Word: zap
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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...satellite hurtled along at 17,000 m.p.h. A 35-lb. instrument package, no larger than a gallon can, separated from the rocket. Guided by infrared sensors that could detect the warmth of the satellite and powered by 64 tiny jet rockets, the cylinder closed in on its target. Zap! The two bodies collided at a combined speed of almost 27,000 m.p.h. The satellite was destroyed...
...those things that spice up a long drive through the boondocks. Keeping one eye on the highway and the other a half-mile up the road to sniff out a speed trap; perfecting the technique of hitting the brakes--but not too hard--when you see Smokey zap you with his radar gun; offering a revolutionary excuse to the trooper as he asks for your license and registration--these are all classic features of intercity travel in America...
This interest is more than a bit paradoxical. Europeans remain as dubious as ever that an effective missile defense can be built at all, and fear that it would endanger rather than protect them if it could be. The reasoning: the system could zap Soviet missiles headed for the U.S. but not those aimed at Western Europe, because flight times to targets there are so short. In addition, if the U.S. had a defensive shell, it might be less likely to go on | viewing its security and that of Western Europe as inextricably linked. Europe's safety can be guaranteed...
...Soviets have a number of reasons for opposing Star Wars. They are fearful of American technological prowess and they are prone to dote on worst-case scenarios. Reagan's dream of space-based battle stations that could zap missiles out of the sky is a Soviet military planner's nightmare. In order to counter such a U.S. capability, the Soviets would have to expand and overhaul their entire offensive arsenal and probably undertake a huge defensive buildup of their own. The mega-rubles involved would have to be diverted from the nonmilitary sectors of the economy, where Gorbachev faces...
Weapons that could attack the warheads differ somewhat by stage of flight, but--and this is a faintly cheering thought to Star Wars researchers--most are $ adaptable to more than one phase. The systems that could zap missiles in boost generally could also hit warheads in post-boost, mid-course and perhaps even re-entry phases. A rundown of the potential missile and warhead killers that are getting the most attention from scientists...