Star Wars, on Planes!

Who among us doesn't want a super-powerful death laser?  Good, that's what I thought.  Well, the military is with us on that one.  They are putting their Boeing 747 back into the air to do another test run.  Last time they test fired their device it wrecked havoc on the lasers precision electronics, and the power was set to low.  It's okay though, they're giving it another go!

"...the MDA plans a series of increasingly powerful shots at modified ballistic missiles loaded with sensors to measure the distribution of laser power on the target. Engineers will assess each shot's performance and use the results to fine-tune the adaptive optics. Once this is done, the MDA will test the laser again in varying conditions, and attempt to destroy actual missiles. The first of these tests is planned to take place late this year, with two more to follow in early 2010, according to an MDA spokeswoman."

newscientist.com article