Bad weather delay
Feb. 20th, 2008 06:53 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
danalwynThe satellite shot was delayed by bad weather.
Bad weather.
The key component in the Navy's anti-ballistic missile defense adaptation for the AEGIS system cannot bring down the satellite in one shot because of bad weather.
Now, I understand that this is a tricky shot. You certainly don't want to shoot more than once, so you might wait for the second orbit to get a clear shot. And you're certainly not using the missile for its intended purpose, you have to jury-rig the whole thing. And you don't want more of a public relations disaster than you already have.
But bad weather? The scary implication at the bottom of this is that the US Navy's defense system might not work in bad weather. And somehow, I find that completely believable, and not very comforting at all.
Bad weather.
The key component in the Navy's anti-ballistic missile defense adaptation for the AEGIS system cannot bring down the satellite in one shot because of bad weather.
Now, I understand that this is a tricky shot. You certainly don't want to shoot more than once, so you might wait for the second orbit to get a clear shot. And you're certainly not using the missile for its intended purpose, you have to jury-rig the whole thing. And you don't want more of a public relations disaster than you already have.
But bad weather? The scary implication at the bottom of this is that the US Navy's defense system might not work in bad weather. And somehow, I find that completely believable, and not very comforting at all.
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(no subject)
Date: 2008-02-21 04:06 am (UTC)CNN's reporting it now too --
http://www.cnn.com/2008/TECH/space/02/20/satellite.shootdown/index.html
(no subject)
Date: 2008-02-21 06:09 am (UTC)We can now hit a non-maneuvering straight-trajectory target.
Seeing as we've only done that in tests with the real missile defense system about half the time, I think the Navy should give itself a cigar.