Word: booster
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...Shooting down a missile is no walk in the park. As the interceptor and target approach each other at six miles a second, the smallest problem means failure. A 2002 test bombed after the interceptor didn't separate from its booster. The reason: A single pin on a tiny integrated circuit broke after being violently shaken during the flight. Foam that had been there to protect the pin on prior flights had been removed, supposedly to improve the system's reliability. A 2004 test failed because an error in one line of computer code kept the interceptor grounded. The most...
...that will unleash a dozen or more mini-interceptors to destroy all potential warheads. "This reduces the burden on sensors and algorithms, which no longer need to be programmed to select one, best target," the Pentagon says. Of course, a better interceptor won't be worth much if the booster designed to hurl it into space stays stuck in its silo because of rusty parts or sloppy software...
...statements came after days of speculation over North Korean's nuclear weapons and missile development programs. According to South Korean and Japanese news reports over the weekend that cited unnamed diplomatic sources in Washington, Seoul and Tokyo, North Korea has apparently fueled numerous booster rockets capable of launching a Taepodong-2 missile in the country's northeast. The Taepodong-2 is believed to possess a range capable of hitting Alaska. U.S. and Japanese government spokesmen have both warned North Korea not to conduct a test. White House spokesman Tony Snow told CNN on Sunday that if North Korea goes ahead...
...easily exposed. So management is better off being direct and transparent with the stakeholders. At Harvard, the alumni-elected Board of Overseers, at least, has to buy into important changes planned by the President and Fellows. In recent years, this secondary governing board has been used largely as a booster club. People are more important than structure. Creating titles and redrawing organization charts do not solve real problems. Any structure can work if the people in it are good and are dedicated to a common purpose; no structure can make up for inexperience and lack of direction of the people...
...Unlike the TSA's troubled and controversial use of computer databases to scan for individuals whose names occur on passenger "watch lists," SPOT is based on observing passenger behavior. George Naccara, the TSA's Federal Security Director who has been overseeing the SPOT program in Boston, is a big booster. "This system is conducted by trained personnel and closely monitored by supervisors," he says. "It provides another significant layer of security...