3 ms·
Destroy a Starship on the pad? Possible. Destroy a Starship during ascent? That's much harder. There are two problems: You have to have enough greater acce
by AnimalMuppet 2y ago
Destroy a Starship on the pad? Possible. Destroy a Starship during ascent? That's much harder.
There are two problems: You have to have enough greater acceleration that you can catch it, and you have to have good enough targeting (and maneuverability) to actually hit it. Those are highly non-trivial problems.
- ben_w 2y agoYou don't have to catch it from behind, just put yourself in it's path and let Starship's own kinetic energy cause the damage with your own velocity being nearly stationary vs the ground at the time. Aiming is one of the easier things: huge target, multi-gigwatt heat signiature.
- JumpCrisscross 2y ago> Aiming is one of the easier things: huge target, multi-gigwatt heat signiature You’re describing boost-stage missile intercept. It’s incredibly hard.
- ben_w 2y agoFor strategic use against ICBMs, yes. For an extremely well advertised launch into a predetermined flight path of something which isn't even trying to hide its signature and where you can watch the livestream of the countdown? Perhaps I'm still underestimating the challenge, but I think boost stage vs Starship is a much less of a challenge than boost stage vs. an actual weapon. But yeah, given your background, if you say I'm wrong, I know to defer to you on this.