Talk-Polywell.org

Ok, I was not quite aware that these things were quite that huge. I apollogize. But who knows what the future brings...

Meaning no neutrino equipment onboard the sub. The sub would link to the fixed comm station with laser or ...

Like a cell tower. It would have to look/sound like a shipwreck or dead whale to passing adversaries.

But, I agree, ocean-penetrating laser links from orbit are better. Until your orbital constellation is wiped out.

Hard to hit a mobile bird. Think X-37.

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The development of atomic power, though it could confer unimaginable blessings on mankind, is something that is dreaded by the owners of coal mines and oil wells. (Hazlitt)
What I want to do is to look up C. . . . I call him the Forgotten Man. (Sumner)

Think shotgun.

Simultaneous EMP nukes. Synchronized activation of pre-implanted virus in attitude control or ground tracking software. Attack on ground stations. Stealthy dispersal of black sand clouds. Or, to be really nasty, intentionally triggering an orbital debris chain reaction. Assuming the adversary has fewer orbital assets to start with, and is willing to lose them.

Not that hard.
Secret X-37B Space Plane Spotted by Amateur Skywatchers

ASM-135 ASAT
30 year-old technology.

That is the neat thing about the future. ALMOST anything a possible in the future!

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Dan,
Do the numbers... correctly, "think Hydrogen".

ASAT - Hehe-he. Which part of maneuvering target did you miss?

Once you start popping EMPs, and orbital sand clouds, etc. you have crossed a redline for end of the world war. Good luck with that.

He who gets silly first, gets global nuclear war second. There are certain things you just don't mess with.

_________________
The development of atomic power, though it could confer unimaginable blessings on mankind, is something that is dreaded by the owners of coal mines and oil wells. (Hazlitt)
What I want to do is to look up C. . . . I call him the Forgotten Man. (Sumner)

Oh, right.

In the minute or two remaining after DSP/SBIRS/RAIDRS detects an ASAT launch from a medium-performance fighter, from a high, poorly-covered geographic latitude (assuming one of those systems can do it), Air Force Space Command correctly assesses the source of the detected signature, determines the ASAT trajectory and target, issues evasive maneuver commands to the target satellite, and watches as the target acquires enough delta-V to evade an infrared-homing kill vehicle closing at a relative speed near 30,000 mph.

The F-15 ASAT story






Har, har, har.

Nice pictures.

You still don't get the part about getting cone on manuevering vehicle. Sorry.

You also assume that the firing nation has 360 Space Surveillance. The fundamental point is that the other guys should all be (and probably are) nervous about X-37B and what it brings to the table.

Yup. It can stay in a stable orbit. Or, not. Space Tracking is not nearly as easy as what you make it out to be. But I guess maybe you don't actually know much about how it really works and is done.

ASAT was designed to go against Kepler stable vehicles. Only.
It was so good, we don't have it any more.

_________________
The development of atomic power, though it could confer unimaginable blessings on mankind, is something that is dreaded by the owners of coal mines and oil wells. (Hazlitt)
What I want to do is to look up C. . . . I call him the Forgotten Man. (Sumner)

A picture is worth a thousand words.

Tell me how fast the cone will have to move to keep up with electric or hydrazine thrusters. Are you saying the target has some SSMEs mounted, with fuel/oxidizer tanks, used just for evasive purposes? Or is there already a Polywell-powered Mach-Woodward bird you haven't told us about?

No. Not even the US has that. Just a widespread, dedicated band of watch-synchronized skywatchers who know how to deduce orbits from combined observations.

The issue under review is susceptibility to ASATs. Even X-37B spends 99.999% of its time in a non-maneuvering state. We haven't broached stealth, etc., so that is not on the table. If you can see it, you can track it.

"Kepler stable"? Malarkey. Any vehicle whose delta-V capability does not exceed the ASAT's ability to track/reach. Tell me more about those high-thrust anti-grav propulsors our satellites are now carrying, instead of the typical milliNewton thrusters.

It went black. Like Polywell.

ASAT was cancelled in 1988. The most recent satellite shot down was in 2006 by an SM-3, a ship based missile that doesn't have the range of the traditional ASAT. It is suggested with a booster it could have enough range, but is not an ASAT system.

We are talking about two things.

Thing one is the ability to hit X-37B with an ASAT. Thing one is not likely to happen. X-37B was designed to be mobile. It has shifted orbits many times. Bird 1 was lost a number of times on orbits shifts by the "network".

Space Tracking is not as easy as you make it out to be. We (The US) are the best at it in the world, bar none. There is no real second competitor, we are so far out in front. We would be hard pressed to hit X-37B if it did not want to be hit/predictable.

The terminal seeker on ASAT was very limited. Even the new seekers have limitations. They also do not have long to correct, and thus must be set up well on the launch and mid-course. If the target is changing orbit, it is not likely to consumate the shot as the mid-course and terminal seeking will be to far off the mark. The ellipse is not big enough, and, time is not on the weapons side.

X-37 flight 2 has been relatively stable given its test mission profile. That is its magic. It can hang for long times in a set path, and then with no notice, shift. And, the shift can be significant enough on one loop that it falls out of knwon tracking, and can take some time to be re-located. Good fun. It worries the shyte out of the other guys.

No magical propulsion required. Ask the skywatchers from last year how many times that they lost track, only to find it again some time later in a new orbit.

BTW, SM-3 and SM6 are very capable systems. I would not sell them short.

_________________
The development of atomic power, though it could confer unimaginable blessings on mankind, is something that is dreaded by the owners of coal mines and oil wells. (Hazlitt)
What I want to do is to look up C. . . . I call him the Forgotten Man. (Sumner)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/X-37B#X-37B_2

F = ma

a = F/m = ((14700 kg.m/s^2)/(4990 kg))/(9.8m/s^2) = 0.3 g
Give or take a few tenths of a gee.

What an awe-inspiring ASAT-evasion endgame capability.

I am glad that you trust wikipedia as an authoritative reference.

Maybe you should just jump on JWICS and ask one of the guys in whichever X-37B compartment to tell you what it really can do. I am sure they will tell you.

_________________
The development of atomic power, though it could confer unimaginable blessings on mankind, is something that is dreaded by the owners of coal mines and oil wells. (Hazlitt)
What I want to do is to look up C. . . . I call him the Forgotten Man. (Sumner)

Dipping into the atmosphere for an orbit plane-change maneuver is not relevant to the time history of an air-launched ASAT attack.

So now you argue that X-37B is timeframe irrelevant to ASAT. Ok.

I am also making no comment on your X-37B capabilities comment.

What about contemporary systems like SM3 or SM6?

My fundamental point here is that X-37B is a game changer, specifically in its ability to change orbit. It raises large questions regarding track and engage for the "other" guys.
Your point seems to be that it is not. Your point also seems to be based in a lack of real knowledge about Space Surveillance.

Please also recall my earlier statement that there would be certain things that you should not mess with by any means in orbit as Nuclear War starting redline items. Imagine what the Russians would think if somebody went after their launch detection assets or C2 links? They are already paranoiacs.

Space Policy is a very interesting arena these days.

_________________
The development of atomic power, though it could confer unimaginable blessings on mankind, is something that is dreaded by the owners of coal mines and oil wells. (Hazlitt)
What I want to do is to look up C. . . . I call him the Forgotten Man. (Sumner)