Missile shield test fizzles out

[MadisonProgressive]

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6968453/

Missile shield test fizzles out

Interceptor fails to launch, Pentagon says

The Associated Press
Updated: 11:18 a.m. ET Feb. 14, 2005

WASHINGTON - A test of the national missile defense system failed Monday when an interceptor missile did not launch from its island base in the Pacific Ocean, the military said. It was the second failure in months for the experimental program.

A statement from the Missile Defense Agency said the cause of the failure was under investigation.

A spokesman for the agency, Rick Lehner, said the early indications was that there was a malfunction with the ground support equipment at the test range on Kwajalein Island, not with the interceptor missile itself.

If verified, that would be a relief for program officials because it would mean no new problems had been discovered with the missile. Previous failures of these high-profile, $85 million test launches have been regarded as significant setbacks by critics of the program.

[MadisonProgressive]

1. I feel so much safer!!

[underpants]

2. WHEW! at least there isn't anything wrong with the missile

Lehner, said the early indications was that there was a malfunction with the ground support equipment at the test range on Kwajalein Island, not with the interceptor missile itself.

If verified, that would be a relief for program officials because it would mean no new problems had been discovered with the missile.

This is just too sadly funny.

[Jamastiene]

6. yep

repugs have the equipment. They just can't get it up. Hmm. Hmm. I mean they can't get it to launch. Well, it IS impossible to talk about something that is a substitute for inadequate skills with certain body parts.

[aikido15]

28. So, does this mean....

another $80 billion is needed for defense? :mad:

[underpants]

3. It intercepted 5 of the last 8 missiles? Really? When?

Before the Dec. 15 launch, it had been two years since a test. The program had gone five-for-eight in previous attempts to intercept a target.

[jayfish]

18. In The Successful Test(s), If Memory Serves, They Had To Fit...

the dummy target with a radio-beacon in order for the interceptor to track and home-in on it.

Jay

[underpants]

20. I remember ONE such test but not 4 more

The test (if memory serves) you refer to was 3 (?) years ago. They started with 9 decoys...down to 7....down to 5.....down to zero and they added a homing beacon.

[ixion]

22. they've never actually had a truly successful test

the 'successes' they've have have not been true tests, but rather heavily scripted simulations that would not occur in a true instance.

[Jamastiene]

4. Has it ever passed?

I mean I said this was a stupid idea from the get go, unless the government knows something about aliens (ufo kind) that we don't know.

[Karenina]

26. No.

It's a GREEN ELEPHANT!

[Q]

5. Why is this EXPERIMENTAL program being deployed?

Answer: to keep tax dollars flowing to the defense industry / Bush supporters.

[cthrumatrix]

8. bingo --- corporate greed is endless

[Richardo]

7. Here's the irony: Bush said he's cutting programs PROVEN to be ineffective

*crickets chirping*

[underpants]

25. Actually W is proposing a cut in StarWars

Let's see how much "political capital" W spends on that.

I'll bet I could almost hold my breath for as long as this cut will stay alive at the committee level.

http://www.kirotv.com/money/4174662/detail.html

Such woes could be part of the reason missile defense is heading toward a 10% cut in its 2006 budget, to $8.8 billion. MDA spokesman Rick Lehner, contacted before an embargo on the budget was broken, wouldn't comment on the projected spending. But outsiders have no such qualms. "It's a very complex program with a lot of technical issues," notes Steven Kosiak, a defense-budget analyst with the Center for Strategic & Budgetary Assessment, a Washington think tank. "It's hard to spend all that money efficiently."

[louis-t]

27. excellent point

now tell 10 friends. and some media folk.

[Jeff in Cincinnati]

9. On a related note...

This morning the NPR Whore (I forget his name) was talking about missile defense.

He had an "expert" in the studio with him, who said that whether the tests were successful depended on your definition of success. Apparently "shooting down the fucking missile" can't be part of any acceptable definition. The expert was the only person they had on, and he's making all this happy talk about how 80% of the test went right -- apparently "shooting down the fucking missile" was part of the 20% that went wrong.

Anyhoo, about halfway through the interview, the NPR Whore casually reveals that his "expert" is employed by the Missile Defense Agency and is responsible for "evaluating" with program. In other words, he's a PR flack who will write glowing reports for the neo-cons in Washington.

