NMD test

None

[17th Miss Regt]

NMD test underway, missile plume in western sky over Vandenburg...

[Chad Fairbanks]

Someday, I'm going to get the video into the computer to sahre with my fellow freepers... I especially like the part in the video where, as the camera is turning, it takes a direct hit in the lens, and for a little bit everything is spinning around and around aiming towards the sky... ;0)

[StriperSniper]

U.S. Missile Shield Test Hits Target - Pentagon
Fri Mar 15,10:12 PM ET

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A projectile weapon destroyed a mock warhead in space over the Pacific Ocean after accurately choosing the target over three nearby decoy balloons in a successful test of the U.S. missile defense program, the Pentagon (news - web sites) said on Friday.

"Intercept was achieved at 9:41 p.m. (EST)," Defense Department spokeswoman Cheryl Irwin said.

It was the fourth test since 1999 to be successful in U.S. efforts to develop a shield against a missile attack from potentially hostile states such as North Korea (news - web sites), Iran and Iraq.

Friday's test, costing more than $100 million, deployed three inflated balloons in space to see if a test weapon could be diverted from tracking and colliding with a dummy warhead launched westward over the ocean from California. Previous tests had used only one decoy balloon.

Russia and China oppose the planned U.S. missile shield, saying it could lead to an arms race. But the United States is withdrawing from the 1972 anti-ballistic missile (ABM) treaty between Moscow and Washington and pressing ahead with increased determination after the Sept. 11 attacks on America.

In the test, a projectile weapon fired from Kwajalein Atoll in the Pacific intercepted and destroyed a mock warhead launched from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, about 4,800 miles away.

[danielobvt]

Interesting question- Whenever we get this thing to work reliably, what happens to the nuclear material that remains from the warhead? Does it survive the entering the atmosphere a later time. Still better than it coming down intact and exploding, but I do wonder.

[Spruce]

He shoots...He SCORES!

[17th Miss Regt]

The energy of the impact generally vaporizes the warhead. That includes the nuclear material. It is dispersed over a large area. Any surviving bits of the warhead will be vaporized as they reenter the atmosphere.

[kickme]

Yo, we're out near Palm Springs and the sky really lit up for this launch. It was very nice to be expecting the launch thanks to FR!