Word: destructed
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Dates: during 1962-1962
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...aircraft for fear the missile will turn on the planes. When aircraft can be used, they loiter as close as they dare. Sometimes they drop a flare to mark the impact. Sometimes the helicopters land and pick up small items, but fallen missiles are dangerous. Each carries a "destruct" charge to blow it to bits in case it heads for a place where it can do damage. Colonel Thum's recovery men are experts in the nasty business of disconnecting these charges without touching them...
...range safety officers at Cape Canaveral and other U.S. missile centers have a recurrent nightmare. A missile is climbing out perfectly; everything works, and there is no need to press the "destruct" button that sends a special radio signal racing after an errant missile and commands it to blow itself to bits. Yet suddenly the destruct system is activated, and the missile, possibly with a man atop it, explodes in a blossom of flame. The odds against such a mishap are small, but there is always a chance that an unintended signal perhaps from a badly adjusted ham radio...