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Strategic Defense Initiative
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The Strategic Defense Initiative, nicknamed the Star Wars program, was a proposed missile defense system intended to protect the United States from attack by ballistic nuclear missiles. The program wa
The bright spikes extending below the initial fireball of one of 1952's Operation Tumbler–Snapper test shots, are known as the "rope trick effect". Th
The bright spikes extending below the initial fireball of one of 1952's Operation Tumbler–Snapper test shots, are known as the "rope trick effect". They are caused by the intense flash of thermal/soft X-rays released by the explosion heating the steel tower guy-wires white hot. The development of the W71 and the Project Excalibur x-ray laser were based on enhancing the destructive effects of these x-rays.
Extended Range Interceptor (ERINT) launch from White Sands Missile Range
Extended Range Interceptor (ERINT) launch from White Sands Missile Range
13 ft (4 m) diameter web deployed by Homing Overlay Experiment
13 ft (4 m) diameter web deployed by Homing Overlay Experiment
The 1984 SDI concept of a space based Nuclear reactor pumped laser or a chemical hydrogen fluoride laser satellite resulted in this 1984 artist's conc
The 1984 SDI concept of a space based Nuclear reactor pumped laser or a chemical hydrogen fluoride laser satellite resulted in this 1984 artist's concept of a laser-equipped satellite firing on another, causing a momentum change in the target object by laser ablation. Before having to cool and re-aim at further possible targets.
Brilliant Pebbles
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Brilliant Pebbles was a United States space-based ballistic missile defense system proposed by Lowell Wood and Edward Teller of Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in 1987, near the end of the Cold
Strategic Defense Initiative
…such a system was even possible. After the publication of the APS report, SDI's budget was cut. By the late 1980s, the effort had re-focused on the "Brilliant Pebbles" concept using small orbiting missiles. Declassified intelligence material revealed that through the potential neutralization of its arsenal and resulting…
A pebble emerges from its "life jacket" just prior to launch. This is an earlier model before the GPALS upgrades.
A pebble emerges from its "life jacket" just prior to launch. This is an earlier model before the GPALS upgrades.
Daniel Graham proposed the Smart Rocks concept that ultimately led to Brilliant Pebbles.
Daniel Graham proposed the Smart Rocks concept that ultimately led to Brilliant Pebbles.
James Abrahamson, director of the SDIO, initially dismissed the Smart Rocks concept, but later selected a modified version for the SDI mission.
James Abrahamson, director of the SDIO, initially dismissed the Smart Rocks concept, but later selected a modified version for the SDI mission.
Bush and Quayle remained vocal supporters of the program as the strategic outlook changed with the ending of the Cold War.
Bush and Quayle remained vocal supporters of the program as the strategic outlook changed with the ending of the Cold War.