International Space Station may get laser cannon to vaporize orbital debris

a reply to: andy06shake

They did, but it was to prevent nuclear and other weapons of mass destruction being based in orbit. You could put an orbital bombardment system in orbit, as long as it didn't have a nuclear warhead on it.

originally posted by: rickymouse
I think they want to experiment with popping corn with a laser in space. They will use Jiffy Pop for their testing.

Oh you REAL GENIUS you! Now all we need is a nerdy kid with glasses,a cool hot genius and a preppy genius with a low jacked dental work antenna thinking God is talking directly to him while sitting in the professors house full of popcorn. It make a great movie i think.

a reply to: yuppa

That's an old movie, I remember that now.
Probably in the back of my mind I remembered this and formed a post out of it.

a reply to: rickymouse

Meteor, out in 1979 Starring Sean Connery per chance? That was a good movie!

www.imdb.com...

originally posted by: andy06shake
a reply to: rickymouse

Meteor, out in 1979 Starring Sean Connery per chance? That was a good movie!

www.imdb.com...

Meteor lol!!! so horrible it was a classic. another movie with a russian scientist connery got to kiss.

a reply to: yuppa

If i remember right Sean Connery's Russian accent was priceless. Classic scifi B movie if ever there was one.

This thread could easily get steered towards a reminiscence of old movies

Why not just make a pulse laser cannon to change the direction of the debris?

originally posted by: andy06shake
a reply to: yuppa

If i remember right Sean Connery's Russian accent was priceless. Classic scifi B movie if ever there was one.

As bad as his russian accent in the hunt for red October ?

So, they are using the word 'vaporize', which means that there will be leftover gases and such, most likely toxic, which has only one place to go...into our atmosphere. I think this needs more thought.

originally posted by: InTheLight
So, they are using the word 'vaporize', which means that there will be leftover gases and such, most likely toxic, which has only one place to go...into our atmosphere. I think this needs more thought.

THIS IS NOW A CHECKOV WAPORIZE THREAD. LOL!

Today space debris, tomorrow asteroids and then .... planets!!!!

originally posted by: yuppa

originally posted by: InTheLight
So, they are using the word 'vaporize', which means that there will be leftover gases and such, most likely toxic, which has only one place to go...into our atmosphere. I think this needs more thought.

THIS IS NOW A CHECKOV WAPORIZE THREAD. LOL!

a reply to: InTheLight

Classic checkov is superior. But new checkov is OK too.

originally posted by: swanne
a reply to: andy06shake

How are they hoping to obliterate a debris with a laser? Even with military grade equipment it takes an eternity...

That's not military grade. That is a proof of concept.

And what if they point the thing at a satellite, not knowing it's not junk?

Then they should be fired as they are clearly not capable enough to do the job.

originally posted by: andy06shake
a reply to: Phage

Jaws in space eh? I'm sure there is a movie idea in there somewhere.

Sharknado 3: The sharkularity. Sharks, with frickin' "lasers", coming out of a black hole. Eh?

originally posted by: ThePeaceMaker
shooting one object with a laser would create more objects once it disintegrates would it not ? Increasing the amount of junk around the earth ?

No, they'd be vaporizing the object. Essentially they would heat the object until all of it boils away as a gas. The pieces would all be molecule sized at that point.

originally posted by: rickymouse

Why not just make a pulse laser cannon to change the direction of the debris?

No, you don't want that. I mean sure you could use that strategy on a larger object that you couldn't vaporize, but if you just move a smaller object out of the way, then it's still out there; plus it's now on a different orbital trajectory that will still need to be tracked.

originally posted by: InTheLight
So, they are using the word 'vaporize', which means that there will be leftover gases and such, most likely toxic, which has only one place to go...into our atmosphere. I think this needs more thought.

No, actually, this is overdue, in my opinion. Space debris is no joke. ONE accident, if it were severe enough, could make entering orbit in one piece impossible for as much as hundreds of years.

Please let this happen

Will they use it on Aliens that come by the ISS every now and then?