[FPSPACE] : Weapons in space

[Allen Thomson]

> Interceptors will only follow a ballistic arc if they don't work, and then 
> they'll probably burn up in the atmosphere.

Random factoid:

I had a blessedly brief exposure to what was then the NMD program Nov 1996 - 
Aug 1997, working in the countermeasures part but getting briefed on overall 
system characteristics.  (What's going into Alaska now is essentially  the 
same thing.)  In order to get full coverage of the US from Alaska against 
hypothesized threats, the interceptor boosters have to be really hot 
rockets, with burnout velocities of more than 8 km/s. In some intercept 
geometries, a kill vehicle that misses the target will find itself in orbit. 
Most won't, it's true.