I am glad to have the chance to use my new calculator with the metric conversions to check this math.

As usual, GOURDHEAD is the guiding light of the practical mind, and I trust his analysis of the radar return and analysis timing.

But all my openmindedness has hit a wall with the mention by starship1 of I don't understand, is this humor? If there is a window, where is the shape reforming mnemonic metal?

There is an old trick where someone holds a dollar above your open (and ready to grab) forefinger and thumb. When they release the dollar, you do not have sufficient reaction time to grab the dollar. Of what use is a window to not only see but protect against a speck of dust or grain of sand, impacting with the explosive force of a couple of kilotons at 1/2 the speed of light?

Arthur C. Clarke went to great length to describe the ablative ice shield protecting an interstellar ship in the book, "Songs From Distant Earth". That I understand. :unsure:

__________________
Pre-Quote: 'To survive one has to experiment. When the environment changes, the traditional way of doing things doesn't work.'

Quote:
"It's the outriders, the organisms that seem to be maladjusted before the change, which are the only ones that survive these changes...in that way a species continues."

Carl Sagan