Space Weapons Thread

Em in Ohio

Em in Ohio

Senior Member
Location
OH HI OH
I am a fan of space exploration. Having said that, recent activity has me concerned about the likelihood of real wars fought from space. Please keep in mind that there are both defensive weapons and the potential for weapons of mass destruction.

Here are links that might be of interest: If you find interesting passages, I would like to see them posted along with your reactions. Opinions welcome and please feel free to post additional links.

https://www.spaceforce.mil/

https://www.ucsusa.org/resources/legal-agreements-space-weapons

https://www.asme.org/topics-resources/content/the-race-for-space-weapons-speeds-up

https://www.defenseone.com/technology/2019/03/pentagon-wants-test-space-based-weapon-2023/155581/
 

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A "WAR" in space could really turn our societies upside down. Most of our communications....TV, and cell phone service, for example, relies heavily on satellite transmissions. Can you imagine the chaos our people would face if suddenly TV, phone service, and Internet suddenly went down, and stayed down because the satellites have been destroyed??

There is even growing concern about our electric power grid, and it's potential for being disrupted by space based weaponry. If we were to lose all, or even a major share of our modern "conveniences", society would quickly be thrown back hundreds of years.
 
Another aspect of space warfare that could affect the human race is that any activity which creates more debris orbiting the planet could essentially make it difficult if not impossible to launch things off our planet and through the debris safely. This would effectively keep us planet bound until we're able to find a way to clean up the mess we've created.
 
Don M. said:
A "WAR" in space could really turn our societies upside down. Most of our communications....TV, and cell phone service, for example, relies heavily on satellite transmissions. Can you imagine the chaos our people would face if suddenly TV, phone service, and Internet suddenly went down, and stayed down because the satellites have been destroyed??

There is even growing concern about our electric power grid, and it's potential for being disrupted by space based weaponry. If we were to lose all, or even a major share of our modern "conveniences", society would quickly be thrown back hundreds of years.
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All valid - and in the silencing of communications, how easy it would be for one nation to sweep over any other. Ignorance is not bliss, and these threats are sadly real.
 
I have to be careful here. Along with the U.S., only three other nations (China, Russia & India) have tested their ASAT system, or anti-satellite weapons system. I can tell you that we have already tested our various ASAT’S on our own satellites by blowing them out of the sky, well, actually the pieces decay while orbiting.

The Russians seem to be taking the lead on this technology. Their latest developed system included a ground based ASAT. By having the most developed system would give that nation (whoever has the most developed system) a huge advantage in case of war.

This is why we (the U.S.) continue to launch satellites higher and higher. As of now, ASAT’S have a limit to their altitude. For example, ICBM’s cannot reach our GPS satellites. Confused? Yeah, it can be without more facts.

Enough said.
 
I didn't even know ICBMs could go that far up into space, where the satellites are. I thought they were more er, intercontinental. Shows how much I know.

It hadn't occurred to me about wiping out each others satellites. I was just excited about exploration. :alien:
 
RadishRose said:
I didn't even know ICBMs could go that far up into space, where the satellites are. I thought they were more er, intercontinental. Shows how much I know.

It hadn't occurred to me about wiping out each others satellites. I was just excited about exploration. :alien:
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You don't necessarily have to be very high to cause havoc:

Feb 10, 2020 - The main difference between orbital and suborbital flight is the speed at which a vehicle is traveling. An orbital spacecraft must achieve what is known as orbital velocity, whereas a suborbital rocket flies at a speed below that."
"What's the difference between orbital and suborbital ...
www.space.com › suborbital-orbital-fligh

"A sub-orbital spaceflight is a spaceflight in which the spacecraft reaches outer space, but its trajectory intersects the atmosphere or surface of the gravitating body from which it was launched, so that it will not complete one orbital revolution. " Wikipedia
 
Okay... I'll look up the answer to my next question about this. Thanks so much Em. I learn a lot from you.

This reminds me of a time when I was 10 or 11 one summer a friend and I wondered if there was an "end" to space.

I said there couldn't be.. What's there to stop it? What would be on the other side of the wall or fence? She contended there was an end but couldn't explain why she thought so.

The more I thought about it, the more frightened I became. I sensed I was now going toward to something far away from what I could fathom.

So, she wrote to the Hayden Planetarium in New York City. A few weeks later, they replied but we couldn't understand the answer, nor could our parents.

Tell me how you got interested in Space, if you wouldn't mind.
 
