intercept and destroy a long-range ballistic missile.
This would form an essential part of any "Star Wars" defence system, should it be deployed.
Coordinated system
To enable the EKV to reach its target required a wide range of different systems and technologies to work together in just a few minutes with little margin for error.
It involved detecting the launch of the target missile, alerting the early warning radar to provide more detailed information about its trajectory.
The interceptor undergoes final checks
It also required the use of a prototype radar system based at Kwajalein to provide precise target data to the EKV via a high-speed communications link.
The EKV separated from its rocket booster more than 2,250 km (1,400 miles) from the target warhead. After separation, it used on-board infrared and visual sensors, augmented with Kwajalein radar data, to locate, track and collide with the target.
Sensors aboard the EKV also successfully selected the target instead of three balloon decoys.
Although the Cold War has ended, many analysts believe that the threat of an attack on the United States by long-range ballistic missiles remains real because many countries have ballistic missiles.
Some of them, the US says, are working on weapons of mass destruction: nuclear, chemical or biological.
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