Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!ames!pasteur!ucbvax!GROUCH.JPL.NASA.GOV!PJS
From: PJS@GROUCH.JPL.NASA.GOV (Peter Scott)
Newsgroups: sci.space
Subject: Re: USSR selling high res pictures and announce new reactor
Message-ID: <890129153158.000002BE141@grouch.JPL.NASA.GOV>
Date: 29 Jan 89 22:31:58 GMT
Sender: daemon@ucbvax.BERKELEY.EDU
Organization: The Internet
Lines: 18

Glenn Chapman <glenn@ll-vlsi.arpa> writes:

>The Etalon was 
>described as a 1.4 Tonne hollow sphere 1.3 meters (51 inches) in diameter 
>covered with about 2000 quartz tetrahedral shaped prisms, which reflect laser 
>beams back towards their source. 
       ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
>This allows very fine measurements of the 
>earth's gravity field and of course can be used as a military laser target.  
                                                      ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

PRAVDA: "Bungling Colonel Destroys New Free-Electron Laser By Aiming It
At Wrong Target; Three Posted To Siberia"

I have read that this is a feature that the U.S. plans to use to protect
orbital SDI platforms from said military lasers.

Peter Scott (pjs@grouch.jpl.nasa.gov)