Air Force Turns 747 Into Holster for Giant Laser (washingtonpost.com)

[Jim Choate]

On Mon, 23 Jul 2001, Steve Schear wrote:

> >It's the one they use primarily.
> 
> Only because the rocket exterior has not been "stealthed" via high 
> reflectivity and faceting.

Maybe. But even mirrors can be burned through by a laser. And then we've
got weight issues that this would entail. It's not like they've got a lot
of overhead for the job. I suspect that faceting wouldn't be any more
effective than a smoothly round body form, it could have aerodynamic
effects as well (ie sharp corners at the facet edges - and yes they could
be rounded - now you're moving back toward a round rocket planform).


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