Why This Missile Glowed White-Hot After Launch



This missile glows white-hot seconds after launch. The US Army’s Sprint was built to kill incoming nuclear warheads in the last moments of their fall: about 100 g of acceleration and roughly Mach 10 in five seconds, so fast the air scorched its skin and an ablative heat shield burned away to protect it. Sources: US Army SMDC History (Sprint, 100 g design loads); A. Parsch, Directory of U.S. Military Rockets and Missiles — Martin Marietta Sprint; M. Paine, Nuclear ABMs of the USA — Sprint.

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11 Comments

  1. The Nike X Sprint also didn’t even have to hit it’s target, instead using a small tactical neutron bomb to fry every electronic device in the vicinity

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