Posted on 08/09/2018 12:07:01 PM PDT by SleeperCatcher
Have we greenlit a ship yet? Unless we actually have manned launch vehicles then it ain’t a reality, it’s just government jerking off.
That was the source novel.
I suspect Rods from God is a reality now.
What I said.
Note that China was not a signatory, so when they shattered their own spacecraft, sending out a waive of orbital debris, a few years ago, there was no formal mechanism for holding them accountable.
Where's Pence coming up with the money to pay for his new toy?
I think Congress might want a little input.
LOL
lol...Like.
And I'm pretty sure they did sign off on that treaty.
“I suspect Rods from God is a reality now.”
It is not so much about war IN space, as it is about war FROM space.
Space is the high ground, from which you have a straight shot at the enemy with projectiles or directed energy weapons. Gravity assisted short flight times for delivering warheads, provides quite an advantage.
No technical reason our enemies could not deploy such weapons today.
“I kinda think we’ve had secret stuff in space since Reagan.”
Looooong before that.
I worked with a woman in the late ‘90’s doing a medical rotation in surgery whose field of study before med school was a degree in space law. She said someday it would be necessary and I guess she was right.
Perhaps the President is privy to information we’re not privy to ;-). Or, a sound strategy to assure us total military dominance in and from space (think tungsten projectiles fired from space with the kinetic energy on target impact equivalent to a small nuke but without the radiation). Anyone who poses a threat will fear the destruction of all their satellite communications, space stations. Also the ability to deploy ground forces anywhere on earth within an hour. Of course these capabilities will require tremendous investment in new technologies and the associated research will have spin offs that will improve quality of life for anyone on earth. This could assure our world dominance for centuries. Unless the next Democrat president cancels everything to find some social programs.
The obstacle is cost. Heavy-lift rocket payloads are incredibly expensive and rods are extreme precision, knocking out only tiny targets.
The same money spent on more conventional weapons is far more cost-effective, and more conventional weapons can terrorize large geographical areas and populations in a way rods can’t.
Penetrator rods are just one type of weapon that could be unleashed from space.
Nuclear warheads for an EMP precursor could be detonated with little to no warning.
A strong enough laser with a nuclear power source could shoot down any plane aloft in a huge swath of Ocean.
Strategic weapons justify high costs.
Good points.
Rods from God pre-dated Pournelle and Niven’s Footfall, which is where a similar weapon appeared. Pournelle had proposed the idea when involved with strategic weapons operations research in the 1960s.
Oh, nice! Watched that show as a kid. Had a plastic play set with the ship and figurines.
The last time that we did this with the U.S. Air Force in 1947, it required an Act of Congress. I suspect that is still true. Too many cooks in the kitchen with four services, Army, Navy the Air Force, and the U.S. Marines Corps and the National Guard who now operate independently on many matter. I don’t think that this provides any value added, The Air Force can handle the space mission.
The Moon is a Harsh Mistress.
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