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Missile Defense

Technology has always found its greatest consumer in a nation's war and defense efforts. Since the last attempts at a "Star Wars" defense system, has technology changed considerably enough to make the latest Missile Defense initiatives more successful? Can such an application of science be successful? Is a militarized space inevitable, necessary or impossible?

Read Debates, a new Web-only feature culled from Readers' Opinions, published every Thursday.

cantabb - 07:45pm Oct 9, 2003 EST (# 14762 of 14768)

You discuss things which have 'substance' ! Otherwise, it's only humane to put them out of their misery and consign them to their rightful place, ASAP !

[I know easier said... but has been done, can be done !]

lchic - 10:25pm Oct 9, 2003 EST (# 14763 of 14768)
Truth outs in the end : truth has to be morally forcing : build on truth it's a stong foundation

Time for reflection, it's the weekend my way, will 'reflect' all weekend. It's a big week for sport - as ever in The Oz - it's warm, not hot, with 'growing rain' ... got to get Oz looking greener for the BIG GUYS - The Eagle and The Lion, coming through in a couple of weeks.

Law of reflection

Angle of incidence = angle of reflection angle i = angle r

Truth and the need for it is something to reflect upon, undue influence over the 4th Estate another, and the question as to whether or not .....

.... there i go - reflecting.

A no post - yet 'reflective weekend' ... freely available to all :)

cantabb - 07:18am Oct 10, 2003 EST (# 14764 of 14768)

lchic - 10:25pm Oct 9, 2003 EST (# 14763 of 14763)

NEW lchic tag-line: "Truth outs in the end : truth has to be morally forcing : build on truth it's a stong foundation"

Awww, that's nice ! You didn't have to.

Is this some 'generic' truth? Some people think that 'truth', generic or in a specific area, is also in the eye of the beholder. Like some other things.

Time for reflection, it's the weekend my way, will 'reflect' all weekend.

Truth and the need for it is something to reflect upon, ...

.... there i go - reflecting.

A no post - yet 'reflective weekend' ... freely available to all :)

Careful. Don't hurt yourself, "reflecting" !

wrcooper - 08:50am Oct 10, 2003 EST (# 14765 of 14768)

MIT To Look Into Fraud Claim Related to Missile Defense Test

By Brian Loux

NEWS EDITOR

MIT may formally investigate claims that scientists at the Lincoln Laboratory involved in reviewing technology crucial to the military’s missile defense system committed scientific misconduct, after a professor appointed to look into the matter surprisingly reversed his original opinion on the matter.

Professor of Aeronautics and Astronautics Edward F. Crawley investigated the charges levied by Professor Theodore Postol, a member of the Science, Technology, and Society faculty, who asked that MIT repudiate a 1999 missile defense report examining a test of TRW Inc.’s target object discrimination technology, a system similar to the Raytheon Inc. system later chosen -- over TRW’s -- for the military’s missile defense system. Two MIT scientists were members of the Phase One Engineering Team (POET) that wrote the report.

Provost Robert A. Brown last year declined to repudiate the report, calling it a “government, not MIT, document,” but said he would initiate an inquiry into the two MIT scientists involved with the report, pursuant to MIT’s policies on academic misconduct.

Crawley’s draft report said that the findings of the Lincoln Laboratory team were trustworthy. Postol protested the findings, arguing that Crawley’s report directly contradicted the findings of a 2002 report from the General Accounting Office, the nonpartisan investigative arm of Congress. Crawley then reversed his opinion in the final report issued Nov. 5, calling for a full investigation into the misconduct matter.

A press release issued by MIT Dec. 27 stated, “After reviewing the report, the Provost will determine what additional steps to take.” Brown could not be reached for comment.

Postol is on sabbatical at Stanford University and could not be reached for comment.

GAO finds flaws with report

Postol first asked President Charles M. Vest to undertake an investigation on April 26, 2001. Postol continued to request inquiries after failing to garner one from Vest, turning to the MIT corporation and members of the U.S. government.

The GAO did conduct and publicize a review on the 1999 report at the behest of Rep. Howard Berman (D-Calif.) and Sen. Charles Grassley (R-Iowa). The review, known as GAO-02-125 or the “Berman report,” released on Feb. 28, 2002, is essentially an investigation of an investigation. Scientists investigated the methods and results of the two groups and whether or not POET provided an independent and objective review.

The GAO accused the team of “not processing the raw data from [TRW’s test flight] or developing their own data by running hundreds of simulations.”

Instead, they found that the team used target signature data and reference data from TRW post-flight analysis. “The team cannot be said to have definitely proved or disproved TRW’s claim that its software [could discriminate between missiles and decoys].”

TRW whistleblower sparks case

The dispute stems from a case that began in 1996 when TRW Inc. scientist Nira Schwartz accused her company of faking test results on an anti-missile prototype system meant to differentiate between missiles and decoys. Doubts about this system would arguably harm the credibility of the overall system. Schwartz was eventually fired from her position and pursued a lawsuit against TRW.

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