"Orbital Bombardment" Topic

"…The idea of the militarization of outer space was a real fear in the heady days of the Space Race between the USA and USSR. The Soviets had put up military space stations and a few of them were armed with an 23mm cannon. There was also worry that the arms race would continue into the void of outer space with orbital nuclear missile platforms. In 1967, the United Nations passed the Outer Space Treaty that established legal frameworks on the ownership of celestial bodies, like Luna and Mars. One of the elements of the treaty was preventing orbital weapon platforms that bore nuclear weapons and othe r WMDs. This treaty shaped the research on orbital weapon systems.

One of the most common type of orbital bombardment/artillery is directed energy beams that can be used more like knife than an club or even a shower of directed energy death-laser-beams that tear through the planetary surface. Shooting freaking laser beams on the surface of Luna is much easier than shooting them down to Earth or Mars, due to the atmosphere. Any military-grade lethal DE beam would have to be powerful enough to punch through the atmosphere and hit the target with enough energy to be lethal. It is unlikely that lasers will be the orbital DEW system of choice, instead, it is likely that particle beam DEWs would fulfill that role. The use of DE is common in science fiction "kill satellites" as seen in works like Akira…"

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Amicalement
Armand

Actually, IIRC, Mars' "atmosphere" is so negligible as to be almost non-existent (apparently about 1% of the thickness of Earth's atmosphere if my quick internet search data is accurate), like the moon.

Just use mirrors.

(smile)

Amicalement
Armand

As the AI computer in Heinlein's "The Moon is a Harsh Mistress" said: "Throw rocks at them."