U.S. going back to moon

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Originally posted by REG
I don't know whether the fault lies in the small budget allocated by the US government, or NASA mismanaging the money. I think both are at fault, but I'd rather fix the latter first.

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The budget is definitely too small.

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BTW, I'm curious. If a media conglomerate wants to send up a new communications satellite to replace the aging ones, do they pay for the shuttle service out of their own pocket, or do they negotiate on paying the service in exchange for a tax break?

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Huh? NASA hasn't used the shuttle to lauch commercial satellites for a very long time.

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Originally posted by Dave Biggins
Thankfully, First, you're not running things.

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Yet.

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Now to allay any fear about rocks from space...Mass Drivers are viewed as a viable weapon program only only by people who have a secret underwater base replete with turtleneck wearing thugs driving about the base in golf-carts at excrutiatingly slow speeds.

A meteor is not exactly a precision weapon. You hit a country with a meteor, other countries are going to feel it. That's counting on the fact that you are able to hit the target in the first place. You deal with fall out, disastrous weather changes, and scads of other problems that will not just affect the target country. It will affect your country as well.

I beleive that the Chinese have expansionist tendecies. I also believe that these tendencies are balancedby a modicrum of prgmatism.

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"Pragmatism" is another word for "delayed gratification."

What you say above is true... IF you're talking about using a rock the size of a mountain.

BUT, you don't take into account that meteors can come in sizes smaller than that.

And perhaps you haven't heard about the project currently being researched by the military, and colorfully referred to as "Rods from God."

This weapon would consist of orbiting platforms stocked with tungsten rods perhaps 20 feet long and one foot in diameter that could be satellite-guided to targets anywhere on Earth within minutes. Accurate within about 25 feet, they would strike at speeds upwards of 12,000 feet per second, enough to destroy even hardened bunkers several stories underground.

No explosives would be needed. The speed and weight of the rods would lend them all the force they need.

This would, of course, be somewhat easier than actually capturing a NEA and towing it back, then breaking it up. Except that with the NEA, there's nothing to launch and you get to keep the spare materials.

And, this spring at the Space Warfare Center at Schriever Air Force Base, a space-based war game set in the year 2017 pitted the U.S. Blue Team against the Chinese Red Team.

Might be interested in
this article , which I find to be a fairly good "armchair" analysis of what could happen.

That's a very bizarre world you livein, First. Very bizarre.

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Originally posted by Owen E Oulton
"after losing two aging shuttles"

Sorry, Dave, but that's a statement that always bugs me... Columbia was less than a third through her 100-mission service life, and Challenger was lost on her 10th flight, less than three years after she first flew.

Columbia was lost due to negligence (NASA knew there was a problem with insulation hits for years and never bothered to fix it) and Challenger due to active disregard for safety parameters.

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Fair enough.

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Originally posted by Dave Biggins
That's a very bizarre world you livein, First. Very bizarre.

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Oh, no doubt, no doubt.
And yet, it never quite manages to cross over that line of possibility...

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No, warfare in space is not "illegal." It's simply agreed to, in principle, on paper. There's no force of law behind it, nor was there with the ABM treaty, which was legally and appropriately withdrawn from according to its own conditions.

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Burger King?

They forgot to take the onions and tomatoes off when I told them to.

They must perish in flame.

Hey! Hey! Hey!

You want to kill some burgers, get the Big Mac.

But leave my Double Whoppers alone!

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Originally posted by First of Two


And perhaps you haven't heard about the project currently being researched by the military, and colorfully referred to as "Rods from God."

This weapon would consist of orbiting platforms stocked with tungsten rods perhaps 20 feet long and one foot in diameter that could be satellite-guided to targets anywhere on Earth within minutes. Accurate within about 25 feet, they would strike at speeds upwards of 12,000 feet per second, enough to destroy even hardened bunkers several stories underground.

No explosives would be needed. The speed and weight of the rods would lend them all the force they need.

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Wow! Thor Javelins! When these puppies come out I'll be one step closer to my very own Trajan Heavy Grav Tank.

LONG LIVE TOG!;) :D

It's funny but we all seem to be concerned about the Chineese developing technology that the Americans are developing.... why are the Americans developing space weapons!! I'm not sure i feel that confortable about the idea that the americans can have orbital weapons platforms either - because as ALWAYS has happened in the past - it leads to an arms race, meaning someone is going to want to have them too - if they didn't have them, then no one else would want to have one!

Remember boys and girls, the only thing to remember about orbital weapons systems and other uber weapons is that it's better to have 'em first. If you've got all the cool toys, other countries will be less inclined to mess with you (i.e. you don't mess with a 1000 lb. gorilla... especially one who has orbital weapons platforms). :D
Of course the tech coming from this program could be used in everyday life. Orbital lawn darts anyone???

Well I think trying to get rid of the moles in your garden with a 30 meter tungsten rod couldbe a bit of an overkill - but effective :D

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Originally posted by Tobian
if they didn't have them, then no one else would want to have one!

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Think about that statement for a minute, and whether it applies to anything else.

It doesn't.

And the difference between space-based weapons and other forms of weapons tech is that the first to get them CAN keep anybody else from developing them.

Just drop a rod or two onto the next guy's launch sites.