On Apr 24, 3:44=A0pm, "Mike stone" <mwst...@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote:
> "Mike Schilling" <mscottschill...@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote in message
>
> news:%xSPj.239$506.164@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
>
> > Nyrath the nearly wise wrote:
> > > I'm pretty sure this was an SF essay by Robert Heinlein.
> > > He was talking about the future, as an aid for budding
> > > SF authors. =A0It included a line to the effect that
> > > the overwhelming concern of the future military forces is
> > > the fact that there is no way to repel an attack from space
> > > (due to the gravity gauge).
>
> > > Does this ring any bells?
>
> > Yes, and it is RAH. =A0It appear in _Expanded Universe_, though I
can't
> > tell you the title offhand.
>
> It's _Pandora's Box_, which also appears in _The Worlds of Robert A
> Heinlein_.
>
> There's a list of "free swinging predictions, including
>
> 3) The most im****tant military fact of this century is that there is no
wa=
y
> to repel an attack from outer space.
>
> --
>
> Mike Stone - Peterborough, England
>
> You can tell what God thinks of money by looking at the people He gives
it=
> to.
Nitpick mode. (and you can never have a RAH thread without a nitpick
LOL)
I concede his argument
but perhaps "Repel" is the wrong word to use.
when it should be "Survive" an attack from outer space.
Outer space is really just Air Superiority or Air Supremacy taken to
the ultimate level.
No doubt RAH was talking about The Moon is a Harsh Mistress where a
mass driver on the moon
could throw rock missiles at the earth.
and this also brings to mind Footfall by Niven and Pournelle.
but dropping rocks from orbit is no different in principle than a WWII
bomber dropping bombs from
a great height onto a target.
Yes, using fighter cover or artillary to shoot down the bomber is one
solution to "repel"
but the other was the understanding that bombs will be dropped and hit
their targets so
you build bunkers, trenches and underground fortifications to survive
the blast and therefore
carry on the fight.
or make the target so mobile that it cannot be targeted or if it is,
it can move out of the way.
There is more than one way to deal with attacks from Outer Space
tphile
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