[Paul Ross]

I don't think that the Hypervelocity Rod Bundles research project is going to go anywhere.

For the uninitiated, it calls for creating a system of metal poles, fired from space, that could strike anywhere on the planet. It's a long-held -- and long-ridiculed -- idea.

Keeping the rods from liquefying as they enter the atmosphere is a daunting task. In order to be considered effective weapons, the rods would need to be orbited at very low altitudes, and could only deliver one-ninth the destructive energy per gram as a conventional bomb.

[familyop]

"...and could only deliver one-ninth the destructive energy per gram as a conventional bomb."

But kinetic energy... That's a very important difference, and the tool probably has a place. For each contractor to survive a theoretical exchange, others must also be successful. [g]