By the Stars

What will guide the guided missile? Radio waves are dangerous. The enemy also has radios; he might suborn the brainless invader into a rightabout turn. "Homing" devices, attracted by some quality of the target, are dangerous if used prematurely. The missile, perhaps confused by the enemy, might "home" on a friendly city. The earth's magnetic field is a poor guide. It varies erratically, and a subtle enemy might bemuse the missile with false-face magnetism. What is needed for a really effective guided missile is a foolproof steering device that the enemy cannot influence.

Last week Charles A. McPheeters, of the Navy's Bureau of Aeronautics, told a little about one such device now under development: a gadget that watches stars like a human navigator and steers the missile by them. It identifies the proper stars (from one to three) by measuring their brightness or their "color temperature." Then, guided by their relation to one another or to the center of the earth, it can keep the missile on its predetermined course.

This guiding method, said Mr. McPheeters, will probably be used during the middle leg of the missile's voyage of destruction. Just after the take-off from friendly territory it can safely be guided by simpler means such as radio. When it finally nears the target, a homing device may take over.

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