4/12/2023 0 Comments Space warfare ideas![]() The Navy only recently canceled the plan to use railgun weapons, instead opting to funnel resources to hypersonic missile research. US Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Kristopher Kirsop. One of two electromagnetic railgun prototypes on display aboard joint high-speed vessel USS Millinocket in port at Naval Base San Diego. In 1969, the year the Air Force canceled the MOL, NASA put the first man on the moon. The MOL never launched, but America’s manned space program continued. Though the MOL was canceled in 1969, the Department of Defense spent more than $1.56 billion over five-plus years of development.Īccording to the National Reconnaissance Office: “The actual, classified, mission of the MOL program was to place a manned surveillance satellite into orbit.” Even so, the US believed it could get better reconnaissance photographs than the first-generation Gambit satellite. The Air Force began the project in 1963, but the cost was prohibitively high. NASA courtesy photo.Īmid the animosity of the Cold War, the Air Force saw promise in launching the Manned Orbiting Laboratory, or MOL - an orbital platform the size of a small trailer with targeting and reconnaissance capabilities. The Manned Orbiting Laboratory project, though canceled in the early 1960s, is reminiscent of the International Space Station, but the MOL had a secret purpose of reconnaissance and photography of Soviet launch sites and bases instead of peaceful research between nations. Īccording to NASA, the military canceled the project before construction began, but “the Dyna-Soar program provided important technical information about hypersonic flight, reentry flight control, and heating problems.” Before cancellation, however, the military spent approximately $660 million on research and development - about $5.65 billion today. Nevertheless, the Air Force canceled the project in 1963 to move forward with the Manned Orbiting Laboratory. The Air Force began funding research into the Dyna-Soar project in 1957, as it wanted an orbital manned bomber, reconnaissance system, and hypersonic weapon. Pictured is the F5D Skylancer NASA 212 modified as the X-20 Dyna-Soar vision field simulator. The US Air Force canceled the Dyna-Soar project before construction on a prototype began, but NASA still created simulations that astronauts could train with. Military Watch puts the bill for the “rod from God” at $230 million per projectile. The problem with dropping tungsten telephone poles from orbit at 10 times the speed of sound? Cost. According to Business Insider : “The idea is like shooting bullets at a target, except instead of losing velocity as it travels, the projectile is gaining velocity and energy that will be expended on impact.” ![]() The idea originated from “Lazy Dog” projectiles - effectively metallic bullet-shaped lumps dropped from high altitudes. Measuring 20 feet long and 1 foot in diameter, the “rod from God” weapon could achieve the force of impact from a nuclear strike but with none of the radioactive fallout. The project seeks to drop a massive tungsten rod directly from orbit. The US Air Force’s Project Thor is a theoretical space weapon that remains in development. ![]() Effective and useful as bunker busters, these bullet-shaped hunks of metal hit hard. “Lazy Dog” projectiles, used heavily during Vietnam, let gravity do all the work for them. In a statement released hours after the Russian test launch, the US State Department called the move “reckless.”įor its part, however, the US has tested its own fair share of space weapons as part of a deterrence strategy meant to keep its adversaries from militarizing the heavens. The test prompted an international outcry, condemning the use of weapons in space. ![]() The impact created a debris cloud that forced astronauts inside the International Space Station to take shelter. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |