NationStates Jolt Archive

I've read latley that a top ranking American defence minister said that the next big war of our time would take place in space. Now, your probably thinking thats a little far fetched, as I do, but if you consider it in reality, the only nations in space at the moment are America, Russia, China and Europe to some extent. The American governments not seriously considering a war with China or Russia, or even Europe is it?

Er, no, we've got our hands full at the moment with purely terrestrial conflicts. Who said this and when?

I've read latley that a top ranking American defence minister said that the next big war of our time would take place in space. Now, your probably thinking thats a little far fetched, as I do, but if you consider it in reality, the only nations in space at the moment are America, Russia, China and Europe to some extent. The American governments not seriously considering a war with China or Russia, or even Europe is it?Sounds like the bit in the Simpsons

"The wars of the future... will be fought in space, or possibly ontop of very high mountains... by giant robots" etc etc

The next war is in the Middle East. And we never saw it coming.

well, if u think-- the last real frontier is space... and nobody wants to risk a thermo-nuclear war on earth...

LOL I was about to mention that.

No, the next great war will be fought on the ground but who wins space will probably win outright. Just shootin down satellites and stuff. But actual space wars will happen sooner or later. When they start mining the moon, things will get ugly.

fuck iraq, claim the moon!

War in space won't happen for another 1000+ years; we don't have enough technology to do it.

War in space won't happen for another 1000+ years; we don't have enough technology to do it.

Technology is advancing rapidly. I'd say that if we haven't been replaced by machines, a space war could occur in 50 years, though political conditions would be a big factor.

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War in space won't happen for another 1000+ years; we don't have enough technology to do it.

We have the technology to get into space.
We have the technology to kill people.
Ergo, we have the technology to kill people in space.

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We have the technology to get into space.
We have the technology to kill people.
Ergo, we have the technology to kill people in space.



Invalid logic (although all the statements are true).

I was going to post:

You have the ability to walk.
You have the ability to chew gum.
Ergo, you have the ability to walk and chew gum simultaneously.

but that seemed kind of mean.

its not that simple.

Technology is advancing rapidly. I'd say that if we haven't been replaced by machines, a space war could occur in 50 years, though political conditions would be a big factor.


Yeah, but we can barely manage to make a missle interceptor that works in a terrestrial environment. The mathematical logistics of space battles are hideously more complex. I don't think we'll have the capability or, indeed, the desire to fight a completely space-based war anytime soon.

google this.

Imagine American Privateers Raiding Foreign Mining Shipents, sabotaging satelittes. Of course this aint likely because The U.S will Likely dominate before this point. Assumng of course it hasnt been disolved or is in abject poverty because of horrendous deficits.

We have the technology to get into space.
We have the technology to kill people.
Ergo, we have the technology to kill people in space.



Invalid logic (although all the statements are true).

I was going to post:

You have the ability to walk.
You have the ability to chew gum.
Ergo, you have the ability to walk and chew gum simultaneously.

but that seemed kind of mean.

I can juggle
I can cook
Ergo, I can juggle and cook at the same time.

Possible, but unlikely


I can care about important things
I can think about sex
Ergo, I can think about sex and important things at the same time.

FALSE!

We have the technology to get into space.
We have the technology to kill people.
Ergo, we have the technology to kill people in space.



Invalid logic (although all the statements are true).

I was going to post:

You have the ability to walk.
You have the ability to chew gum.
Ergo, you have the ability to walk and chew gum simultaneously.

but that seemed kind of mean.

I can juggle
I can cook
Ergo, I can juggle and cook at the same time.

Possible, but unlikely


I can care about important things
I can think about sex
Ergo, I can think about sex and important things at the same time.

FALSE!

Okay, let's put it another way: All it needs is some additional oxidizing agent in the gunpowder. That and with the zero atmospheric diffusion, lasers become viable weaponry.

And why wouldn't missiles and rockets work?

Fighting in space is a drain on resources. The unit costs are ridiculous. If you have a hundred billion dollars or Euros or whatever equivalent, what you can accomplish in combat on the ground vastly exceeds the usefulness of what you can accomplish in combat in space.

Remember the dawn of submarine warfare? A wooden barrel with a screw, and a steel can trying to ram a mine on a stick into a ship? Space weapons are at roughly the same stage now.

Okay, let's put it another way: All it needs is some additional oxidizing agent in the gunpowder. That and with the zero atmospheric diffusion, lasers become viable weaponry.

