Re: remember this? nukes deflect asteroids

John Larkin <jjlarkin@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in
news:k07fb35hp2odhd569pehtudgj3qc63in7q@xxxxxxx:

On 6 Aug 2007 22:01:01 GMT, Jim Yanik <jyanik@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:

John Larkin <jjlarkin@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in
news:79veb35jmrpkbfdmpeanj2jds4nv7ngc00@xxxxxxx:

On Mon, 06 Aug 2007 18:44:36 GMT, Jan Panteltje
<pNaonStpealmtje@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:

On a sunny day (Mon, 06 Aug 2007 11:29:28 -0700) it happened John
Larkin <jjlarkin@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in
<40qeb3t7qlae7418smfotq9tv1otvamvd0@xxxxxxx>:


"Rather than smashing any troublesome space rock to pieces, it
seems the plan would be to give it a relatively gentle nudge while
it was still far away, so that it missed the Earth cleanly. Of
course, a 20 million tonne boulder would need a hefty nudge - and
under the headline-grabbingest NASA plan this would be delivered by
a volley of up to six nuclear missiles packing 1.2 megaton B83
warheads. These would detonate a hundred metres or so from the
asteroid, and the heat of the explosions would cause part of it to
vapourise and shove the remainder to one side."


http://www.theregister.co.uk/2007/08/06/nasa_nuke_bot_vs_doom_boulde
r/


John

Finally an excuse for space nukes.

ICBM warheads already travel through space on their way to their
targets on Earth.

Just an observation about the futility of bans on "weapons in space",
a thought generated by Jan's use of the word "excuse".


But existing ICBM's don't manage escape velocity. The ISS could be
studded with wide-field telescopes to find nasty objects, and have a
dozen or two nuke-tipped rockets ready to go. Being in orbit, outside
the atmosphere, is a huge head start.

John



yes,the only problem is keeping them all aimed -outwards-. ;-)

--
Jim Yanik
jyanik
at
kua.net
.

Relevant Pages

  • Re: remember this? nukes deflect asteroids
    ... John Larkin wrote: ... the plan would be to give it a relatively gentle nudge while it was ... up to six nuclear missiles packing 1.2 megaton B83 warheads. ...
    (sci.electronics.design)
  • Re: remember this? nukes deflect asteroids
    ... John Larkin jjlarkin@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx posted to ... hefty nudge - and under the headline-grabbingest NASA plan this ... packing 1.2 megaton B83 warheads. ... targets on Earth. ...
    (sci.electronics.design)
  • Re: remember this? nukes deflect asteroids
    ... the plan would be to give it a relatively gentle nudge while it was ... Busting the asteroid up would just convert one 400-megaton equivalent ... Phil Hobbs ...
    (sci.electronics.design)
  • Re: remember this? nukes deflect asteroids
    ... "Rather than smashing any troublesome space rock to pieces, ... the plan would be to give it a relatively gentle nudge while it was ...
    (sci.electronics.design)
  • remember this? nukes deflect asteroids
    ... "Rather than smashing any troublesome space rock to pieces, ... the plan would be to give it a relatively gentle nudge while it was ...
    (sci.electronics.design)