Word: rocketings
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...That would cause mass loss of life, but could leave most U.S. retaliatory capacity intact. Boost-phase interception, however, is generally considered to be the key to an even partially effective defense. That is when the enemy projectiles are easiest to find: the intense heat of a missile's rocket thrusters, concedes the anti-S.D.I. Union of Concerned Scientists, makes it stand out "like a firefly in a darkened room." That is also when a missile defense is most efficient: a single hit, by a laser beam, for instance, can destroy ten warheads at once. In post-boost...
Boost-phase interception would be carried out by low-orbit satellites firing rockets out of pods. A rocket would accelerate to the vicinity of a rising missile, then release a homing vehicle that would be guided by sensors and thrusters to a head-on collision with the missile. But as many as 20,000 rockets orbiting aboard many hundreds of satellites might be required to keep enough within range of Soviet launch sites at all times to fend off a full- scale missile onslaught...
...course interception, batteries of ground-based rockets might be fired into the upper atmosphere. Each rocket would release a swarm of so- called smart rocks--vehicles powered by little thrusters and guided by tiny sensors--to hit warheads and decoys in space. An alternative is to fire the smart rocks out of devices called rail guns placed in orbit. The rail guns use a burst of electric current to accelerate the smart rocks along a rail. One problem is sheer numbers: immense swarms of smart rocks would be needed to hit warheads and decoys indiscriminately. The other option, picking...
Missile defenses could also be foiled. Boost times could be shortened, perhaps to as little as 50 sec., by equipping attack missiles with more powerful rocket thrusters and toughening their skins so that they could withstand a faster trip through the atmosphere. Missiles could also be made to spin like rifle bullets, so that laser or particle beams could not dwell on one spot, and be given reflective coatings to deflect or diffuse the beams. To be sure, the Soviets would pay a price: such measures would reduce the numbers of warheads and decoys that a missile could carry...
...week, Attorney Allen Millstone pointed sadly to his wheelchair-bound client. In 1983 James Higgins had been a vigorous young man of 18 when he went to Disneyland and took a ride on Space Mountain. As the roller coaster rounded a bend, the youth was suddenly thrown from the rocket car. Through Disney's negligence, argued Millstone, Higgins is a paraplegic. Twenty-four hundred miles away in Florida, in another Orange County courtroom, an equally sad story was unfolding. While Marietta and Harry Goode listened closely, Lawyer Philip Freidin recounted a tragic 1977 family outing to Disney World during which...