Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Posting-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site sequent.UUCP Path: utzoo!watmath!clyde!floyd!vax135!cornell!uw-beaver!tektronix!ogcvax!sequent!richard From: richard@sequent.UUCP Newsgroups: net.space Subject: Re: Orbital Artillery Message-ID: <411@sequent.UUCP> Date: Sun, 4-Mar-84 07:42:49 EST Article-I.D.: sequent.411 Posted: Sun Mar 4 07:42:49 1984 Date-Received: Wed, 7-Mar-84 07:30:50 EST References: <16648@sri-arpa.UUCP> <164@ames-lm.UUCP> <5577@umcp-cs.UUCP> Organization: Sequent Computer Systems, Portland Lines: 23 >> The old problem arises again. If you ban weapons from space how >> do you verify compliance?? This is even harder in space since >> many usefull tools are also weapons (eg. small rocket engines). This would indeed be a problem, if the primary concern were weapons to be used against other space entities. But the weapons that are the primary concern are those that have the power to effect earth-based objects, or missiles/planes in flight. Anything with this kind of power is still neccessarily large - farily easy to detect. The only type of space-space weapon of concern is a satellite-killer. This poses a more serious problem, but still, "tools" won't usually qualify as anti-sat devices. If the ban you're speaking of is, indeed, a personal-weapons ban, measures on the order of the airline security checks should do for quite some time. ___________________________________________________________________________ The preceding should not to be construed as the statement or opinion of the employers or associates of the author. It is solely the belief... from the confused and bleeding fingertips of ...!sequent!richard