Testing the US Military’s Worst Idea

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Thanks to Inland Empire Film Services and the San Bernardino County Film Office for portions of the video shot in the County of San Bernardino.

Massive thanks to Dr David Wright for the interview and providing invaluable guidance during the research for this video.

Massive thanks to Adam Savage for being part of this video.

Additional photos from NASA and ESA.

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References:
USAF. (2003). The US Air Force transformation flight plan.

Preston, R., Johnson, D. J., Edwards, S. J., Miller, M. D., & Shipbaugh, C. (2002). Space weapons earth wars. Rand Corporation.

Wright, D., Grego, L., & Gronlund, L. (2005). The physics of space security. A Reference Manual, Cambridge.

DeBlois, B. M., Garwin, R. L., Kemp, R. S., & Marwell, J. C. (2004). Space weapons: crossing the US Rubicon. International Security, 50-84.

Baucom, D. R. (2017). The Rise and Fall of Brilliant Pebbles 1. In United States Military History 1865 to the Present Day (pp. 329-376). Routledge.

Hitchens, T., & Samson, V. (2004). Space-based interceptors: still not a good idea. Georgetown journal of international affairs, 21-29.

National Research Council. (2012). Making sense of ballistic missile defense: An assessment of concepts and systems for US boost-phase missile defense in comparison to other alternatives. National Academies Press.

Borger, J. (2005). Bush likely to back weapons in space. The Guardian, 19.

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Written by Petr Lebedev, Derek Muller, and Emily Zhang
Filmed by Trenton Oliver, Derek Muller, Petr Lebedev, Emily Zhang, Raquel Nuno, and Eddie Lopez
Animation by Mike Radjabov, Fabio Albertelli, and Jonny Hyman
Edited by Trenton Oliver
Slow Motion Camera: Shawn Sanders and Anthony Corrales
Sandcastle Timelapse by Greg LeBon and Archisand
Phantom rental from Panny Hire LA
Helicopter Pilots: Rick Shuster and Cliff Fleming
Helicopter Safety Officer: Ryan Hosking
FPV Drone Pilots: Sammie Saing and Josh Ewalt
Production Assistants: Roman Bacvic and Eddie Lopez
Intern: Katie Barnshaw
Additional video/photos supplied by Pond5 and Getty Images
Music from Epidemic Sound
Thumbnail by Ignat Berbeci
Produced by Derek Muller, Petr Lebedev, and Emily Zhang

[sungi]

As someone from the military. I assure you, this is not their worst idea.

[joshuaheadey]

My favourite part is where Adam Savage appears out of nowhere, as if desert explosion tests just summon him 😂

[Sonicalex]

Wish there was a point in the experiment that the goal switch from accuracy to "lets see how big crater get from dropping really high" and proceed to have everyone really far away until it lands.

[ajegelin]

Imagine going through all of this work, spent all that money, and got all of these people together to make this video and not thinking of putting stabilizing fins on the object you are dropping from 500m

[SoniasWay]

I like to imagine that Adam Savage just materializes whenever something fun like this is happening in the desert

[dheigl]

I'm a little shocked that no smaller-scale testing was done prior to the full-scale "helicopters and sand castle professionals" part was brought out. A drone with a piece of rebar would have taught you a lot about the need for targeting apparatus, the lack of fins, etc.

[uncensoredpilgrims]

The fact that they didn't seem to anticipate that a weight dangling from a helicopter on a tether would be swinging all over the place is ... odd to say the least.

[Texxx]

This was a fun watch but the fact they watched the weight swing around and yet just kept thinking they were missing cause they weren't lined up was infuriating

[TheBradszone]

Genuinely shocked at the scant amount of forethought that went into something with a budget this large.

[ezmoore]

There are two main problems I see with Derek's setup: 1) Dropping the payload from what is effectively a pendulum is going to make it nearly impossible to aim, and 2) as Adam pointed out, you need some fins on the rods if you want them to land perpendicular to the ground.

[williambalogh]

Honestly I'm surprised about how elementary this set up was

[CusheeFoofee]

Huh, forgot to add fins, refused to shorten the rope connecting the payload, refusing to have people walk away to a safe distance to test extreme height, refusing to try and use lasers to track positioning... Interesting...

[watermelonsavage]

I'm shocked at how little thought went into properly testing this idea, especially when compared to the amount of money and number of people involved.

[dvrrwd]

I find it hard to believe the engineering problems couldn't be worked out. At one time it was thought you couldn't hit a missile with another missile.

[erictheepic]

I find it funny that Adam Savage is in this video, and it's not even mentioned. I'm just used to him being the one talking to a camera out in the desert, busting a myth.

[FT__Home__Plants__etc___-gorv]

I don't really understand why they bothered doing such a poorly done test. They used no fins. No control device. etc. What they tested has basically nothing to do with using an actual developed weapon. It'd be like throwing a spear the first time in your life and then declaring that missiles don't work

[ndenz]

There are so many errors in the design and execution of this experiment, that one would almost think it was intentional.

[sergioortiz]

15:11 "It ripped right through the pool. Unbelievable." That's actually the most believable thing ever.

[mkdroid]

Your aiming problem was because your rods were pendulums, so they had significant lateral velocities that threw them off target. you should have had them in hardpoint mounts under the chopper so they'd be dropped with zero lateral velocity.

[CFD]

This could have been a 5 minute explanation. Nothing actually representative happened.