[TML] Space Traffic Control (was Re: War rules)

[Knapp]

On Tue, Jun 3, 2008 at 4:47 PM, Leon Wu <Leon.Wu at newswire.ca> wrote:

> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: tml-bounces at travellercentral.com
> > [mailto:tml-bounces at travellercentral.com] On Behalf Of
> > shadow at shadowgard.com
> > Sent: Tuesday, June 03, 2008 3:07 AM
> > To: The Traveller Mailing List
> > Subject: Re: [TML] Space Traffic Control (was Re: War rules)
> >
> > > I'd say that the planetary defense batteries get some
> > target practice.
> >
> > If they've got a high enough velocity you may actually be
> > better off letting them hit in one piece.
> >
> > "solid" object at high velocity blasts a crater, and uses up
> > energy in ground shock, airborne shockwave and blasting
> > material out of the crater. Also melts & vaporizes a lot of rock.
> >
> > A lot of the heat in the crater will radiate away into space
> > as the crater cools.
> >
> > Water strike puts more energy into creating a tsunami and the
> > water rushing back into the crater (if the object was large
> > enough or fast enough to make a crater) turns into steam
> > carrying a lot of heat and particulates into the atmosphere.
> >
> > Blowing it into pieces that burn up in the atmosphere and it
> > all winds up as heat and dust in the upper atmosphere. Which
> > may be hot/bright enough to ignite widespread fires on the
> > ground just like the thermal flash from a nuke. Only over a
> > *much* wider area.
> >
> > This is why if you can't deflect an asteroid, you are better
> > off letting it hit rather than blowing it into chunks that
> > will also hit.
>
> Undoubtably, yes. But in this case I was responding to the question
> about hundreds of thousands of cargo containers. Small enough to be
> destroyed or reduced enough to burn up in re-entry.
>
> For asteroids, you'd need detect it early to have a hope of getting it
> to miss.
>

BTW it was said that all the containers would be destroyed in a collision
(yes, I think it is unlikely, sort of like the Exon Valdes was but we are
talking about many more ships with better navigation systems (I hope)). The
assumption here is that it was head on but nothing says it must be or that
that was even likely.



-- 
Douglas E Knapp

1. Sun Tzu said: Raising a host of a hundred thousand
men and marching them great distances entails heavy loss
on the people and a drain on the resources of the State.
The daily expenditure will amount to a thousand ounces
of silver. There will be commotion at home and abroad,
and men will drop down exhausted on the highways.
As many as seven hundred thousand families will be impeded
in their labor.

2. Hostile armies may face each other for years,
striving for the victory which is decided in a single day.
This being so, to remain in ignorance of the enemy's
condition simply because one grudges the outlay of a hundred
ounces of silver in honors and emoluments, is the height
of inhumanity.