Possible space weapons of the future 'Rods from God' and beyond

post-gazette.com ^ | Monday, July 28, 2003 | Jack Kelly

[Destro]

'Rods from God'

In April, within 15 minutes of receiving a report that Saddam Hussein had entered a restaurant in Baghdad, a B-1B bomber dropped four 2,000-pound satellite-guided bombs on the place.

It now appears Saddam slipped out of the building by a secret exit. But if one space-based weapon now being researched had been orbiting above Iraq -- and had worked as envisioned -- Saddam almost certainly wouldn't have got away.

[Phsstpok]

Indeed, anyone who knows anything about SF knows just how influential "the Godfather of Science Fiction" was... and predates Pournelle's work (also excellent) by a healthy margin.

there's a reason Pournelle's and Niven's work resembles RAH's stuff. He was their mentor and guide through much of their early careers. He even is represented by a character in the novel that this stuff was used in Footfall, along with fictional versions of Niven and Pournelle, as advisors to the war effort (the Dreamer Fthipt at Colorado Springs). He was a member of the advisory committee cited in the article right up until his death. They were mostly concerned with fixing what was wrong with NASA way back when in the 70s. I wish we'd listened to them then.

[Zeroisanumber]

Tungsten's cheaper.

[ASOC]

Later called "flying crowbars"
energy is energy - no matter how it is delivered

[Imal]

I like bot Pournelle and Niven, but I really like Niven. Something about his work strikes a chord in me, and I just eat his stuff up.

Been a while, though. I guess I should dig my old books out of storage, dust them off and read about what's going to happen next year. ;^)

[Ku Commando]

"Okay, somebody help me out with this....."

As a long-time repairer of many things electronic, mechanical, hydraulic, & pneumatical....I feel qualified to say that whenever an Engineer designs and builds something: It all works on paper !!

[mvpel]

Daaaang. Guess the "Aurora" from a number of years back doesn't sound quite so far-fetched in comparison to this stuff.

[RIGHT IN SEATTLE]

Okay, just throw NASA at the target.

At least the Air Force can get it up and down.

[Ku Commando]

Absolutely amazing !! Almost unbelievable !! Now that's a HAMMER !!

[Phsstpok]

there's a fifth "Ringworld" book due from Niven around the end of the year. Unfortunately, like RAH, he's getting sex (or rishartha) obsessed in his later books. I love everying to do with Known Space, as well as most other things he's done. Footfall is the best "someone invades earth" book and was ripped off terribly for ID4. Same with Lucifer's Hammer as the best "something's going to hit the earth" story. Nice thing was that both Armageddon and Deep Impact actually mentioned the Niven/Pournelle book as a kind of tribute.

[Starrgaizr]

TANSTAAFL -- let's throw some rocks!

[general_re]

that's what the little Intel products are for. You give the things just enough guidance and brains to get it to the target you have in mind

Well, yeah, but that's not what I'm getting at. Hitting the target is fine, but I want to know how you do it without arcing the bomb through someone else's airspace. If I drop a guided bomb from a low-earth orbit, and target, say, Switzerland, it's going to enter the atmosphere and pass through the airspace of several other countries long before it hits the target, if I just let it glide down to the ground. So how am I supposed to prevent that?

[general_re]

As a long-time repairer of many things electronic, mechanical, hydraulic, & pneumatical....I feel qualified to say that whenever an Engineer designs and builds something: It all works on paper !!

LOL - I bet they run like hell in all the simulations too ;)

[Porterville]

I didn't know they had a Gap in Fulda... can you buy boxers and pants there???

[Imal]

So how can you possibly guarantee that a bomb will "enter the atmosphere over a target"? Strap an engine on it and bring it to a dead stop, so you can drop it straight down?

Dive bomber. *8^)

[mvpel]

A 1' x 20' tungesten rod's mass:

1' = 30.5 cm, 20' = 609.6 cm

Volume = Pi × 15.25² × 609.6 = 445,378.7 cubic centimeters

Density of tungsten: about 19 grams/cc

Mass of God-Rod = 19 * 445,378.7 = 8,462,195 grams, 8,462kg = 18,655 pounds

Capacity of Saturn V = 118,000kg, or about 14 God-Rods to low Earth orbit.

[RightWhale]

I don't believe we can legally station weapons in orbit.

[Imal]

I didn't know they had a Gap in Fulda... can you buy boxers and pants there???

No, just dayvear, eveningvear and svimvear.

[Imal]

I don't believe we can legally station weapons in orbit.

Dude, chill. The Space Police might hear you, then we're busted for sure!

[general_re]

Ah - space kamikazes. ;)

[mvpel]

Footfall is the best "someone invades earth" book and was ripped off terribly for ID4.

I was reading Footfall before bedtime a number of years ago, and at about 2:00am I woke up in a cold sweat, and jumped out of bed and looking for the shotgun (which we didn't own at the time) calling to my wife to grab a gun, gather up the cats and hide in the closet.

The book was that good.