{"id":328827,"date":"2010-02-16T13:28:19","date_gmt":"2010-02-16T18:28:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.discovermagazine.com\/80beats\/?p=10365"},"modified":"2010-02-16T13:28:19","modified_gmt":"2010-02-16T18:28:19","slug":"laser-bearing-jumbo-jet-shoots-down-its-first-missile-80beats","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/328827","title":{"rendered":"Laser-Bearing Jumbo Jet Shoots Down Its First Missile | 80beats"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Success! The video below shows a test the military ran off the California coast last week, in which a modified Boeing 747 carrying a <a rel=\"nofollow\"  href=\"http:\/\/blogs.discovermagazine.com\/80beats\/tag\/lasers\/\">laser<\/a> used it to shoot down a test missile; it was the first time a laser weapon has destroyed a missile in its booster stage. DISCOVER covered <a rel=\"nofollow\"  href=\"http:\/\/blogs.discovermagazine.com\/80beats\/2008\/09\/10\/military-tests-new-missile-defense-system-lasers-mounted-on-jumbo-jets\/\">the first flight tests<\/a> of this system back in 2008.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" class=\"embeddedvideo\" type=\"application\/x-shockwave-flash\" width=\"425\" height=\"344\" src=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/v\/vkJSjP2Wcl0&amp;hl=en_US&amp;fs=1&amp;\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>The liquid-fueled<span style=\"color:#1c39bb;\"> rocket \u2013 thought to be a Scud-B, similar to those being developed by Iran and North Korea \u2013 was fired from a ship off the coast California on 11 February [<a rel=\"nofollow\"  href=\"http:\/\/www.newscientist.com\/article\/dn18530-star-wars-is-a-mere-phantom-menace-to-missiles.html\"><em>New Scientist<\/em><\/a>]<\/span>. The plane locked in its tracking lasers, and then unleashed a chemical laser that burned a hole in the side of the missile to blow it up. The Missile Defense Agency ran three total tests, two of which were successful.<\/p>\n<p><span id=\"more-10365\"><\/span>Despite these successes, the news isn&#8217;t good for the airborne laser program. <span style=\"color:#1c39bb;\">Most scientists are pretty sceptical of missile defence. Once fast-moving warheads are in space, they are tough to intercept, and decoys can easily fool even the best systems [<a rel=\"nofollow\"  href=\"http:\/\/blogs.nature.com\/news\/thegreatbeyond\/2010\/02\/lasers_what_cant_they_shoot_do.html\"><em>Nature<\/em><\/a>]<\/span>. This system&#8217;s approach\u2014targeting the warhead while it&#8217;s still attached to the rocket\u2014makes targeting easier, but it means that you must be able to strike within minutes of the missile&#8217;s launch.<\/p>\n<p>As a result, President Obama <a rel=\"nofollow\"  href=\"http:\/\/www.spacenews.com\/military\/100212-airborne-laser-goes-two-for-three-1st-intercept-tests.html\">has pulled back<\/a> on airborne lasers. There are no other tests scheduled for this year, and the Missile Defense Agency, which manages the program, requested no money for it next year.<\/p>\n<p>Related Content:<br \/>\n80beats: <a rel=\"nofollow\"  href=\"http:\/\/blogs.discovermagazine.com\/80beats\/2008\/09\/10\/military-tests-new-missile-defense-system-lasers-mounted-on-jumbo-jets\/\">Military Tests New Missile Defense System: Lasers Mounted on Jumbo Jets<\/a><br \/>\n80beats: <a rel=\"nofollow\"  href=\"http:\/\/blogs.discovermagazine.com\/80beats\/2010\/01\/19\/could-a-deep-sea-snails-shell-inspire-next-gen-body-armor\/\">Could a Deep Sea Snail&#8217;s Shell Inspire Next-Gen Body Armor?<\/a><br \/>\n80beats: <a rel=\"nofollow\"  href=\"http:\/\/blogs.discovermagazine.com\/80beats\/2009\/11\/04\/dont-tase-me-bro-projectile-taser-can-deliver-shocks-from-200-feet\/\">Military Taser Has 200-Foot Range\u2014And Safety Concerns<\/a><br \/>\n80beats: <a rel=\"nofollow\"  href=\"http:\/\/blogs.discovermagazine.com\/80beats\/2010\/01\/07\/scientists-predict-the-2010s-will-be-freakin-awesome%E2%80%94with-lasers\/\">Scientists Predict: The 2010s Will Be Freakin&#8217; Awesome\u2014With Lasers<\/a><\/p>\n<p><em>Video: Missile Defense Agency<\/em><\/p>\n<p><a rel=\"nofollow\"  href=\"http:\/\/feedads.g.doubleclick.net\/~a\/ttl5vn25xkhzQx9i6vjmRCI-KN0\/0\/da\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/feedads.g.doubleclick.net\/~a\/ttl5vn25xkhzQx9i6vjmRCI-KN0\/0\/di\" border=\"0\" ismap><\/a><br \/>\n<a rel=\"nofollow\"  href=\"http:\/\/feedads.g.doubleclick.net\/~a\/ttl5vn25xkhzQx9i6vjmRCI-KN0\/1\/da\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/feedads.g.doubleclick.net\/~a\/ttl5vn25xkhzQx9i6vjmRCI-KN0\/1\/di\" border=\"0\" ismap><\/a><\/p>\n<div class=\"feedflare\">\n<a rel=\"nofollow\"  href=\"http:\/\/feeds.feedburner.com\/~ff\/80beats?a=Zj0Egz4LO0g:V6NOaUGoArk:yIl2AUoC8zA\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/feeds.feedburner.com\/~ff\/80beats?d=yIl2AUoC8zA\" border=\"0\"><\/a> <a rel=\"nofollow\"  href=\"http:\/\/feeds.feedburner.com\/~ff\/80beats?a=Zj0Egz4LO0g:V6NOaUGoArk:V_sGLiPBpWU\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/feeds.feedburner.com\/~ff\/80beats?i=Zj0Egz4LO0g:V6NOaUGoArk:V_sGLiPBpWU\" border=\"0\"><\/a> <a rel=\"nofollow\"  href=\"http:\/\/feeds.feedburner.com\/~ff\/80beats?a=Zj0Egz4LO0g:V6NOaUGoArk:gIN9vFwOqvQ\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/feeds.feedburner.com\/~ff\/80beats?i=Zj0Egz4LO0g:V6NOaUGoArk:gIN9vFwOqvQ\" border=\"0\"><\/a> <a rel=\"nofollow\"  href=\"http:\/\/feeds.feedburner.com\/~ff\/80beats?a=Zj0Egz4LO0g:V6NOaUGoArk:F7zBnMyn0Lo\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/feeds.feedburner.com\/~ff\/80beats?i=Zj0Egz4LO0g:V6NOaUGoArk:F7zBnMyn0Lo\" border=\"0\"><\/a>\n<\/div>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/feeds.feedburner.com\/~r\/80beats\/~4\/Zj0Egz4LO0g\" height=\"1\" width=\"1\"\/><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/feeds.feedburner.com\/~r\/DiscoverMag\/~4\/e7f0-EoxwNI\" height=\"1\" width=\"1\"\/><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Success! The video below shows a test the military ran off the California coast last week, in which a modified Boeing 747 carrying a laser used it to shoot down a test missile; it was the first time a laser weapon has destroyed a missile in its booster stage. DISCOVER covered the first flight tests [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":641,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-328827","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/328827","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/641"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=328827"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/328827\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=328827"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=328827"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=328827"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}