PUMPING UP FIRST FUEL BATCH READY FOR NEW LASER.EDWARDS AIR FORCE BASE Edwards Air Force Base, U.S. military installation, 301,000 acres (121,805 hectares), S Calif., NE of Lancaster; est. 1933. It is one of the largest air force bases in the United States and has the world's longest runway. - Engineers have prepared and assessed the first batch of fuel that will be used to power an prototype airborne laser being tested for destroying ballistic missiles. The 1,200-gallon batch of chemicals was mixed last month, after a shipment of 4,400 gallons of hydrogen peroxide hydrogen peroxide, chemical compound, H2O2, a colorless, syrupy liquid that is a strong oxidizing agent and, in water solution, a weak acid. It is miscible with cold water and is soluble in alcohol and ether. was delivered to the Airborne Laser, or ABL, integrated maintenance facility at Edwards. ``The completion of this initial mix is the culmination of the ABL team working toward the activation of ABL test infrastructure and transitioning into laser test operations at Edwards,'' said Kevin Montoya, ABL deputy to the director at Edwards. Enough laser fuel will be produced to support two ground tests a week of the chemical oxygen iodine laser Chemical oxygen iodine laser, or COIL, is an infrared chemical laser. As it is infared, it cannot be seen with the naked eye. It is capable of output power scaling up to megawatts in continuous mode. Its output wavelength is 1. , or COIL, in a facility at Edwards' South Base starting later this year. ``We're very excited about this first batch because it is the initial step taking us to first light,'' said Col. Ellen Pawlikowski, ABL program director at Kirtland Air Force Base Kirtland Air Force Base is located in the southeast quadrant of Albuquerque, New Mexico, adjacent to the Albuquerque International Sunport. The base is the third largest installation in Air Force Materiel Command, covering 51,558 acres (209 km²) and employing over 23,000 people, in New Mexico New Mexico, state in the SW United States. At its northwestern corner are the so-called Four Corners, where Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona, and Utah meet at right angles; New Mexico is also bordered by Oklahoma (NE), Texas (E, S), and Mexico (S). . The batch was a mixture of hydrogen peroxide and potassium hydroxide potassium hydroxide, chemical compound with formula KOH. Pure potassium hydroxide forms white, deliquescent crystals. For commercial and laboratory use it is usually in the form of white pellets. , a salt that enhances and sustains the chemical reaction inside the ABL's laser, said Pawlikowski. The hydrogen peroxide is the same chemical compound used in hair bleach, but at a concentration of 50 percent hydrogen peroxide and 50 percent water, instead of the 3 percent hydrogen peroxide and 97 percent water found in home medicine cabinets, Edwards officials said. Four lasers will be mounted on a heavily modified 747-400 aircraft, designated YAL-1A, at Edwards. One operates with liquid and gaseous gas·e·ous adj. 1. Of, relating to, or existing as a gas. 2. Full of or containing gas; gassy. chemicals. The others are lower- powered lasers used to identify, define and track missiles after they launch. ABL uses infrared sensors and two of its four lasers to identify a newly launched missile and determine its suitability as a target. A third laser measures and compensates for the atmospheric disturbance between the aircraft and the target. The fourth laser, or COIL, causes the missile to self-destruct when the powerful beam heats up the metal skin over the missile's fuel tank, causing it to rupture rupture, in medicine: see hernia. . The 747 is being prepared for installation of the COIL and optical system guiding the laser beam to the target. If the plan proceeds as scheduled, the laser system will first fire by next spring, Pawlikowski said. CAPTION(S): photo Photo: (color) Airborne laser technicians take a hydrogen peroxide sample at Edwards Air Force Base. |
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