Re: SPACE: Lunar Billboard?

Mark Grant (mark@unicorn.com)
Sun, 29 Dec 1996 14:34:07 +0000


On Sat, 28 Dec 1996, Michael Lorrey wrote:

> nobody on earth would be in a strategic position to tell anyone on the
> moon what to do, as such devices would be the ultimate in artillery
> weaponry in a position of tactical superiority over the entire earth.

This seems to be a regular topic on rec.arts.sf.science -- general
consensus seems to be that they're not particularly useful for attacking
Earth (e.g. because small rocks will detonate at high altitude with little
or no effect on the ground -- see the reports of nuclear weapon detection
sattelites picking up hundreds of kiloton-range high-altitude detonations
of incoming meteorites with no damage at ground level), and that the lunar
base will be an easy target to destroy. Sorry...

Mark

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