unknown origin.
Enter the Coil
By Tariq Malik
Staff Writer
posted: 17 November 2004
6:30 a.m. ET
The U.S. military is gearing up to test what might be the ultimate version of laser tag.
With a successful ground test in the bag, the Missile Defense Agency is pushing forward with plans for an Airborne
Laser (ABL), a Boeing 747 freighter aircraft with a laser-tipped nose designed to destroy ballistic missiles as they
rocket through the sky.
The defense system's primary weapon -- a megawatt-class chemical laser beam -- passed an initial ground-based
test last week and a number subsystems have been integrated into the ABL aircraft, Missile Defense Agency
(MDA) officials told SPACE.com. If all goes well, a integrated prototype of the Airborne Laser will soon be shooting
down missiles in tests over the Pacific Ocean.
"This is a wonderful moment for the Missile Defense Agency and the proponents of a ballistic missile defense
around the world," said Col. Ellen Pawlikowski, ABL program director, during a Nov. 12 statement announcing
the successful ground-firing.
Under development since 1996, the $1.1-billion ABL project aims to use a powerful, turret-mounted laser to disable
enemy ballistic missiles during their boost phase by heating a basket-ball sized portion of the projectile's skin until
it buckles.
Because of it's speed-of-light ability to kill, the ABL is the only system under testing that is able to detect and
engage enemy missiles in their most vulnerable boost phases, MDA Airborne Laser officials said in response to
written questions.
The Missile Defense Agency and U.S. Air Force is working in tandem with Boeing, Northrop Grumman and
Lockheed Martin to develop the flying laser system. Boeing is providing the aircraft, battle management and
system integration, while Northrup Grumman has developed the laser and Lockheed Martin the weapon's flight
turret.
Some ABL developers have said integrated flight tests could occur by the end of the year. In a Nov. 12
announcement, MDA officials said tests of the ABL's main laser would take several months, as engineers fine-tune
the weapon and work to increase its firing time.
Lasers in the sky
While the primary weapon behind the ABL missile defense system is its Chemical, Oxygen, Iodine Laser (COIL),
the aircraft is equipped with three other lasers and six infrared sensors that detect, track and target enemy targets.
None of the ABL lasers -- including its primary weapon -- are visible to the naked eye, though MDA officials said
they could be imaged in the infrared spectrum.
Six COIL modules -- each the size of a Chevy Suburban sport utitlity vehicle set on end -- work together to produce
ABL's megawatt energy beam, which set fire to dust particles as it burned into a metal wall during a Nov. 10
ground test at Edwards Air Force Base in California. The entire test lasted just a fraction of a second.
"What's important is that the COIL produced photons," Pawlikowski said. "This proves the laser hardware is ready
to go."
The COIL system is fueled by a syrupy mix of hydrogen, oxygen and salts that combine to make Basic Hydrogen
Peroxide, a volatile compound about 20 times more viscous than water, MDA officials said.
Battle management
Picking the most threatening target from a group of missiles, destroying it and moving on to the next one during a
battle would have to occur faster than human gunners could operate, MDA officials said.
MDA designers anticipate enemy missiles to travel an average of about 4,000 miles (6,437 kilometers) an hour, and
require a firing system capably of destroying those targets from distance of 100 miles (160 kilometers).
Instead, a computerized battle management system developed by Boeing controls the system, with human
weapons crewmembers setting operational limits and providing any necessary mission modifications in flight. The
system has successfully tracked Minutemen 2 and Lance missiles, as well as the afterburner plumes of F-16 jets.
MDA officials said the first ABL aircraft will serve as a research and development prototype, though it may have
some "residual operational capability" once testing is complete.
Building the turret
Once ground tests are completed, the COIL modules will be installed in the aft end of the ABL aircraft, which
Boeing engineers have extensively modified to handle the missile defense system. MDA officials said aircraft
engineers left almost no part of the freighter untouched during its two-year refitting.
Perhaps the aircraft's most noticeable outward change to Boeing's 747-400 freighter is the bulbous turret that
houses a 5-foot (1.5-meter) telescope serving as the exit point for the ABL weapon.
