The United States Space Arsenal

ntmokey writes "When China tested a missile on its own satellite in January, the nation's aggressive statement immediately raised eyebrows among the world's other space-faring nations. Popular Mechanics looks at the implications of a conflict in space — including debris that could render space unusable for decades — and examines the United States' own space arsenal."

Comments

Re:Star Wars

[Anonymous Coward]

Whatever happened to the Strategic Defense Initiative?

Forget that! What happened to the other 49 states?!

Re:I think you mean

[g0dsp33d]

I totally agree, I promote civil unrest and anarchy in my state too.

Ronald Reagan said no, began arms reduction

[Anonymous Coward]

Reagan was a moderate who stopped the hardliners like his vice-president Bush from arming space. Instead he listened to his people and worked towards arms reduction which ended the cold war.

He also didn't change his policy when he was shot by a complete looney.

Where did all the moderates go? Even Obama seems like a hardliner to me.

our feature presentation ...

[weighn]

it was a logical step to bring war to space as sad as that is. Look on the bright side, there's gotta be some great film ideas in these developments.
a war in space ... a far far away star ... wars ... ok it needs some work, maybe some dialog, character development, kooky monsters for the kids. Come and see me in a few years.

Re:United State?

[Anonymous Coward]

I the person, of the United State, in order to form a more perfect identity...

Re:sad but inevitable

[jollyreaper]

Which is really yet another way Bush royally fucked us over. Yes this is off topic, but I don't give a shit. There are countries we actually needed to keep an eye on. Iran, North Korea, the PRC, etc. Iraq was not one of them. Now we've pretty much blown our hegemonic wad over this bullshit, leaving us in an extremely vulnerable military position. Let alone our economic situation which is poised to collapse any day now (even more than it already has, starting with the hedge fund market). Of course none of the responsible parties are ever going to be brought to justice (i.e. spend the rest of their lives in the Military Prison for International War Criminals at Hague in the Netherlands). Bush is going to piss off to his Ranch in South America. I'd guess the rest of them have similar arrangements made. Oh, dear. You must really hate America. Only someone who hates America could have such nasty things to say about the patriots leading our fine country. I will pray for Jesus to open your eyes and make you love your nation again.

*this post doesn't need a sarcasm tag, it needs a sarcasm suppository*

Your pedantry is weak

[Actually, I do RTFA]

it's much better to use something like -the Book of Moses- rather than -Moses's book-. However, that is still preferable to -Moses' book-.

Actually, The Elements of Style expressly contradicts you. It states that one should use the form "Chris's book" unless the proper noun is a biblical persona. So "Moses' book" or "Jesus' book" is proper.

Re:Your pedantry is weak

[Dr Tall]

I'm of the opinion that the Biblical personas already have it pretty good, being immortalized in the Bible and all. To give them and only them a special exception in a language they never even spoke is a bit much for me. I'll stick to "Jesus's" :P

Re:Star Wars

[jollyreaper]

Of course it was -- just as Reagan was taking the office (in 1981). USSR's attempts to keep up the arms-race, including SDI -- duly decried by the Soviet newspapers daily -- helped kill it, instead of allowing it to survive (again) on higher oil prices and slave labor.

Millions of people of the former USSR, myself included, have a lot to thank Ronald Reagan for. The fact, that various Commies (and Commie-sympathizers) still hate him, only adds to the guy's credits. Thanking Ronald Reagan for his leadership is like thanking Mr. Magoo for his driving.

Han Solo said it best....

[martin_henry]

...when he said "Great, kid. Don't get cocky"

could render space unusable for decades

[exp(pi*sqrt(163))]

What? All of it?

Re:Star Wars

[hengist]

> And giving the Afghanis weapons was a good idea ? Where have your been since 9/11/2002 ?

Probably the same place he was 9/11/2001.

Re:sad but inevitable

[Cervantes]

A fleck of urine almost took out the cockpit window on a previous shuttle flight. Please don't say that in public, next thing you know The Shrub will be sending geriatrics into space for their rapid-fire abilities.

Too much junk in LEO

[Anonymous Coward]

We need MEGAMAID!

Re:Star Wars

[LeoHat]

If you are talking about episodes 1-3 then the movies not the program, was short sighted and stupid.

Re:Star Wars

[jollyreaper]

Oh, I see. Excellent moderation. How droll.

Re:Star Wars

[sjwaste]

Just in case anyone ever doubted that the pen is, indeed, mightier than the sword

You're selling penis mightiers?