On Mon, 23 Jul 2001, Jim Choate wrote:
Maybe. But even mirrors can be burned through by a laser. And then we've
Jim, why are you trying so hard to make a complete fool out of yourself, in a public forum? A chemical laser needs active optics to track your remote target. What do you think that optics is made from, unobtainium? Do you understand basic laws of optics? I recommend purchasing a 15 W laser (and a pair of matching protection goggles), and then use it to ignite a match from a close distance, and then over a few km, preferably during summer in your native Texas. You could target the beam towards a projection wall, and watch it with a pair of binoculars. It will be quite instructive.
got weight issues that this would entail. It's not like they've got a lot of overhead for the job. I suspect that faceting wouldn't be any more effective than a smoothly round body form, it could have aerodynamic effects as well (ie sharp corners at the facet edges - and yes they could be rounded - now you're moving back toward a round rocket planform).
High albedo coating of the missile is *cheap*. Powerful lasers are that not, especially if you need to have several of them online in an area. -- Eugen* Leitl <a href="http://www.lrz.de/~ui22204/">leitl</a> ______________________________________________________________ ICBMTO : N48 10'07'' E011 33'53'' http://www.lrz.de/~ui22204 57F9CFD3: ED90 0433 EB74 E4A9 537F CFF5 86E7 629B 57F9 CFD3