DjaugheOld

Currently the nation's space policy does not endorse the development of space weapons...however there is alot of wiggle room on how it is to be interpreted.

Recently in the news the Pentagon published a briefing about China's military buildup as being a potential threat. China has rebuffed this by claiming to only be interested in modernizing and improving the infrastructure of their country.

There are news reports that the Bush administration to taking a more serious approach in developing a space-based weapons system.

• Proponents say such weapons are needed to protect the U.S. homeland and satellites in space that provide such crucial military and civilian services as targeting for weapons, global positioning data and satellite TV and radio. They also point out that space has been militarized for decades and say today's military would be instantly brought to its knees if an enemy could interfere with or destroy satellites used by the Pentagon.
• Opponents warn that a new arms race will result if the United States moves ahead with experiments for such weapons as hypervelocity rods, nicknamed Rods from God, that are designed to strike ground targets from space at a speed of 120 miles a minute. That's if they survive re-entry into the Earth's atmosphere, which critics say is doubtful.

Poll of the day question:

Should the United States should be the first country to weaponize space?

DjaugheOld

Here are some examples of spaced based weapons:

Common Aero Vehicles
Launched from a military space plane, the Common Aero Vehicle would be able to deliver up to 1,000 pounds of munitions to a target 3,000 nautical miles away (1 nautical mile = 6,076 feet). From space it could hit deeply buried bunkers as well as mobile targets.

Hypervelocity Rods
Hypervelocity Rod Bundles - nicknamed Rods from God - could hit ground targets anywhere in the world from space. Long metal rods weighing perhaps 100 kilograms and deployed from an orbiting platform would strike at a speed of about 7,200 miles per hour.

Lasers
The Evolutionary Air and Space Global Laser Engagement concept involves "airborne, terrestrial, or space-based lasers in conjunction with space-based relay mirrors to project different laser powers and frequencies to achieve a broad range of effects from illumination to destruction."

DjaugheOld

Okay did I do such a poor job in summarizing both sides that we're gonna have a lopsided poll?

Brown_Blood

I'm FOR weapons in space, but I think that another part of the argument against them is the huge cost with no return (or so they perceive).

It's like insurance, I guess, you can live without it and hope nothing goes wrong and you come out ahead because you never spent the money....

...but if something does happen....you lose.

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DjaugheOld

I recken it boils down to this...

Can we afford to be the 2nd nation to weaponize space?

Brown_Blood

Great point. Our military AND our homeland would be crippled (and that's an understatement) if we lost our satellites. They wouldn't even have to attack us directly. Just take out the satellites and we would be thrown into utter chaos.

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SirStefan32

YAY Photon torpeedos and fazers, woo-hoo

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40yearfan

Yes, however I also question the hyper velocity rods. We have a hard time keeping our space shuttles from burning up. How can they possibly keep a metal rod from disintegrating. Anything that isn't instantaneous like a lazer will be hard to use with pinpoint accuracy (like these rods) if they aren't equipped with instruments to guide them to the point of impact.

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DjaugheOld

Okay...dumb question time.

Are folks more inclined to vote 'yes' because of the perceived threat from China?

40yearfan

Partially. When you are number 1, the only way to keep that position is to stay a step ahead of the competition. We are by far the leader in the aerospace industry, but many other countries are catching up quickly. It's only a matter of time until someone else decides to weaponize space.

We have used nuclear weaponary for years as a deterrent without having to resort to using it, why would weapons in space be any different? I don't understand why people would be against this. It would create high paying jobs (in this country) and allow us to withdraw troops from all over the world and save big dollars in our budget. Sounds like a great plan to me.

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PortlandCardFan

We should just build a BattleStar and be done with it!!

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DjaugheOld

Hmm...

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SirStefan32

Oh man, that would be sweet, build a real Enterprise and a real Defiant.

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LoyaltyisaCurse

Nope...


So far the idea of StarWars has been ill-concived, highly costly and proven to be an utter failure. I do not think we should waste our time or valuable resources for such a venture.

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Chaz

Wasn't "star wars" the nickname for the terresterial based anti-missle defense?

Isn't that different from space based weaponry?



Satellite defense and defense against space based weapons (from China for example) is one thing and probably worth working on. Offensive space based weapons are something else and set a bad precident IMO.