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US confirms for first time it has deployed space weapons

bbc.com

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Re: US confirms for first time it has deployed space weapons

#381

Post by KellyCriterion »

Tangurena2 wrote: post #297
notahacker wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Realistically pretty much anything in orbit is a viable space to space weapon (for related reasons all space propulsion is ITAR controlled) so it was never practical to ban them. Space to earth, maybe, but that isn't unless it hits vague 'WMD' categories, and I'm not sure space to ground is necessarily what the US is declaring here. I suspect whatever capability the US is referring to is far more "counter space" than…

If you have a vehicle that can reach orbit, then you have an ICBM. That's why Sputnik struck such fear into Americans.

Not completely:

- "if you have a vehicle that can reach orbit and it has re-entry capacities to stear it to the point you want it", then you have an ICBM

:-)

Re: US confirms for first time it has deployed space weapons

#382

Post by moffkalast »

JumpCrisscross wrote: post #379
moffkalast wrote: post #306

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Debris from a collision on water won't spread out into millions of floating pieces that speed around faster than a bullet, ripping random ships on the other side of the world to shreds.

> spread out into millions of floating pieces that speed around faster than a bullet, ripping random ships on the other side of the world to shreds This isn't how debris clouds work. The most-complex ones occur when entirely separate orbits collide were you get an X-shaped (versus cylndricla or conic) debris cloud. But the energies of the collision inputs sharply curtail the orbits and places in said orbits the debri…

Idk, Iridium-Cosmos debris are still absolutely everywhere [0] after almost 20 years. The only place a ship collision's gonna leave debris is directly under it.

[0] https://ajmas.github.io/StuffInSpace

Re: US confirms for first time it has deployed space weapons

#384

Post by wat10000 »

mschuster91 wrote: post #363
LargoLasskhyfv wrote: post #361

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why do you exclude farming? Even if the tractors and other machines would still work, where would the harvest go under such circumstances? By which means? Think about how industrialized all that shit is meanwhile, with 'precision agronomy' by means of GPS, and so on? And as you said yourself: Transformers. Cooling for perishable stuff without electricity? Wanna rely on some Amish with horsedrawn carts? Edit: Will the…

Many farmers still have really old diesel tractors around. These things run fully mechanical, sans the starter motor maybe. If there is one thing farmers are good at, it's in-field improvised repairs. Refrigeration is mostly an issue with meat and milk, but eh, humans have managed to do fine for millennia without it. Fertilizer however, oh boy, that will be a nightmare. We can get by now that we know about stuff like…

I doubt farmers have enough spare pre-electronics equipment sitting around to run the entire farm at the same scale. I'm sure they could improvise a way to continue farming, but output would be substantially impacted.

Humanity managed to do fine for millennia by existing in a state of frequent malnutrition and a not insignificant number of deaths from starvation. And it was never in a world with the population density we have today.

Re: US confirms for first time it has deployed space weapons

#385

Post by CodeWriter23 »

missedthecue wrote: post #335
CodeWriter23 wrote: post #309

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's really not interesting at all. The US Destroyed that satellite to stop that information flow.

China has more intelligence/imaging satellites in space than the US does. I don't think it will stop the information flow.

And all they have to do is move them into position to gather intel on the Iran region to have them destroyed as well.

Re: US confirms for first time it has deployed space weapons

#386

Post by KludgeShySir »

JumpCrisscross wrote: post #229
jonkoops wrote: post #8

Space really should be a neutral ground like Antarctica. Especially since the consequences of space debris might trigger the Kessler effect [1], denying humanity future access to low-earth orbit for the considerable future. 1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kessler_syndrome

> Space really should be a neutral ground like Antarctica "They are dismantling these systems because they do not expect they will ever have a use for these weapons. Not because chemical weapons are immoral. Because they are ineffective, whereas landmines, cluster munitions and nuclear weapons are assumed to have future uses. Morality was never at issue, effectiveness was. That has some big consequences, most of whic…

"generationally fuck" - Oxford English Dictionary's phrase of the decade

Re: US confirms for first time it has deployed space weapons

#387

Post by hunterpayne »

sesteel wrote: post #355
notahacker wrote: post #141

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Neither Russia nor China's known weapons deployment is likely to breach the very narrow restrictions of the Outer Space Treaty, and the latest capability the US has vaguely claimed probably doesn't either. In practice, the US has had practical counter space and electronic warfare capabilities in space for decades (even a regular satellite with enough delta V is a viable weapon, but superpowers have more targeted capa…

Your comment on Russia and China is false.

The Chinese have been bragging about taking out one of their own satellites in a test of their capabilities for 8 years now. Russia would but they don't have the money to even try.

This place is no better than X...seriously...it is just too small for the propaganda operations to target and yet it is still just as bad. I don't even think it is HN's fault, just the skew of the population HN attracts.

Re: US confirms for first time it has deployed space weapons

#388

Post by hunterpayne »

etiennebausson wrote: post #71
_djo_ wrote: post #50

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What kind of evidence are you expecting? Detailed photographs of the satellites on orbit? These are credible institutions, with their statements regarding unusual orbital movements backed up by observations made by several independent groups.

I personally don't trust elements provided by U.S. agencies and foundations since the Irak war and the "proof" they delivered to justify it. Proxy at work is stopping me from reading most of grandparent links, so it'll have to wait for home.

The Chinese themselves blew up one of their own satellites as a test of their own capabilities. The missile was launched from the ground but targeted from orbit. They themselves say this and have since they did it 8 years ago. Your ignorance isn't an argument.

Re: US confirms for first time it has deployed space weapons

#389

Post by legulere »

nomel wrote: post #302
legulere wrote: post #299

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You need to get a critical mass of people to despise war so much that they are ready to have disadvantages themselves to make a war free world a reality. E.g. complete stop of trade with countries starting a war or supporting such a country. It happened before relatively successful with slavery and is partially happening with the death penalty. For me it seems like a very long way to go though.

So, you're saying that this requires all people of the world get along and agree with anything that might cause war? That sounds like a reasonable plan! Thanks for the response.

That is not what I'm saying. There can be a lot of disagreement about a lot of things but there needs to be widespread agreement to not start wars and to use strong non-war mechanisms to stop war mongers. I know that it is far off from where we are today, but it is not impossible like needing everyone to agree with everything.

Re: US confirms for first time it has deployed space weapons

#390

Post by missedthecue »

CodeWriter23 wrote: post #385
missedthecue wrote: post #335

Earlier quoted context omitted.

China has more intelligence/imaging satellites in space than the US does. I don't think it will stop the information flow.

And all they have to do is move them into position to gather intel on the Iran region to have them destroyed as well.

You think the US will destroy 230 Chinese intelligence satellites? LOL
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