America's laser of death cleared for take-off

The Sunday Telegraph (U.K.) ^ | 02/17/2002 | Sean Rayment

[RadioAstronomer]

You can use a "corner reflector" that directs the beam back to the original target no matter where it was aimed from. Different thickness and materials cam be used for different types of lasers and frequencies. Using vapor deposition, you can get very uniform surface coatings.

[piasa]

A corner reflector. Now that's interesting, presumably something akin to reflectors used in some cameras and other optical equipment to see 'through the lens' when the eye isn't directly in line with it? Add another and you look at your own eye. How stupid of me not to think of that, particularly with my camara sitting right here by my computer. It would be a bummer to have a big laser foiled by a set of mirrors, or worse, turned back.

I'm still wondering about what would happen if a powerful laser hit a damaged mirror/reflector, though. I know people test lasers using well-made mirrors because the idea is to make the laser work- I'm just curious if anyone has tested a laser on a deliberately flawed mirror, since under field conditions a reflector might get damaged and be only partially reflective. If it loses too much of its reflective surface area, would it absorb the heat rather than reflect it, and possibly be damaged even more?

[RadioAstronomer]

I am now wandering into the realm of speculation here. :) I have never been involved with laser mirror studies on the long term viability of defective or flawed mirrors. An optical physicist would be far more qualified to answer these questions. :)

[Quix]

YOUR POSITION SEEMS PLAUSIBLE, TO ME.

However, I don't have the luxury of thinking my relative was lying.

[xzins]

rattling sabers?

Going public, anyway. I say that is akin to "serving notice."

My guess is that it's directed more at the American public and to congresscritters. It directly links to the Star Wars initiative and demonstrates the feasibility of that effort.

[American in Israel]

Thank you Israel. Fruits of a good partnership.

[kanawa]

Fire=Laser beam....NOT

[ez2muz]

!! BUMP a Great Thread !!

[Dog]

Pretty Bomber Plane.....that is a Death Star!

[My Identity]

Son of Spectre
The Return of Puff

How About "POOF, the Magic Dragon"?

[LouD]

one_particular-harbour: Do it with some hot actress in the Lincoln bedroom

Ole Okie: X-42, the impeached Sick Willie Clitoon, has preceded you in this.

You've still got a shot - Babs doesn't qualify as hot...

[My Identity]

an incredible amount of moral responsibility. Will these weapons always be used responsibly?

Only if the Commander in Chief is a moral, responsible human being.
Which I suppose requires the electorate to make moral, "informed" choices.

MI

[My Identity]

Do a Google search on 'THEL' laser

Actually, lookup COIL Laser instead

[Dark Wing]

A way out Ping!

[My Identity]

From AFRL's Directed Energy Directorate, Laser Division, Cooperative Development Branch, Kirtland AFB NM

The following characteristics make the COIL a very
good candidate for high-power applications:

1 - near-infrared laser wavelength of 1.315 micrometers is great for transmission through optical fibers.
(You don't need to aim the entire devide, just the focusing head.)

2 - a high optical quality beam that can be focused to small spots for faster metal cutting
(as pinpoint as you want it to be)

3 - readily scaled to meet very high-power needs.
(as powerful as you want it to be)

4 - the by-products of COIL lasing are salt, water and oxygen; no greenhouse effect gases exist.
Cool - an eco-safe weapon. BWAHAHAHAHA

[timestax]

I don't believe all that talk of superweapons. Why didn't they already use them in Afghanistan?? I thought for sure they would implement their ways to eliminate those a-holes from using their radio communications on their shortwave transcievers, BUT NOOOOOOOOO! T.V. reports show the monkeys talking on their transceivers left and right. What's up with that?! I'm p*ssed that USA didn't do somthing to eliminate their crude radio communication "network". Even just dropping radios with like frequencies with transmission button taped "ON" would have worked.

[timestax]

bump

[SoCal Pubbie]

All this talk of laser weapons is old news. Back the in the early eighties my mom was moving out from the house I grew up in, and among the old newspapers was an L.A. Times from 1940 with the latest dispatches from the Battle of France. A small article had a story about Nazi soldiers with death rays mounted on their backpacks.

I can't believe the stuff we threw out!

[stboz]

Something tells me that SPF30 ain't gonna hack it.