Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Posting-Version: version B 2.10.2 9/5/84; site prometheus.UUCP Path: utzoo!linus!philabs!cmcl2!harvard!seismo!umcp-cs!prometheus!pmk From: pmk@prometheus.UUCP (Paul M Koloc) Newsgroups: net.physics,net.space,net.research Subject: Re: Star-Wars Message-ID: <203@prometheus.UUCP> Date: Thu, 21-Nov-85 09:47:05 EST Article-I.D.: promethe.203 Posted: Thu Nov 21 09:47:05 1985 Date-Received: Sat, 23-Nov-85 10:54:20 EST References: <384@ukc.UUCP> <201@prometheus.UUCP> <3327@brl-tgr.ARPA> <24@cstvax.UUCP> Organization: Prometheus II Ltd., College Park, MD Lines: 122 Xref: linus net.physics:3349 net.space:3261 net.research:308 Paul M. Koloc, pmk@prometheus writes >>> I suspect the Russians have made a monumental discovery >>> and are not willing to share it with us, and if I am correct as >>> to what is is, I don't blame them because in a few more years it >>> will give them a massive military edge. >> In article <3327@brl-tgr.ARPA> gwyn@brl-tgr.ARPA (Doug Gwyn ) adds: >>It is, I thought, well known that the Soviets test-fired a >>neutral particle beam "weapon" several years ago. One assumes >>that they are farther along by now. > Dave Berry. CS postgrad, Univ. of Edinburgh.mcvax!ukc!cstvax!db says" > Yes, but do they have the computing skills/resources to control an actual > system (as opposed to a test version)? I doubt it > 16k of 68020 should be enough, plus a 64 manned space platforms should be effective. Consider that the chemical potential energy of the launchers sitting in silos in the Soviet Union, are a few minutes from being converted to the gravitation potential energy and kinetic energy of space based nuclear terror. Weapons are as much in space as if they were waiting to drop on us from an artificial moon. So the argument of keeping space free of weapons is bogus. Orbital Space will look like the Tokyo subway system during rush hour, if some jerk pulls the trigger. The "monumental discovery" is a compact pulsed high power density fusion device based on work by Kurtmulleav at K. P. The power source in addition as direct MHD drive for beam weapons, may be for both a boost phase rocket engine and an electric mode drive for pulsed "super high specific thrust" orbital engines. This would reduce the cost of the "SDI" program by at least 10, and the difficulty with the Russian idea of the strategic concept is that it includes having racks of nuclear fission or fission- fusion devices for a space initiated total attack on the selected surface geopolitical targets. I don't think they can pulse the device fast enough, yet, for most of these applications. THIS concept of SDI actually increases the spread of potential nuclear death, and is not part of the the Presidents program. However, there are those (father of the beast) who would use these devices as drivers of space based excimer lasers. (Which work with a vengeance but still the laser effects are micro- scopic compared with the nuclear explosive driver). This doesn't make for a neat and tidy system, and from an engineering point of view the use of these devices would be too disruptive to be highly effective. What must be done is to rid the solar system of fission devices; even a commercial reactor could conceivably wipe out the concept of humanity as we know it in a few short centuries. But like a one year old 500 kg child playing with your shot gun, please won't work. Try to give him something else, less deadly, that he perceives as more fun. One basically has to "update" the defensive power of the masses with something they would take pride and feel psychologically secure. That means "put a substitute" defense in place and then "scrap" the nuclear based one. One whose drivers are based on controlled fusion would not be lethal to mankind. > You haven't had one for 40 years and you're still the most powerful > nation on Earth. We have been tested & seriously bloodied a couple of times, during that time. But there is no substitute for a strong defense to reduce the loss of life. Even disarming the citizens of large technologically advanced nations, on the average results in about two or three orders of magnitude increase in the loss of life, since a totalitarian regime can assume power without great difficulty and they can exterminate tens of millions ie. Hitler of Germany, and Stalin of Russia. > > >If you read the memoirs > >of high-level Soviet defectors (not ballet performers, but those > >involved in the military, intelligence, or diplomatic service), > >you will find that it is quite common for the Soviets to > >encourage nuclear-freeze, unilateral disarmament, and anti- > >defense movements in the U.S. > > I've been involved in the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament for some years, > and I've seen little of this money. It doesn't take much money to encourage "apple pie" liberal causes. Everybody wants peace, unfortunately it's a tough cookie to hold on to, and like turning a spinning bicycle wheel it sometimes takes force in a orthogonal direction to get it where you want it. > * - except those who make money from developing weapons, of course. Well not just weapons, it turns out that Velikov and (Furth of PPPL) have been scheming ways to boost government funding of "big physics" such as fusion, including joint projects that wouldn't otherwise be supported by each government alone. It's a good cover for Velikov. Furth was turned down last year from going ahead with a so called "hot core" tokamak (20 year old Russian invention) which would cost $2.6 billion & wouldn't "burn". Pure government boondoggle "science". Tokamaks are great plasma physics test chambers (when they are carefully engineered like the German ASDEX). As of a few years ago it has been generally accepted by the few in the know that they can't be ever made to work commercially. So why propose a costly project whose engineering is not feasible? The answer seems to be that if it's not BIG, it's not noticed by the government and the research base isn't large enough to bring in enough of a lobby effort to keep it going. That works for the Soviets as well. So let's be fair and include big physics as a culprit. Fusion could have been commercialized by now if "big" could have been forced out of the the equation. With fusion in hand the frontier of space would be a piece of cake and we wouldn't have time to play "my fist is bigger". +---------------------------------------------------------+--------+ | Paul M. Koloc, President: (301) 445-1075 | FUSION | | Prometheus II, Ltd.; College Park, MD 20740-0222 | this | | {umcp-cs | seismo}!prometheus!pmk; pmk@prometheus.UUCP | decade | +---------------------------------------------------------+--------+