I can't quite figure out how to post video. I've got the launch and intercept as short clips. PM me with an email address and I'll send them that way.
I don't know if anyone else on here enjoys the science stuff, but here's some background. THAAD is the nuclear missile intercept. It is used as a last line of defense countermeasure designed to intercept the threat while in its terminal stage. Wednesday, July 19th, this missile was successfully tested.
While working at Honeywell, I've done some work on this program.
The picture on the left is the debris cloud after the intercept. The picture on the right is the streak from launch. The wavy portion at the bottom is the computer wasting fuel and stalling so that the missile won't just be at the right place, but will be there at the right time. What you are looking at is our ability to prevent long range missiles from destroying targets on home soil. Furthermore, what you are looking at is what I do at work .
A lot of media attention has been given to the North Korean missile tests. Their long range missile didn't work. Our missile intercept did.
Really cool stuff, it has to be incredibly difficult to hit something flying that fast and that far away. Kind of like throwing a pencil at another pencil from 100 feet away and expecting to hit it. I guess we make some pretty smart pencils.
Now we have to start working on long-range missiles that can avoid intercept missiles.