4 ms·
Do you actually need to have detected it as it was coming in to be able to say 15 minutes later "oh that was a meteor" detection and forensics are different...
by grogenaut 4y ago
Do you actually need to have detected it as it was coming in to be able to say 15 minutes later "oh that was a meteor" detection and forensics are different... it's just really if the forensics happen fast enough to avoid a counter strike. Eg if some nuclear capable countries capitol just evaporated with no nuke early warning systems going off and no one could look up and see the massive trail coming in and had not streamed it on the internet first.
- ianburrell 4y agoThere is space surveillance network tracks things in orbit. I don't think that covers all of the sky and could miss a rock. There are early warning satellites that look down for ballistic missiles. I don't know if the infrared detectors would see the rock. They are probably best as negative signal with no rocket being detected. The main signal that wasn't nuclear weapon would be the size and location. Nuclear weapons don't explode as high as Chelyabink meteor. Nuclear weapons aren't as big as Tunguska event. Also, hitting a city is unlikely, hitting one dead on is really unlikely. There would also no nuclear fallout detected.
- jcrawfordor 4y agoSpace-based nuclear weapons surveillance systems monitor for X-ray burst and the characteristic double-flash pattern. Neither would be present in the case of a meteor, which would rule out a nuclear detonation immediately. Infrared systems likely would detect the meteor entering but the projected flight path would be, well, unreasonable for a missile.