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To: First_Salute; All
I have to disagree with Commander Donaldson's analysis here a bit, as his math is a bit off..

He states that the ejected object traveled at 3200 feet in about 7 seconds, yet he states the speed as 1500 feet/sec. That's obviously wrong. He also neglects to convert the weight of the missle body from pounds to the unit of mass in the foot-pound-second system, which is a slug.

So the velocity should be;
v = 3200/7 = 457 feet/sec

The equation for kinetic energy is;
E = (m * v2)/2, where;
E = Energy (foot pounds)
m = mass (slugs)
v = velocity (feet/sec)

A slug = 32.17 pounds, so we'll add that to the equation to convert from pounds to slugs..

E = (m * v2)/64.34

Solving for E, we have;
E = (15 * 4572)/64.34 = 48,690 foot pounds

I'd say that value would ALSO suggest a missile, as its energy is still extremely high..

As the muzzle energy of a .50 BMG rifle round is a little over 12,000 foot pounds, I'd say that 48,690 foot pounds is A LOT of energy. In comparison, a .308 rifle bullet has a muzzle energy of about 2520 foot pounds, and IT can pass through a telephone pole or a tree....

215 posted on 08/20/2002 6:56:20 PM PDT by FormerLurker
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To: First_Salute
Then again, there IS that pesky inertia of the plane that we need to consider. One thing becomes obvious after staring at the radar graphic long enough. The trajectory of the possible missile doesn't match up with the supposed time of the initiating event which allegedly occured at 20:31:12. I'd say the missle trajectory is just a little off, as it should appear as going slightly more to the west and then south, striking TWA 800 at exactly 20:31:12. If you look at the ejecta from the missile strike in THAT respect, you can see that the debris fell with a vector consistent with debris being ejected at high speed in the direction of the blast and retaining some of it's original velocity at the original course...
216 posted on 08/20/2002 7:41:07 PM PDT by FormerLurker
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