Which brings up the question, isn't it time for liberals to demand the complete defunding and dismantling of public radio? I like classical music as much as the next guy -- provided the next guy isn't a really big fan of classical music -- but I don't see its value compared to the ongoing propaganda that we're being subjected to. Now that we have an emerging liberal talk radio network, maybe it's time to jettison "All Things Considered"

And I don't say this lightly -- I worship Bob Edwards like a pagan god.

[mbperrin]

10. The operation was a complete success!!

Unfortunately, the patient is dead.

[Solon]

13. Don't you mean...

a "Catastrophic" success? :)

[struggle4progress]

42. Now we need only to insure the target missiles never launch either.

We're half way there!

[Solon]

11. Isn't this kinda like someone developing a bullet shield...

by claiming to be able to stop them by shooting more bullets, I hate fucking corporate welfare.

[Jamastiene]

14. Doesn't make sense, does it?

Who came up with this missle defense idea to begin with? Wasn't think one of Reagan's lame brained ideas?

[Solon]

30. What's really sad is that....

They can't even get the fucking missles to launch at all. I mean, c'mon, how much experience do we have at at least doing that? What the hell do they use to put these damned things together again, duct tape and chickenwire?

[ixion]

23. exactly. the basic premise is hitting a bullet with a bullet

which is next to impossible to do.

[PunkPop]

12. "Oops. There goes Boston."

"But I promise, we'll get the next one."

[Oreo]

15. Any of the tests that did "pass" were ridiculous

The interceptor was programmed to know where the target was. Even with all that information, I think a couple of them failed.

And we're forcing this piece of crap system on Canada??

[Rose Siding]

16. "Oh, good grief"

[swag]

17. It doesn't matter

Raytheon will still keep throwing Bush and the Republicans those big Texas Style Barbecues that everybody loves so much, and our great-great-great grandchildren's money will still keep going right down their big Texas-sized toilet.

[applegrove]

19. Perhaps the whole 'trick' is to make Kim 'overcome' with nuturing feelings

and feelings of wanting to protect the USA? Could work! LOL

[alexisfree]

21. there goes our tax money...

[mindem]

24. Yup, another Repuke money hole. N/T

[nadinbrzezinski]

29. gee golly seems we are pouring money down a pit

[indepat]

31. Worry not for those fizzlers will likely ultimately reap tens of billions

of dollars from their failures.

[The_Casual_Observer]

32. The system is as bogus as gwb. It's amusing to watch the proponents

twist and sweat to cast a good light on the results of all of this. They are so rehearsed in their logic that they actually sound convincing at times. I believe the argument that they invoke is that "the physics works". The whole project is nonproductive and a waste of time.

[Supersedeas]

39. cutting programs that DON'T work almost sounds convincing

but it so much easier to cut social safety net programs.

[Q3JR4]

40. ....

A report released by the American Physical Society said that, in fact, the physics does NOT work.

[TrogL]

33. Hee hee haw haw har har har ho ho *snork*

And Dubya wonders why Paul Martin's playing coy with joining in on this.

[Strabo]

34. missiles fizzle?

Fo' shizzle? Err...dizzle? Any word from the White Hizzle?

I'm sorry, someone please shoot me...

[truthisfreedom]

35. *yawn*

somebody wake me when it works.

[PurityOfEssence]

36. Star Wars CANNOT WORK!

The shocking amounts of money lavished upon friends of this and the Reagan-Bush I administrations cannot deny reality. You can't dependably hit a bullet with a bullet. For it to be effective, it'd need to be VERY close to 100% effective, and this doesn't even take into account MIRVs.

This is one of the greatest scams played on the ignorant, dumb and scared in the history of mankind. Think of all the conventional weapons these dicks could have for their world conquest if so much hadn't been spent on fantasy and graft. (Okay, that's one good thing about it...)

Ignorant people shouldn't be allowed to make decisions on subjects that they don't understand. Call it elitism, call it anything you want, but this isn't even close to possible.

Don't take it from an art-spaz like me, take it from my I-kid-you-not Missile Engineer/Physicist dad. He has nothing but disgust for the very proposition.

[Barrett808]

37. No discussion of the missile defense fraud is complete w/o Ted Postol

Here are a few stories on him to get people started:

Technology Review article by MIT Professor Provides Details Behind Recent GAO Report Concluding Missile Defense Testing Results Were Flawed
http://www.technologyreview.com/gen_info/press/pr030702.asp

Postol vs. the Pentagon
http://www.ar-tiste.com/Postol_TechRev_april2002.htm

What's Wrong with Missile Defense
An Interview with Ted Postol
http://www.bostonreview.net/BR26.5/postol.html

[LinuxInsurgent]

38. another waste of our tax dollars...

