Marshall Islanders fear aborted US tests

AFP
August 20, 2011

Marshall Islanders living in the flight path of US missile tests expressed fears for their safety Saturday following two aborted missions.

Concerns were raised after a missile re-entry vehicle was blown up northeast of Kwajalein Atoll in July and a hypersonic glider disappeared on its way to a target near Kwajalein last week.

“It ditched, but where?” asked Kwajalein Senator Tony deBrum of the Falcon hypersonic glider.

“We are concerned that with all these ditched and aborted flights our constituencies down-range face increasingly significant risk of equipment failure or of tests simply gone awry.

“What hazard do these shots pose to people down range?” …

The hypersonic glider, an unmanned vehicle designed to deliver a weapons payload to any point on the globe, was reportedly traveling at about 13,000 miles per hour (21,000 kilometres per hour), nearly 20 times the speed of sound. …

Read on: www.spacedaily.com/reports/Marshall_Islanders_fear_aborted_US_tests_999.html