How do they get dropped from orbit when they are already in free fall? Dudes need to learn some orbital mechanics. I made a large post about this stuff which I am unable to find. Why is the satellite staying in space but the rod suddenly drops out of it when released? It needs to be slowed from 27000 MPH to re-enter using massive amounts of fuel for the second time in this delivery system which is completely impractical.
It would require a de-orbit rocket burn. It only needs to be slowed enough for the perigee to drop below 100 km. After that, aerodynamic drag will do the rest. But the rest of it is a headache and I agree that it is impractical.
Yeah, I discussed using atmospheric braking in another post. In it I showed that while this is certainly doable albeit with a reentry burn, it is the most expensive way possible to put mass on target and we are talking about a telephone pole of tungsten. If the Tungsten came from space it might make a little more sense.
In summary: Can it be done with an unlimited budget (and a motherfucking reentry burn) ? Yes. Is it a good idea? Aside from the advantage of getting your weapons close to an enemy before launch it is the absolute worst idea possible! (aside from sending the heavy object around the Neptune first, for shits and giggles)
Big tungsten rods don't make sense. Very massive to put into orbit. Bothersome to de-orbit. Problematic to guide to target. Overkill for ordinary targets and not as effective as a nuke for extraordinary targets. Tungsten from space? As long as we are unicorn-farting, why not platinum?
Unlimited budgets don't exist. A ballasted conventional re-entry vehicle with radar homing (think Pershing II warhead) could probably sink a battleship. But as an orbital weapon, you would have to wait until the orbit track crossed the target and the timing was right. Why bother, when a ballistic missile can do the job without waiting? (It doesn't get you "close" to your target. You have to drop from orbit thousands of kilometers upstream.)
Yeah, your point on close to target is right, it is actually probably half a great circle arc, not close to target at all. (my own brain fart). The whole idea is stupid.
How do they get dropped from orbit when they are already in free fall? Dudes need to learn some orbital mechanics. I made a large post about this stuff which I am unable to find. Why is the satellite staying in space but the rod suddenly drops out of it when released? It needs to be slowed from 27000 MPH to re-enter using massive amounts of fuel for the second time in this delivery system which is completely impractical.
It would require a de-orbit rocket burn. It only needs to be slowed enough for the perigee to drop below 100 km. After that, aerodynamic drag will do the rest. But the rest of it is a headache and I agree that it is impractical.
Yeah, I discussed using atmospheric braking in another post. In it I showed that while this is certainly doable albeit with a reentry burn, it is the most expensive way possible to put mass on target and we are talking about a telephone pole of tungsten. If the Tungsten came from space it might make a little more sense.
In summary: Can it be done with an unlimited budget (and a motherfucking reentry burn) ? Yes. Is it a good idea? Aside from the advantage of getting your weapons close to an enemy before launch it is the absolute worst idea possible! (aside from sending the heavy object around the Neptune first, for shits and giggles)
Big tungsten rods don't make sense. Very massive to put into orbit. Bothersome to de-orbit. Problematic to guide to target. Overkill for ordinary targets and not as effective as a nuke for extraordinary targets. Tungsten from space? As long as we are unicorn-farting, why not platinum?
Unlimited budgets don't exist. A ballasted conventional re-entry vehicle with radar homing (think Pershing II warhead) could probably sink a battleship. But as an orbital weapon, you would have to wait until the orbit track crossed the target and the timing was right. Why bother, when a ballistic missile can do the job without waiting? (It doesn't get you "close" to your target. You have to drop from orbit thousands of kilometers upstream.)
Yeah, your point on close to target is right, it is actually probably half a great circle arc, not close to target at all. (my own brain fart). The whole idea is stupid.