Rocket Science

The Pentagon is 1 for 3 in its bid to build a missile shield. Things began unraveling even before the $20 million exoatmospheric kill vehicle left Kwajalein Atoll on Friday night, when the balloon decoy accompanying a mock warhead fired from California failed to inflate. Then, shortly after the launch of the interceptor, its final rocket stage refused to separate from the kill vehicle, dooming the mission. AIR FORCE LIEUT. GENERAL RON KADISH, who runs the military's missile-defense programs, monitored the test from inside a secure Pentagon conference room. His nervous energy soured into bitter disappointment as he watched the $100 million test fall apart despite measures to ensure a hit. "What's going on!" he barked into a phone. He grimaced. "A quality problem--mistake of some sort." Other Pentagon officials pledged to work even harder to make the next test, set for the fall, a success. But the failure of two proven technologies in a single test--the interceptor basically never turned itself on--will probably dampen any Clinton ardor for an operational system by 2005. Congressional zeal for the shield, however, is irrepressible.

--By Mark Thompson/Washington