Discovery Channel special: Satellite Shootdown

[Sailor Steve]

Cool!

Now if I just had fancy-schmancy TV I could watch it.

[rifleman13]

I hope they show it soon here in SE Asia!

It's just awesome to see something shot down from space!

[UnderseaLcpl]

Just before showtime, the Discovery channel satellite is accidentally blown up by the U.S. Marine Corps' attempt at a similar weapon. Then, just for fun, the satellite hits a miraculously uncrashed V-22 Osprey on the way down.

[SUBMAN1]

Originally Posted by UnderseaLcpl

Just before showtime, the Discovery channel satellite is accidentally blown up by the U.S. Marine Corps' attempt at a similar weapon. Then, just for fun, the satellite hits a miraculously uncrashed V-22 Osprey on the way down.

Hey man - the Ospreys are proving themselves big time! You're giving them a bad rap when they are having better time on line than helicopters now!

http://news.cnet.com/8301-10784_3-9845473-7.html

-S

[UnderseaLcpl]

Originally Posted by SUBMAN1

Hey man - the Ospreys are proving themselves big time! You're giving them a bad rap when they are having better time on line than helicopters now!


-S

Oh I know. I was actually a proponent of it it back when everyone still hated it. That doesn't exclude it from me making fun of it though.

[moose1am]

I always thought that the osprey concept was good. They carry more cargo, they go faster and farther than the other helicopters they are replacing.

Any helicopter is subject to crashing.

Hopefully they have all the kinks worked out on the Ospreys now.

I just wish that those making military hardware would not charge the tax payers (US military) so high of a price. The prices we pay for maintaining our defense is pretty high. But we can't afford not to have the best military in the world.

I hope that we maintain and improve our ability to shoot enemy missiles out of the sky. Some day we may have to defend this country from Nuclear War head tipped ballistic missile and I hope we are successful at that.

My fear is that the Chinese can now shoot down our satellites. We now need to build satellites that can defend themselves form Chinese missiles somehow. Either they an shoot back at an incoming missile or move out of it's way somehow.

But our GPS Satellites are vulnerable and our entire military won't know where they are if the GPS satellites get shot down and put out of operation.

What good will guide precision ammo be without a gps signal to guide it onto the targets?

Originally Posted by SUBMAN1

Hey man - the Ospreys are proving themselves big time! You're giving them a bad rap when they are having better time on line than helicopters now!

http://news.cnet.com/8301-10784_3-9845473-7.html

-S

[Bill Nichols]

Wow! This topic went off-subject after only 3 posts! Thanks to Moose1am to bring it back in line.

[Platapus]

Originally Posted by moose1am

But our GPS Satellites are vulnerable and our entire military won't know where they are if the GPS satellites get shot down and put out of operation.

GPS sure is handy. However I hope that our military is not putting themselves in a position of mission failure if GPS goes out. Putting all our eggs in that fragile basket is not good stratgery.

GPS should be our first choice, but we need other backup choices for when (not if) GPS goes down. I understand there is a new technology called "maps". It is a hardcopy representation of the area of interest. Pretty promising technology I think.

Having our weapon systems locked into GPS as well as the ability to move our troops is a vulnerability that needs to be mitigated with backup plans.

[Bill Nichols]

So, has anybody seen this Discovery special, yet? Inquiring minds want to know...