# Space Weapons Thread



## Em in Ohio (Jun 9, 2020)

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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## Don M. (Jun 9, 2020)

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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## RadishRose (Jun 9, 2020)

Awww, I don't wanna think about Star Wars now. We haven't even gotten up there yet!


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## asp3 (Jun 9, 2020)

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.


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## fmdog44 (Jun 9, 2020)

From outer space America has learned there is a spike in the COVID19 in China. How you say? Via satellite pics of hospital parking lots being again full and from google type searches on their internet for topics like "coughing" and "diarrhea". Sneaky eh?


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## fmdog44 (Jun 9, 2020)

As far as wars in space we have run out of places to destroy on Earth so we now "shoot for the stars". It is like we cannot stop creating new targets to blow up. Man was created in God's image? I think not.


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## Em in Ohio (Jun 9, 2020)

fmdog44 said:


> As far as wars in space we have run out of places to destroy on Earth so we now "shoot for the stars". It is like we cannot stop creating new targets to blow up. Man was created in God's image? I think not.


Most interesting point, fmdog44.


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## Em in Ohio (Jun 9, 2020)

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.


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.


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## Em in Ohio (Jun 9, 2020)

RadishRose said:


> Awww, I don't wanna think about Star Wars now. We haven't even gotten up there yet!


Do we really know all the things (and their capabilities) that are orbiting around our planet?  I think not. )-;


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## Been There (Jun 9, 2020)

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.


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## RadishRose (Jun 9, 2020)

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.


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## Em in Ohio (Jun 9, 2020)

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.



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


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## RadishRose (Jun 9, 2020)

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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## fmdog44 (Jun 9, 2020)

Satellites can read a newspaper headline sitting on a park bench so how does a military move a battalion or division or a platoon or even a sniper without being seen by satellites?


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## fmdog44 (Jun 9, 2020)

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.
> 
> ...


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?"


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## RadishRose (Jun 9, 2020)

Hahahaha, yup.

 People went crazy trying to figure this stuff out. What after all, is oblivion? Nothingness? I still think it's infinite.


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## Em in Ohio (Jun 10, 2020)

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.
> 
> ...


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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## RadishRose (Jun 10, 2020)

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.


Lucky Em!


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## fmdog44 (Jun 10, 2020)

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.


Your dog a a known commie?!


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## Don M. (Jun 10, 2020)

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.


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## fmdog44 (Jun 10, 2020)

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.


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## Em in Ohio (Jun 10, 2020)

fmdog44 said:


> Your dog a a known commie?!


Not a commie, a fox terrier!


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## Been There (Jun 12, 2020)

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.


A mock up of what cockpit?


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## Been There (Jun 12, 2020)

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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## Em in Ohio (Jun 12, 2020)

Been There said:


> A mock up of what cockpit?


No idea any more - a flight cockpit, not a space shuttle, of course.  It was large and my mother made it 'disappear' after a week.  /-;


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## RadishRose (Jun 13, 2020)

I think I remember them advertised in the comic books.


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## fmdog44 (Jun 16, 2020)

Why "Gunfight At The OK Space Station" when all we have to do is hack in to all of the enemies computers in a manner so nothing will work for a year so everyone starves to death?


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## Em in Ohio (Jun 19, 2020)

fmdog44 said:


> 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.


It is a starting point.  I wonder if assorted space agencies (not naming any countries!) will consider "seeding" these areas with the stuff of life?  This could easily be done by unmanned means, I would think.


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