Science Fiction
Dictionary
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
 |
Russians Think US Is Weaponizing Asteroids
This summer, honorary member of the Tsiolkovsky Cosmonautics Academy, CEO of the Planetary Protection Center non-profit partnership Anatoly Zaitsev told TASS:
There are two methods to use asteroids as weapons, he pointed out.
The first method is to conceal information on a dangerous celestial body and the second option is to deliberately alter the asteroid flight path to make it crash onto Russian territory, the expert explained.
"The first option is potentially plausible, even if hardly probable because we detect less than 0.1% of about 2,500 Earth-approaching asteroids annually discovered in the world. The second scenario is real because over 30 years the United States and other countries have organized 12 expeditions to 14 asteroids and six comets, in which the methods and means of controlling their flight paths were tested," he said.
As far as I know, the first suggestion of using a celestial body as a weapon came in Buck Rogers, 2430 A.D., a comic from 1929-1931, created by Philip Nowlan and D. Calkins.
"It is necessary to point out that an opportunity emerges to test kinetic, laser and even asteroid weapons under the guise of creating tools of protection from dangerous celestial bodies. These weapons can, for example, become a component of the space forces set up by the United States with the aim of its dominance in outer space," the expert said on the occasion of International Asteroid Day annually celebrated on June 30.
BY PUSHING AGAINST THE
LITTLE MARTIAN MOON WITH OUR
ROCKET SHIP, WE HAD LESSENED
THE CENTRIFUGAL SPEED THAT
HELD IT BALANCED IN THE SKY.
IT WAS FALLING AS IT CIRCLED
THE RED PLANET. FASTER AND
FASTER IT SPIRALLED DOWN,
UNTIL AT LAST BOB BYRON
SNAPPED OUT AN ORDER.
(Buck Rogers: the rocket ship gets in position)
(Buck Rogers: the rocket ship pushes a moon)
(Buck Rogers: the moon spirals in)
(The moon becomes incandescent as it hits Mars' atmosphere)
(Then, with a crash that shook the entire planet, it struck!)
Scroll down for more stories in the same category. (Story submitted 11/29/2023)
Follow this kind of news @Technovelgy.| Email | RSS | Blog It | Stumble | del.icio.us | Digg | Reddit |
Would
you like to contribute a story tip?
It's easy:
Get the URL of the story, and the related sf author, and add
it here.
Comment/Join discussion ( 0 )
Related News Stories - (" Weapon ")
Bunker Busters and Bore-Pellets
'The first revelation of the new Soviet bore-pellets.' - Philip K. Dick, 1955.
Can A Swarm Of Deadly Drones Take Out An Aircraft Carrier?
'The border was defended by... a swarm of quasi-independent aerostats.' - Neal Stephenson, 1995.
Has Turkey Been Stealing Rain From Iran?
Can one country take another's rain?
We Need To Build Anti-Drone Systems For Civilian Spaces
'the real border was defended by ...a swarm of quasi-independent aerostats...' - Neal Stephenson, 1995.
Technovelgy (that's tech-novel-gee!) is devoted to the creative science inventions and ideas of sf authors. Look for the Invention Category that interests you, the Glossary, the Invention Timeline, or see what's New.
Science Fiction
Timeline
1600-1899
1900-1939
1940's 1950's
1960's 1970's
1980's 1990's
2000's 2010's
Current News
Robotic Barber Programmed With a Number of Styles
'He found a barber shop which, he thought, would be good for an idle hour.'
Humanoid Boxing Robot KO's Opponent - It's A Knockout!
'Thirty rounds of fighting is tough work. Even for machines.'
Caterpillar Electric Mining Loader Not Yet Ready For Moon
'...the excavations were already in progress, for he saw gray slopes of rubble.'
Centipede Robots Down On The Farm
'...the walking mills of Puffy Products began to tread delicately on their centipede legs across the wheat fields of Kansas.'
Anthropic's Claude AI Creates Legal Citation From Whole Cloth
'Here is a Clerk that would work incessantly, and neither eat, sleep, want payment, or grumble.'
Students Vie For Lunar Regolith Mining Robot Prize
'About time you got here,' the astronaut said.
'They Erased My Memory' Says Ariana Grande
'...using a neutralizing electronic impulse.'
Solitary Black Hole Wanders In Space
'...the Hole is something like a vortex or a whirlpool?'
Spaceplane From Virgin Atlantic
'ZARNAK, YOU'RE TO COMMAND A SCOUTING EXPEDITION --- FIND OUT WHAT THIS IS ALL ABOUT!'
DARPA Wants 'Large Bio-Mechanical Space Structures'
'These are your rudimentary seed packages... Some will combine in place to form more complicated structures.'
Robot Hand Creeps Along, Separate From It's Owner
'The crawling... object was V-Stephen's surgeon-hand...'
Taikonauts Exercise In China's Tiangong Space Station
'Joe got out the gravity-simulator harnesses...'
Korean Exoskeleton Suit F1 Helps You Put It On
'Better late than never.'
Have AI Researchers Given Up On 'Bio-Babies'?
'You couldn't have the capstone without the pyramid to hold it up.'
Bunker Busters and Bore-Pellets
'The first revelation of the new Soviet bore-pellets.'
'Spikeless' Brand Swizzle Stick Detects Spiked Drinks
'the unobtrusive inspections with tiny remote-cast snoopers...'
