|
|
Thread Tools | Display Modes |
#5
|
|||
|
|||
Malthusian Theory and Travel Beyond Earth Orbit
"Joann Evans" wrote in message ... John Maxson wrote: [snip] That wasn't my point. Spy-sats can also be subject to treaties. Yes, but why? Its the only way to verify some *other* treaties, and for reasons I'll give below, it would itself be an unverifiable treaty. It's missile, anti-missile, nuclear, and WMD systems proliferation that to me seem to be a dead-end, leading to our extinction. Spy-sat overkill falls in the the category of mistrust, as I see it. Yes, but trust isn't required, if you can use them to verify for yourself. In any case, it almost doesn't matter. If we get the kind of human presence in Earth orbit that pretty much everyone on this NG hope for, with multiple space staitions for multiple purposes (tourism, manufacturing, etc.)and orbital spacecraft being flown to and from them (and to unmanned sats for whatever reason) hundreds of times a day (including people transferring to deeper space flights, a'la 2001), it'll be impossible to keep anyone from pointing whatever optics they want (even a good hand-held camera, in some cases) toward the ground, because it'll then be almost trivial to do so. And everyone pretty much accepted long ago that in order to have any sort of orbital space flight, that the satellites/vehicles must pass repeatedly over anyone's national territory, unlike aircraft where airspace is typically respected. The worst that will then happen is greater effort toward camoflaging/hiding that which you don't want seen from orbit. And this is already an old technology. It's like what I said earlier about how the process of human expanson into space for economic and exploratory reasons will help insure survival of some part of the human species. Helping insure non-extinction may not be the goal, but it will naturally fall out of what you *are* doing. Eventually, you just will not be able to limit orbital reconnisance systems. Indeed, the view is a major part of the selling point for orbital tourism.... Your view concerning spysats is no more than E. E. 'Doc' Smith predicted long ago, except that he predicted technology with the ability to look right through walls, to mean looking through all intervening matter to a certain depth to spy on anyone. He also predicted the technology to counter such technology. Of course the greatest countermeasure he predicted is for a vast majority to gain such vast breadth and depth of expanse into an immeasurable outer frontier universe as to get beyond anyone or anything's ability to watch all or even to watch a small part of all, much less get control over life activity through any ability to watch. Brad |
Thread Tools | |
Display Modes | |
|
|
Similar Threads | ||||
Thread | Thread Starter | Forum | Replies | Last Post |
inflation st yle heat shield crew bail out | Rob Mohr | Space Shuttle | 11 | April 5th 04 03:35 AM |
Malthusian Theory and Travel Beyond Earth Orbit | John Maxson | Space Shuttle | 51 | August 16th 03 02:47 AM |
Malthusian Theory and Travel Beyond Earth Orbit | John Maxson | Space Station | 3 | August 3rd 03 03:30 AM |