2 ms·
Any foil will do, just as the JWST's sunshield is effective against all the wavelengths coming off the sun. Gold or silver is best, but aluminum foil from the
by sandworm101 5y ago
Any foil will do, just as the JWST's sunshield is effective against all the wavelengths coming off the sun. Gold or silver is best, but aluminum foil from the grocery store is extremely reflective across all wavelengths we would call laser. Just giving the metal rocket a good polish would make a significant difference.
- simplyaccont 5y agothere is some difference, but I guess all the companies that sank billions into directed energy weapons missed that aluminum foil from shop can negate all their efforts
- weatherlite 5y agoI agree, as corrupt as some military industry can be, I highly doubt something dumb as aluminum foil can defeat the laser.
- chongli 5y agoAluminum foil reflects about 85% of visible light. Gold reflects 98% of visible light. Neither of these materials would be effective in protecting against a 100kW laser. That remaining 2% is 2kW of light energy directed at a small target. It’ll rapidly ablate the gold foil and then the target will begin to absorb the full power.
- awakeasleep 5y agoWouldnt the rocket continue moving towards its target during the ablation?
- chongli 5y agoThe goal of the laser is to destroy the electronic detonator inside the warhead. If the detonator is destroyed then the potential damage from the missile is reduced from catastrophic to manageable. With a 100 kW laser I think the whole process could happen in less than a second.
- deleted 5y ago[deleted]