Posted on 05/16/2018 8:18:40 AM PDT by BenLurkin
The idea of ‘arming’ the ISS with laser batteries isn’t new but we’re just now getting to a place where we can develop systems compact and reliable enough to be practical aboard the station. To jump-start development, an international team of researchers from France, Italy, Japan, and Russia is pooling their efforts, according to Boris Shustov, member of the Russian Academy of Sciences (RAS).
The system they’re considering would consist of orbital lasers aboard the ISS. It should be effective against the most common type of space debris around Earth — pieces that only measure a few centimeters.
... The new project aims to provide the same power output by using 100 “thin rods” in lieu of the optical fibers. This would reduce the overall energy drain to only 5% of the ISS’s output — a twenty-fold decrease.
This version of the laser system would allow the ISS to fire laser bursts for 10 seconds, up to a range of 10 kilometers (6.2 miles), with a recharge time of 200 seconds, according to Russian media. The whole system would weigh about 500 kilograms (1,100 pounds).
(Excerpt) Read more at zmescience.com ...
Well the shuttle should fly some components up there right awa...................... Oh. We don’t do that anymore. Maybe SpaceX?
They’d need a detection system that can see a #6 loose nut coming at them at 12,000 MPH, and an aiming/tracking system that can aim and hold the laser on it.
Then they get hit with a molten #6 nut, rather than a solid nut. Unless they plan on putting in enough energy to vaporize the incoming debris (which still won’t remove its mass).
It sounds like a good idea but I’m not sure it’s the solution they are really looking for.
Ha, I was too slow. :)
Range of 6.2 miles- what happens to the light after that?
I'd suspect that most debris orbits in the same general direction, given that they've been shed by spacecraft orbiting in the same general direction - east to west.
Of course there is probably plenty of debris in polar orbits.
But, is the above is true, most debris would be traveling slower than 12k relative to the space station.
10 kilometers. I'd imagine that's the range of the aiming/tracking system. The beam would keep going toward Omicron Persei 8, for a another 1,100 years...
SHADO?
Wow, I can just imagine 1,100 years from now, some poor schlub going for his early morning run on Omicron Persei 8 and suddenly from out of nowhere a laser beam fries his butt.......
Not good public relations for the human race.....
“Wow, I can just imagine 1,100 years from now, some poor schlub going for his early morning run on Omicron Persei 8”
That will be nothing compared to when they finally discover Ally McBeal was canceled.
“...laser batteries...”
Whaaaaat?
Why would the ISS need a laser for its own defense? This seems like a stupid idea.
Nice idea, but stupid.
Yep, stupid.
Now mount that laser on a shark....now we're talking defense in depth.
Depends on the size of beam's cross section. If it's the size of a lead pencil, then I seriously doubt its effectivity. If it's the size of a large coffee can, well, now we're talking.
Says a guy who has never seen a light saber in action ...
The subliming of the metal will cause a change in orbit and velocity, possibly enough to deflect it past the space station.
Or if it’s a Q-switched laser, spallation will change its course. It takes a lot of energy to vaporize something
Only a little bit of it would sublime.
But you are right - spalling would be a more likely result.
Which means there would be another tiny piece of metal racing around in orbit...
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