The Russians surpassed the capabilities of the very system we are wasting money on testing...

Oh...but the system is for Iran and North Korea, you say? Who is to stop Russia from selling its new missiles to Iran and North Korea and making our entire defense shield totally worthless...after billions invested?

There is no conclusive answer to that...we should stop wasting funds on this system.

[coreystone]

41. I heard this on NPR this morning after my morning swim....

It is an interview with Jeremiah Gertler of the "The Center for Strategic and International Studies" (CSIS)
http://www.csis.org/experts/4gertler.htm

I found it to be an extremely interesting interview. In his opinion the "systems" that were being tested were isolated from the "holistic" success of the experiment.. the Interceptor failed to destroy its target. Gertler seems to indicate that the "systems" being tested, in this test, had more to do with the radar and other systems as being the focal point of the test.

Listen Here: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4497895

Push the "LISTEN" button!

:-)

[NNN0LHI]

43. US missile defense test ends in fiasco, second in a row

http://www.turkishpress.com/w.asp?s=u&i=050215021336.zl1dypg3

For the second time in less than two months, a test of the Pentagon's missile defense system has ended in fiasco, with an interceptor missile failing to lift off.

The Missile Defense Agency said the failure became apparent when an interceptor that was supposed to shoot down an incoming target missile carrying a mock warhead did not take off from the Ronald Reagan Test Site located on the Marshall Islands in the central Pacific.

"The reason for not launching is under investigation, and program officials are reviewing data to determine the cause," the agency said in a statement.

The setback was most likely caused by a malfunction of the ground support equipment rather than defects of the missile itself, the officials pointed out.

more

[yinkaafrica]

44. One step back from jump street

[Alpharetta]

45. But it's already been deployed.

Didn't Bush say our missile defense shield has been deployed?

[RobertSeattle]

46. Using the Bush doctrine of "Non performing Federal Programs"

I'm sure Bush will be recommending shutting "Star Wars" down immediately...

[A HERETIC I AM]

47. A failure on a system whose sole purpose is merely its production

and deployment There hasn't been a mission for this system EVER and it can never be fully effective EVER but it is an incredibly juicy contract that the builders cant let go of

[VegasWolf]

48. No Missle Left Behind! n/t

[Spazito]

49. I suspect the MDS program will be every bit as successful as...

the democratization and liberation of Iraq.

[Inte11ectual]

50. I thought that was going well...? n/t

[Spazito]

52. LOL

You were kidding, right?

[Inte11ectual]

55. yes don't worry

I'm not a conservative jackass.

[punpirate]

51. That's probably giving the system...

... far too much credit. Given that there has yet to be a thoroughly bias-free real-world test of the system (and that there may never be one), its purpose is to be a money pit. At least in Iraq, when the government eventually throws out the US troops, we'll stop spending money on Iraq.... :)

[leesa]

53. Remind me again how much we've wasted on this nonsense?

[Sandpiper]

54. These are the things that Bush wants to cut Student Loans for

Multi-billion dollar military subsidies for non-functioning weapons systems.

I wonder how many scholarships could be funded with the money we're spending on this crap.

[mike_c]

56. whoa, better order a few dozen more....

Clearly, that program needs a few billion dollars more thrown at it.

[rodeodance]

57. (Star Wars) Rocket Fails to Launch in Test Run

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/02/15/politics/15missile.html?th

February 15, 2005
Rocket Fails to Launch in Test Run
By DAVID STOUT

WASHINGTON, Feb. 14 - The nation's fledgling missile defense system suffered its third straight test failure when an interceptor rocket failed to launch Sunday night from its base on an island, leaving the target rocket to splash into the Pacific Ocean, the Pentagon said Monday........

The latest problem with the multibillion-dollar missile system comes at an awkward time, as Congress begins to consider a Defense Department budget of $419.3 billion for the 2006 fiscal year, as well as a supplemental budget of more than $80 billion for this fiscal year, most of which would cover the costs of operations in Iraq and Afghanistan.

"It's as if Henry Ford started up his automobile production line and began selling cars without ever taking one for a test drive," said David Wright of the Union of Concerned Scientists, which describes itself as a nonprofit organization dedicated to rigorous scientific analysis.

Mr. Wright, a co-director of the organization's global-security program, said it was "irresponsible and potentially dangerous" for the Pentagon to assert that the emerging missile system is a reliable defense.