And why wouldn't missiles and rockets work?

I wasn't arguing with your statement that we have the technology to kill people in outer space, just with your decision to frame it as an invalid syllogism... that's why I said:

Invalid logic (although all the statements are true).

Okay, let's put it another way: All it needs is some additional oxidizing agent in the gunpowder. That and with the zero atmospheric diffusion, lasers become viable weaponry.

And why wouldn't missiles and rockets work?

They would, but not with current technology. The equations and variables in a space combat are so incredibly complex that we currently would not be able to hit the blind side of a barn in a true space combat. Platforms in space desiged to take out terrestrial targets? Sure, that we can do. A missle fired from a ship moving at an incredible speed across an enormous distance to hit another ship moving at an incredible speed not to mention all the complicating factors like gravitational pull and solar wind? Not going to happen with our current technology.

Secondly, even if we possessed the capability, there's one thing people are leaving out. It's Space. There's nothing there. In order for people to go to war over something there has to be something to go to war over. There has to be a prize, even if that prize is simply superiority. Once space is privitized and countries start extending themselves out of the atmosphere, then perhaps there'll be more reason, but right now it would be literally fighting over nothing.

"The wars of the future... will be fought in space... by giant robots"

: Woohoo! I cant wait to see the Gundam models the US comes out with. Then again Japan's will prolly be better. Crap, that means Japan better side with us or we're screwed :wink:

The next war is in the Middle East. And we never saw it coming.

IC: Hmm . . . Arab countries declare war on Israel . . . North Korea decides to help Iran, possibly launch nukes at the West . . . then US and Europe enter the war as a 3rd faction (not sure if we'd side w/Israel) and beats those countries to a pulp

Its possible, but unlikely until more than a handful of countries get involved majorly in space.

If anything, space is going to be where we finally get over many differences. We have an international space station, and chances are that singular countries, even the US, won't get very far alone. Eventually, overpopulation and pollution will force people off of Earth, and we'll have to cooperate or die.

We can hit satellites from Earth in space, why can't we hit satellites from other satellites in space? If it's a matter of accuracy simply get closer to the target, or use a nuke.

We can hit satellites from Earth in space, why can't we hit satellites from other satellites in space? If it's a matter of accuracy simply get closer to the target, or use a nuke.

We can't reliably hit satellites from Earth in space and it's easier to hit something moving in a geosyncronous orbit around the planet because you have a fairly good idea of where it's always going to be.

As for nukes, they'd have to be pretty powerful. Space is big. Really big. Any ship we are fiscally capable of building at this point and getting up the gravity well is going to be really, really small in comparisson.

We can hit satellites from Earth in space, why can't we hit satellites from other satellites in space? If it's a matter of accuracy simply get closer to the target, or use a nuke.

We can't reliably hit satellites from Earth in space and it's easier to hit something moving in a geosyncronous orbit around the planet because you have a fairly good idea of where it's always going to be.

As for nukes, they'd have to be pretty powerful. Space is big. Really big. Any ship we are fiscally capable of building at this point and getting up the gravity well is going to be really, really small in comparisson.

I know it'd be hard, and take some powerful detection equipment. But with technology advancing as fast as it is, I wouldn't be surprises to see some sort of space quif between China and America. About space being big, I would think that space combat would be limited to orbit or something near it.

I doubt that we will have a war in space so soon.

As any fule knoes the most cost effective way to disable a space vessel is to get employed in the production plant and add or subtract a couple of thousands of an inch to a component or two...

Or change the measurements from imperial to metric (or vice versa).

I know it'd be hard, and take some powerful detection equipment. But with technology advancing as fast as it is, I wouldn't be surprises to see some sort of space quif between China and America. About space being big, I would think that space combat would be limited to orbit or something near it.

I'm not saying it won't happen someday. You're right, technology is advancing quickly. But the biggest barrier to space war is the biggest barrier to space itself and that's the fiscal demands of getting out of the gravity well. As it stands now, like TG said, it's not fiscally important enough to do.

And even if you limit your battle to near earth orbits and such, then you're still talking about, literally, an astronomical distance between comparitively tiny and constantly moving targets. Plus, near earth orbit throws the difficulties of targeting and momentum back into focus with a powerful gravity well to deal with as well as the Earth's own magnetic fields and upper atmosphere.