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Missile Defense

Technology has always found its greatest consumer in a nation's war and defense efforts. Since the last attempts at a "Star Wars" defense system, has technology changed considerably enough to make the latest Missile Defense initiatives more successful? Can such an application of science be successful? Is a militarized space inevitable, necessary or impossible?

rshowalt - 07:51pm Jan 7, 2002 EST (#10682 of 10703)

gisterme, the links above, I think, go a good deal beyond "can't be done" assertion."

Tracing through those references, and ones connected to them, I couldn't see anything you'd posted that wasn't adressed. Perhaps I missed something.

If you posted any facts that would make a reasonable engineer (even better, an engineer with a name) think that effective lasar weapons for MD purposes could be built -- I missed it. I saw much you wrote, but didn't find what I regarded as "technical arguments" not adressed. Could you point those arguments out to me? If you give me links, I'll look at them very carefully.

rshowalt - 07:55pm Jan 7, 2002 EST (#10683 of 10703)

Closure would be good on this point, at least.

Gisterme, you seem implicitly, to be agreeing that "if reflective coatings were easy to apply to missile and warhead surfaces, that would invalidate the lasar MD programs."

Is that right?

It is absorbed heat energy that the lasar uses to destroy the target, is it not?

And that is the fraction of energy from the lasar, on the target, that is not reflected?

Are we agreed that far?

lchic - 08:04pm Jan 7, 2002 EST (#10684 of 10703)

The human side is always interesting.

Seems the Kid who was happy to park the plane above ground level was looking for an 'identity' and had concerns re a possible Arabic father.

Mr Reid of London, again was looking for identity, looking for a cause, purpose a reason d'etre.

The Pakistani leader - President Pervez Musharraf - seems to also be looking for a cause ... if he really wants to be a great leader then he has to ask himself - what to do.

One notes the Central Asians lead by China have determined to squash terrorism. So he has allies, other than India, who might assist his NEED to surpress terrorism within Pakistan. So the suppression of terrorism could be on his list.

The next thing a potentially great leader might ask is what is the VISION for the LONG TERM BIG PICTURE .. where does Pakistan want to be in Fifty years time. Certainly not cleaning up Nukes!

It would seem a good idea for the Indian Sub Continent to take down the Nukes, and develop a co-operative SECULAR plan that builds them into what they would desire to be.

lchic - 08:07pm Jan 7, 2002 EST (#10685 of 10703)

:) Is Gisteme clairvoyent? Porridge and Rice are my alternate breakfasts .. so these guys do know everything!

http://www.dawn.com/2002/01/07/

mazza9 - 08:17pm Jan 7, 2002 EST (#10686 of 10703)
Louis Mazza

And there is no moderator to stop Rshowater(sic). Too bad, there was some interesting discussions while he was blocked. Now he'll monopolize this forum once again.

Wanna bet we hit 20000 postings by June 30 and they'll all be his!!

LouMazza

lchic - 08:52pm Jan 7, 2002 EST (#10687 of 10703)

mazza9 1/7/02 8:17pm 41 words of tripe!

"" One thing is sure, this delectable, gelatinous, and blonde membrane--celebrated by Homer and by Rabelais--is tough to digest. Ideally it's cooked some 12 hours. And it should never be eaten by the dyspeptic or goutish.

How indigestible is it? According to Rabelias, so indigestible that Gargamelle gave birth to Gargantua after eating a huge dish of godebillios (the fat tripes of oxen fattened on rich guimo-meadows).

How delectable? According to Homer, it was prepared in honor of Achilles, son of Thetis and Peleus, petulant hero of the Trojan war, killer of Hector who ultimately fell at the hand of Paris.

And it is reputed to be the cause of the quarrel in the 11th century between William the Conquerer (in French history, William the Bastard; in English, King of England, Duke of Normandy) and the enormously fat and sensuous Phillip I, King of France. Phillip's jest over tripe supposedly provoked a promise by William "that he would come and be churched at Notre Dame de Paris with 10,000 lances instead of candles." http://www.soupsong.com/ftripe.html

rshowalt - 09:21pm Jan 7, 2002 EST (#10688 of 10703)

!

Anybody for life . . . for beauty that can be sustained?

Sometimes it takes right answers.

Dawn's top tripe artist: http://www.riffraffuk.demon.co.uk/nicethings/brampton/bugle/tripe.html is entertaining. jGeorge, you could do better!

How about honest conduct? Right answers matter enough, on the subject here, that you should THINK about what you're doing, and who is paying you, and what you are doing to your integrity as a professional.

lchic - 10:03pm Jan 7, 2002 EST (#10689 of 10703)

This US machine has 'impressed' DownUnder this last days, so much so, two cousins to 'Elvis' have been brought in via the big Russian air carrier. These sky cranes were designed (initially) in 1952 .. wouldn't the B52 have been designed around that time ? http://www.usbusiness.com/helicopter/SkyCrane6.htm The cost of hiring the skycranes is $au24,000 per day. The cost of running them is $au9,000 per hour. Money is a scarce resource .. civil fire fighting work is expensive - but necessary.

With this sobering cost in mind - how senseless it would be of IndiaPakistan to use Nukes (the fallout from which can't be cleaned up) .. how much Nuke-money must have been squandered in the second half of C20.

What's happening re satellites - Russian revenue from such launches slumped to zilch last year!?

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