US test-fires Aegis missile defence system destined for Europe - Video

A previous test of the Aegis missile defence system, a version of which is to be stationed in Europe by the US and Nato. 

Photograph: AP

The United States has announced the first live firing test of a missile interceptor destined to be stationed initially in Romania and then elsewhere in Europe.

The test of the system, known as Aegis, comes amid tensions between Nato and Russia over the annexation of the Crimea region of Ukraine.

The Obama administration's current European Phased Adaptive Approach calls for the first Aegis Ashore site to be operational in Romania in 2015, with a second site to follow in Poland in 2018.


The test at the Pacific Missile Range Facility (PMRF) in Hawaii late on Tuesday marked a significant milestone for the system, which is designed to protect US and Nato forces in Europe from a ballistic missile attack.

A Pentagon spokesman, Colonel Steve Warren, said the test "is important because it's similar to the system that's being shipped to Romania for deployment by the end of next year".

During the test the Aegis system used on US warships around the world detected, tracked and engaged a simulated ballistic missile target using Raytheon's Standard Missile 3 Block IB, according to the US Missile Defence Agency and the companies.

Lockheed said it was the first test of the Aegis system using a land-based missile launcher.

Riki Ellison, founder of the non-profit Missile Defence Advocacy Alliance, said the test meant Nato's missile defence shield, developed at a cost of around US$800m, was becoming a reality.

He said the Aegis missile defence system had achieved 28 successful test intercepts over the past 11 years.

Shipment of components required for the facility that will house the Aegis Ashore weapon in Romania, including the deckhouse, radar and vertical launch system, would begin this summer, said Missile Defence Agency spokesman Rick Lehner. Interceptors would follow when the facility was built, he said.

The land-based system uses the same SM-3 missile deployed on Aegis warships and holds 24 SM-3 missiles at one time. The system could be expanded to hold more launchers and missiles, Raytheon said.

Russia has previously criticised US plans to put missile defence systems in nearby countries and the Obama administration subsequently scaled back the programme, which had originally included ground-based radar and interceptors in the Czech Republic and Poland.

NASA Curiosity Rover: Next Science Destination - The Kimberley

NASA's Curiosity Mars rover recorded this view of various rock types at waypoint called "the Kimberley" shortly after arriving at the location on April 2, 2014. 

The site offers a diversity of rock types exposed close together in a decipherable geological relationship to each other.

Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

NASA's Mars rover Curiosity has reached its next study area and is now scoping out rocks that it will take an up-close look at over the next few weeks.

The Curiosity rover snapped new photos of Mars after driving 98 feet (30 meters) on Wednesday (April 2) and topping a small hill that affords a good view of the surrounding area, which NASA scientists have dubbed "the Kimberley," officials said.

"This is the spot on the map we've been headed for, on a little rise that gives us a great view for context imaging of the outcrops at the Kimberley," Melissa Rice of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, the science team lead for Curiosity's work at the site, said in a statement.

This view from NASA's Curiosity Mars rover was taken the day before the rover's final approach drive to "the Kimberley" waypoint, selected months ago as the location for the mission's next major investigations. 

It combines several frames taken by the Navigation Camera on April 1, 2014.

Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

Four different types of rock intersect at the Kimberley, providing Curiosity with a wealth of material to study.

The rover is expected to do a great deal of work at the site, conducting its most extensive analyses since leaving a spot called "Yellowknife Bay" last year, NASA officials said.

Curiosity found evidence of an ancient stream-and-lake system at Yellowknife Bay, suggesting that the area could have supported microbial life billions of years ago.

NASA Mars Rover Curiosity: MAHLI Image of Rover Wheels and a Destination

This view of the three left wheels of NASA's Mars rover Curiosity combines two images that were taken by the rover's Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI) during the 34th Martian day, or sol, of Curiosity's work on Mars (Sept. 9, 2012).

In the distance is the lower slope of Mount Sharp.

The camera is located in the turret of tools at the end of Curiosity's robotic arm.

A photo of the calibration target for the Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI) aboard NASA's Mars rover Curiosity, taken by that camera on Mars.

The calibration target includes colour references, a metric bar graphic, a 1909 VDB Lincoln penny, and a stair-step pattern for depth calibration.

The penny is a nod to geologists' tradition of placing a coin or other object of known scale as a size reference in close-up photographs of rocks.

The Sol 34 imaging by MAHLI was part of a week-long set of activities for characterizing the movement of the arm in Mars conditions.

The main purpose of Curiosity's MAHLI camera is to acquire close-up, high-resolution views of rocks and soil at the rover's Gale Crater field site.

The camera is capable of focusing on any target at distances of about 0.8 inch (2.1 centimeters) to infinity, providing versatility for other uses, such as views of the rover itself from different angles.

Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Malin Space Science Systems