Thursday, June 21, 2007

Why A War In Heaven Is A Bad Thing

Because when you blow up anything orbiting, for example, 200 Kilometres above the Earth it turns into a million little pieces of shrapnel speeding around at 28,000 kilometres per hour, thus ruining things for all the other astronauts, more or less permanently. So:


Since debris cannot be effectively removed from orbit, controlling the production of debris is essential for preserving the long-term use of space Banning anti-satellite weapons would also improve international security by preventing the erroneous interpretations of satellite failures as deliberate attacks by enemy states.

And therefore:

Given its knowledge on space security, Canada is well-placed to take on an international leadership role by enthusiastically supporting initiatives for the drafting and ratification of a an international treaty on the prevention of an arms race in outer space.

Canada can also do more. There has never been any comprehensive, coherent and overarching Canadian national policy. Instead of a piece-meal approach, Canada should have a national space policy that is adopted after thorough and public debate in order to govern and guide the conduct of Canadian space activities in an organized and sustained manner.

Certainly, whispered hints on the part of the Harper government that they might support the latest incarnation of Star Wars don't help.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

so far the only nation with operational ant-sats is China . . . they completed testing last year and now have tubes loaded.

Is this what you mean by the incarnation of Star Wars ??

bigcitylib said...

Anon,

Bad on the Chinese, but I'd be interested in what they're using and what they're aiming at. Is this the war-head stuffed with BBs type of thing?

And no I was thinking, in addition to the U.S. ground-based system, of the secret projects that Congress has been cutting out of Bush's budgets every year because they broke too many treaties.

(Of course, the Chinese have been responding to the American moves in this area.)

Jay said...

I am sure the noodly appendages of the flying spaghetti monster could coral all the debris.

After the eternal battle with the flying pink unicorn there was no debris left around.

May you feel the noodly wetness of his appendages on the nape of your neck.

RAmen!

Anonymous said...

this one:

Chinese anti-satellite test sparks concern
U.S. and other countries react to reports about orbital weapon

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MSNBC staff and news service reports
Updated: 4:40 p.m. PT Jan 18, 2007

WASHINGTON - The United States, Australia and Canada have voiced concerns to China over the first known satellite-killing test in space in more than 20 years, the White House said Thursday.

“The U.S. believes China’s development and testing of such weapons is inconsistent with the spirit of cooperation that both countries aspire to in the civil space area,” National Security Council spokesman Gordon Johndroe said. “We and other countries have expressed our concern regarding this action to the Chinese.”

Using a ground-based medium-range ballistic missile, the test knocked out an aging Chinese weather satellite about 537 miles (860 kilometers) above the earth on Jan. 11 through “kinetic impact,” or by slamming into it, Johndroe said.

Anonymous said...

What's with the Hill Times? Canada has a space policy and it's directly linked to all other policies related to the USA.
Steve asks George.
Sheesh! You people.