HD pix of Atlas/X-37B launch yesterday

[Byker]

[Joe Genteel]

On Thu, 21 May 2015 20:51:09 -0500, Byker wrote:

Those insulated towers containing lightning arrestors now
surround every launch pad and rocket.

Yet they are a recent phenomenon. Past launches, going back
to the beginning of rocketry, did not have them.

Why the change? If lightning wasn't considered a great danger
in the past then why is it considered a great danger now?

[Byker]

"Joe Genteel" wrote in message
...
>
> Why the change? If lightning wasn't considered a great danger in the past
> then why is it considered a great danger now?

Probably because the micro-circuitry of today is a lot more sensitive to
electrical surges than in years past. The vacuum-tube and early transistor
eras were considered "ironclad" by today's standards.