al@ames-lm.UUCP (Al Globus) (03/27/84)
The star wars folks assure us that their weapons are defensive and will only hurt machines not people. I'd like to consider laser weapons technology a few years in the future. There exist designs for 10 Gigawatt solar power satellites. These can be built with existing technology, more or less, given plenty of money. Source: NASA/DOE solar power satellite study done a few years ago. Questions: Are 10 Gigawatt lasers or particle beams feasible given 20 years of development? Can they be connected to 10 Gigawatt solar power satellites? What would be the effect of a malicious power using a 10 Gigawatt laser or particle beam on San Francisco (site of next L5 conference)?