Re: "Big" Missile Launched from C-17

Oops. Make that "nope." I was reading lbs as kgs. Mea culpa.

The LRALT uses two MM II second stages, not one 1st and one 2nd stage.

BTW, the document says in Figure 2-3 that the C-17 is a "Military cargo
aircraft with capability to extract 42,000 lb."



Allen Thomson wrote:

> Ed Kyle wrote:
>
> > This thing looks like it consisted of the first two
> > stages of a Minuteman, which would have weighed in at
> > more than 30 tonnes. They've been busy out there over
> > the Pacific horizon...
>
> Yep. PDF page 18 of
> http://ax.losangeles.af.mil/axf/eaapgs/docs/lraltea.pdf sez,
>
> "The LRALT vehicle consists of a simulated reentry vehicle (SRV), a
> guidance and control unit (GCU), an SR19-AJ-1 rocket motor, an
> interstage assembly, another SR19-AJ-1 rocket motor, and an aft skirt
> assembly. The target vehicle is 36 feet (ft) [11 meters (m)] long with
> a maximum diameter of 5 ft (1.53 m), and weighs approximately 35,000
> pounds (lbs) [15,876 kilograms (kg)]."

.