[ExI] Obama Transition Team Examining Space Solar Power

[Michael LaTorra]

On Mon, Dec 29, 2008 at 12:48 AM, samantha <sjatkins at mac.com> wrote:

>
>
> The beam density from a power sat is not designed or (unless on purpose)
> tunable to a concentration usable as a weapon.
>
> - samantha


Right. And what's to prevent it being designed to be tunable and
directable from the start, as a sort of "just in case" military
ace-in-the-hole?
Answer: Nothing.

As for the mutually-assured-destruction (MAD) situation: We lucked out that
none of the false alarms during the Cold War ever precipitated a
launch-on-warning nuclear attack. MAD is not inherently stable or safe.

Finally, as technology advances, even non-state actors (terrorists) may
eventually obtain the means to attack orbiting platforms. But even before
that, such attacks will still be possible. Remember, al-Qaida did not need
its own air force in order to destroy the World Trade Towers or hit the
Pentagon; they only needed to take control of someone else's craft.

Regards,
Mike
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