RadishRose said:
Okay... I'll look up the answer to my next question about this. Thanks so much Em. I learn a lot from you.

This reminds me of a time when I was 10 or 11 one summer a friend and I wondered if there was an "end" to space.

I said there couldn't be.. What's there to stop it? What would be on the other side of the wall or fence? She contended there was an end but couldn't explain why she thought so.

The more I thought about it, the more frightened I became. I sensed I was now going toward to something far away from what I could fathom.

So, she wrote to the Hayden Planetarium in New York City. A few weeks later, they replied but we couldn't understand the answer, nor could our parents.

Tell me how you got interested in Space, if you wouldn't mind.
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From what I have learned as space continues to expand faster and faster it will eventually vanish in to oblivion. Some theories say it will contract and an other Big Bang will follow but so far that theory has been put on the shelf. (who knows?). Now think about this, if it does expand in to nothingness doesn't that take us back to the question of "what is nothingness as related to what was the before the Big Bang?"
 
RadishRose said:
Okay... I'll look up the answer to my next question about this. Thanks so much Em. I learn a lot from you.

This reminds me of a time when I was 10 or 11 one summer a friend and I wondered if there was an "end" to space.

I said there couldn't be.. What's there to stop it? What would be on the other side of the wall or fence? She contended there was an end but couldn't explain why she thought so.

The more I thought about it, the more frightened I became. I sensed I was now going toward to something far away from what I could fathom.

So, she wrote to the Hayden Planetarium in New York City. A few weeks later, they replied but we couldn't understand the answer, nor could our parents.

Tell me how you got interested in Space, if you wouldn't mind.
Click to expand...
It was in 1956 when Sputnik went up (Russian satellite). I found a dog that day and called her "Sputnik." My parents made me change it, because of Cold War issues.

My father was a star-gazer who taught me the constellations and would keep me up at night looking for shooting stars.

Also, my uncle was a test pilot who worked for NASA. He brought me a mock-up of a cockpit with lots of dials and told me many stories. I was hooked.
 
Em in Ohio said:
It was in 1956 when Sputnik went up (Russian satellite). I found a dog that day and called her "Sputnik." My parents made me change it, because of Cold War issues.

My father was a star-gazer who taught me the constellations and would keep me up at night looking for shooting stars.

Also, my uncle was a test pilot who worked for NASA. He brought me a mock-up of a cockpit with lots of dials and told me many stories. I was hooked.
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Lucky Em!
 
Em in Ohio said:
It was in 1956 when Sputnik went up (Russian satellite). I found a dog that day and called her "Sputnik." My parents made me change it, because of Cold War issues.

My father was a star-gazer who taught me the constellations and would keep me up at night looking for shooting stars.

Also, my uncle was a test pilot who worked for NASA. He brought me a mock-up of a cockpit with lots of dials and told me many stories. I was hooked.
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Your dog a a known commie?!
 
I find "Space" a fascinating subject. The mysteries of the Universe are endless, and if/when mankind finds a way to make space travel possible and practical, it will open a whole new era for humanity. The most advanced technology we have today is just the first "baby steps" that are being taken that will hopefully lead to the capability to explore the galaxies. I would love to see the nations come together and pool their resources into cooperative measures with a common goal of space exploration. Some of that exists now, with years of Russian transport to the space station, etc., and any moves in that direction will hopefully lessen conflicts between nations.

The "afterlife" is a total mystery, but if it exists, and we can reach new horizons after our time here, my wish would be to come back in an era resembling Star Trek.
 
Manned rockets to outer space is nice for kiddies but what we will discover in the far reaches of our galaxy will be done by unmanned technologies.
 
Em in Ohio said:
It was in 1956 when Sputnik went up (Russian satellite). I found a dog that day and called her "Sputnik." My parents made me change it, because of Cold War issues.

My father was a star-gazer who taught me the constellations and would keep me up at night looking for shooting stars.

Also, my uncle was a test pilot who worked for NASA. He brought me a mock-up of a cockpit with lots of dials and told me many stories. I was hooked.
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A mock up of what cockpit?
 
This is how we obtain so much of our intel. We can watch what other countries are doing by just snapping pictures of geographical locations and then compare the pictures on a daily basis. North Korea and Iran are two very good examples of how we are following their nuke programs. The satellite pictures that we take of other countries also help when we are ordered to do flyovers and take pictures with the cameras on our our planes.
 
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