Years · 2008

December 2008

24 posts

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SBIRS— Signal and Background

Before analyzing the two SBIRS–HEO images, its necessary to review a little of phenomenology associated with viewing rocket plumes in the infrared. That’s because there are some surprising effects that show up very well in both these photos that, perhaps,…

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SBIRS—Wow!!

This post has been updated as of 4:02 pm on Friday. Sometimes you see a picture that is simply so amazing you have trouble believing it is real. That was the case with two images the Air Force released from…

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MDA Test Oddities

I am close to posting on the most recent Missile Defense Agency flight test (FTG-05). In case you wonder why this is taking me literally days to work through (with lots of help from David Wright), read these statements by…

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Frank Pabian on Iran, Syria

In a talk at the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies, Frank Pabian makes really amazing use of GoogleEarth and SketchUp. (There are also a couple of references to the blog, for which I am grateful.) You can also watch…

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Meet the erLEP

In my most recent article, After the Reliable Replacement Warhead, in Arms Control Today I mention the so-called “extensive reuse” Life Extension Program (erLEP), in which components are mined from other warhead designs to make more reliable weapons: One option…

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Tomorrow: Panel and Happy Hour

Just a reminder, dear colleagues and friends, I am giving a talk tomorrow at 4 pm at the Carnegie Endowment, followed by a happy hour at the Big Hunt. Here are the details: On behalf of Physicians for Social Responsibility,…

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Trim the Shrubs

I recently heard a funny story about the negotiations for the START II treaty. It turns out that when the US START II treaty negotiators tried to explain to their Russian counterparts the need for a “strategic reserve” of nuclear…

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US-Israel Deal for CTBT Ratification?

After the US-India deal and the possible China-Pakistan deal (which, the US is now officially opposing, by the way), a US-Israel deal was always going to be a possibility. The price? Unknown, but CTBT ratification appears to be part of…

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In GoogleEarth, Shadows are Your Friend

If you are anything like me, you suffer a death of a thousand cuts when you see something on GoogleEarth and want to know how tall it is. For instance, you can measure the diameters of Iran’s heavy water exchange…

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Trident on the Radio

BBC Radio 4 aired a documentary called The Human Button last night about the command and control system for Britain’s Trident fleet—and it’s available to listen to online for the next 5 days. I haven’t heard the full thing yet…