Dale.Amon%CMU-RI-FAS@sri-unix.UUCP (06/12/84)
As I was reading a recent Scientific American article noting the benefits of halting ASAT testing before the high tech weapons have been tested, thus insuring that no one can feel certain about their abilities, I couldn't help but laugh at the lack of imagination the poor earthworm showed. I can imagine a quite simple, cheap and effective ASAT system requiring no testing that a treaty could cover. Imagine if you will, 1995. A troop of astronauts salute sharply as they deploy on their one man OTV's, military issue 45's gleaming in their shoulder holsters... I posit that a 45 caliber bullet from 50 yards is a 100% effective ASAT. (I say 50 yards so that the astronaut will be relatively safe from the explosive booby traps that are already present on some russian satellites) And if the satellites are hardened, then upgrade to an old fashioned bazooka... But if you really must be high tech, then a TOW ought to do a nifty job... One must keep in mind that the cheapest, deadliest weapon in the world is man.