Delta II Carries ‘Star Wars’ Experiments

A Huntington Beach-built rocket boosted two crucial “Star Wars” experiments into space Wednesday, marking the seventh consecutive successful flight of McDonnell Douglas’ Delta II launch vehicle.

The 126-foot, $38-million Delta II, manufactured in Huntington Beach with final assembly in Pueblo, Colo., deployed the Low-Power Atmospheric Compensation Experiment (LACE) and the Relay Mirror Experiment (RME) into space under a contract with the Strategic Defense Initiative Organization.

The two experiments will help determine the viability of a system that would destroy incoming missiles by bouncing ground-based laser beams off orbiting mirrors. Wednesday’s flight was the fourth SDI-related launch for the Delta rocket and the first in which McDonnell Douglas Space Systems handled the launch as a commercial contractor to the Pentagon.

The LACE is a satellite equipped with more than 200 sensors and will measure how much a laser beam is distorted when it passes through the atmosphere. The 3,175-pound LACE satellite also carries two secondary experiments to measure rocket exhaust plumes and background radiation produced by the earth.

The RME carries a two-foot-wide mirror that will be used to bounce an experimental low-power laser beam fired from Hawaii back down to a sensor station.

A successful mission could help preserve the $4.5 billion that President Bush is seeking this year for the Strategic Defense Initiative, also known as “Star Wars.” McDonnell Douglas, Rockwell International Corp. and Hughes Aircraft Co. are some of the largest “Star Wars” contractors in the county.