Designed to whip around and target enemy missiles, the ball-shaped turret is 10 feet (3 meters) in diameter and
housed in an assembly that stretches 14 feet (4.2 meters) long, said Paul Shattuck, ABL technical lead at Lockheed
Martin, in a telephone interview.
Composite materials keep the turret's weight to about 11,000 pounds (4,989 kilograms) which while heavy is much
less than if it were built out of aluminum or other traditional aircraft materials, he added.
"This is all first-of-a-kind hardware," Shattuck said. "I'm excited and I can't wait to get it in the air."
And now for something completely different...
October, 11th, 2004
Comet Crashing Mission Prepped For Launch
By Leonard David
Senior Space Writer
posted: 08 October 2004
09:02 pm ET
BOULDER, COLORADO -- Engineers here at Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corporation are readying NASA’s
Deep Impact mission for shipping this month to Cape Canaveral, Florida.
Next stop: Comet Tempel 1.
A NASA Discovery-class spacecraft, the Deep Impact mission features the "Flyby" spacecraft that releases the
"Impactor", hardware destined to run into with Comet Tempel 1. The spacecraft pair will give scientists their first
close-up look at the interior of a comet.
Both Deep Impact spacecraft have completed the final environmental testing phase, a key step before liftoff of the
mission this coming December. The two Deep Impact spacecraft have undergone extensive thermal vacuum,
electromagnetic conductance, electromagnetic interference, vibration and acoustic testing.
Cosmic rear-ender
Objective of the mission is to study the pristine interior of a comet by excavating a huge crater in Comet Tempel 1.
Once set free from the Flyby spacecraft, the Impactor may form a football stadium-sized crater in the comet that
could be as deep as 14-stories.
This cosmic rear-ender comes on America’s Independence Day: July 4, 2005.
The Impactor spacecraft will be vaporized upon impact with the comet. Both comet and spacecraft will be traveling
at closing speeds in excess of 23,000 miles per hour upon impact.
Witness to the impact
Deep Impact’s telescopes, cameras and spectrometer aboard the Flyby spacecraft will witness the impact and
return data on the pristine material in the crater and the material ejected by the impact. The High Resolution
Imager aboard the Flyby spacecraft will be one of the largest interplanetary telescopes ever flown in order to record
the details of the collision.
Meanwhile, the Impactor spacecraft will also provide close-encounter photos of the comet just prior to impact,
giving scientists the most complete view of a comet to date.
Getting a first view of pristine material inside a comet should prove invaluable to the scientific community.
Archeological dig
In a very real sense, the Deep Impact mission is an archeological dig.
Comets contain, in a frozen, well-preserved environment, the interstellar materials that were present at the time our
solar system was formed. Comets are thought to have brought the organic materials necessary for life to develop
on Earth.
The surface of comets is unknown and could range from a hard, icy crust to thin and fragile ice held together by
gases or liquid. Deep Impact is the first mission to make contact with a comet’s surface, but instead of landing a
spacecraft on Tempel 1, the spacecraft will make a small "dent" in the large comet to reveal what is underneath the
black, icy surface.
Deep Impact’s principal investigator is Michael A'Hearn of the University of Maryland. The project has been
underway since late 1999.
Ground observing parties
Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corporation, in association with the University of Maryland and the Jet Propulsion
Laboratory (JPL), is developing and integrating the Flyby spacecraft, the Impactor spacecraft, and science
instruments, including two telescopes, two cameras and a spectrometer for analyzing the interior of the comet.
"There is a great deal of activity on the Deep Impact project these days and the project team is hard at work to
track it all," reports Lucy McFadden, Deep Impact science team co-investigator at the University of Maryland.
A select number of ground-based telescopes will observe the Deep Impact encounter in July 2005, she added, and
those observations will place Deep Impact mission data in perspective.
Deep Impact is the eighth mission in NASA’s Discovery Program, and the first mission to ever attempt impact with
a comet nucleus in an effort to probe beneath its surface.
This has the correct military implications... Perhaps the penetration of a large soon to
be appearing mothership bearing a message of war... We are in an urgent situation
calling for extreme measures. Luckily this time we're ready. A treaty with some is
better than none. FRJ
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