3 ms·
orbital mirrors make very poor weapons because Conservation of Etendue means you fundamentally cannot concentrate very high unless your fill factor is very high
by Robotbeat 3mo ago
orbital mirrors make very poor weapons because Conservation of Etendue means you fundamentally cannot concentrate very high unless your fill factor is very high (which would require millions of tons in orbit). Lasers are far more effective as weapons as a single aperture launched on a single rocket is sufficient to get high concentration. Microwaves also.
The military application would just be illumination.
- moralestapia 3mo agoYou don't need to go "very high", 80C is more than enough to wreak havoc. I'm sure that's attainable with a few hundred sats. Can someone do the math?
- kadoban 3mo agoIs it ever, ever going to be cheaper or easier or more effective than just launching a missile? Seems...unlikely just on the face of it.
- moralestapia 3mo agoAre missiles better than bullets? Are bullets better than knives? Each thing has its own place.
- kadoban 3mo agoNot every possible thing has real situations where it's better. There are legitimately terrible solutions to problems, that are dominated by better ones in every situation. Like this, for example.