Posted on 08/30/2003 4:26:50 PM PDT by Destro
Edited on 04/13/2004 2:35:18 AM PDT by Jim Robinson. [history]
'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.
(Excerpt) Read more at post-gazette.com ...
Did they change the name because "Project Thor" didn't sound enough like a porn movie?
Two ways to look at it. I include Protector in the story arc, within Known Space, that includes the specific Ringworld books you mention. In addition he's got a new one coming in the December/January time frame, Ringworlds Child (or Children). He already finished it but the publisher wants a forward to fill in plot gaps. I count the new one as number 5, but that's just how I like to view them. You wouldn't know that Protector was connected to Ringworld until near the end of Ringworld Engineers. I hope I haven't ruined anything for anyone.
I don't believe we are signatories to the treaty forbidding placing weapons in orbit. (Note: quick Google search with keywords "space weapons" and treaty shows we signed a treaty on the peaceful use of space in 1967 which bans weapons of mass destruction from space, which these tungsten rods would not be) However, with an "aerospace plane" capable of dropping off packages of these smart crowbars (or nukes, or JDAMS) at a moments notice the treaty becomes moot. We woulnd't place them their until war was already going on. At that point treaties governing peace time use of space become moot.
Several folks from inside the Reagan administration are reported to have said that this was the "recallable ICBM" that he mentioned in one "slip of the tongue" that made up the legend of him being out of touch. According to this story he had his aides play up the notion that he was just an old man who misspoke and didn't understand that you couldn't recall an ICBM to cover up that slip. If you can launch an orbital vehicle with whatever payload you want it's like having an ICBM that you can call back if you need to.
It's a neat capability to have, whether with conventional or nuclear weapons. You can literally be over anywhere on the planet in about 90 minutes. Go Falcon!
Huh? Only one satelite per orbit?
Huh? Only one satelite per orbit?
Nope. Only one drop point (over the intended targer) per orbit. You carry what you can carry. One satelite. Two. Nine. You design the craft to carry what you want to carry and what matches the physics of your delivery system. You wanna drop off three over say, Paris, and another two on their way to Pyong Yang, have at it. You just have to have the lift capability.
the ideal situation. Keep it off line until a crisis develops and deploy it with an aerospace plane and you have the best of both worlds. Or deploy one payload for a specific purpose. On a given mission you don't load up a B52 with enough bombs to hit target 1 (if you only have one target) 8 or ten times. Three of four, mayber, but not eight or ten. Anything worth bombing is worth bombing twice, to paraphrase.
The rods don't need to be tungsten, steel would work well enough.
Maybe with a tungsten cap or some other streamlined refractory material.
A steel dart wouldn't require a Saturn V class booster. It's steel magnetic steel. They could be launched one at a time from a mangnetic rail gun, doesn't even need a bucket.
Attach the deorbit and guidance packages in orbit.
Make sure the software isn't subcontracted to China...
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