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  1. #1
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    Whoa! China has this??

    http://science.slashdot.org/article....35229&from=rss

    China destroyed a satellite with a laser?? If we ever goto war with China, this is bad news. Our war setup heavily relies on our satellites. I guess China has a clear advantage now. With this, China can tell the U.S. to back off in the middle east now, and the U.S. would know China can severely weaken both our defenses and offenses if it doesnt.

  2. #2
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    Quote Originally Posted by Webdude
    China destroyed a satellite with a laser??
    Yep... I was as surprised as you are now when I saw the headline on /. I'm sure critical american satellites have some kind of protective shielding to protect from lasers like the one China's using.
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  3. #3
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    I have a feeling China would not "tell" the U.S. anything if they see the U.S. on the path to failure. We would be doing the hard work for them.

    Sun Tzu said:
    "In order await the disordered. In tranquility await the clamorous. This is the way to control the mind."

    Besides, the U.S. is Chinas cash cow (WalMart ), they get stronger at our expense as we become more like an empire in it's December. I see the U.S. becoming less significant all by itself in the coming decades.

  4. #4
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    heh, great weapon for use against 'spy' satellites a 'blinding' lazer.

    oh well, it's not like China can't afford it. maybe if the US hadn't spent so much in Iraq and Afghanistan...

    the solution of course is to build 'spy' satellites smaller so they can't be accurately targeted. maybe some ablative surfaces too.
    <erno> hm. I've lost a machine.. literally _lost_. it responds to ping, it works completely, I just can't figure out where in my apartment it is.

  5. #5
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    Sorry to ruin the China taking over the world panic...

    If you actually read the article, instead of the first 4 lines of slashdot, you would see the satellite was destroyed with a kinetic kill vehicle launched on board a ballistic missile.
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  6. #6
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    Quote Originally Posted by Solidhost-John
    Sorry to ruin the China taking over the world panic...

    If you actually read the article, instead of the first 4 lines of slashdot, you would see the satellite was destroyed with a kinetic kill vehicle launched on board a ballistic missile.
    Okidoki, I stand corrected on the laser, but it doesnt negate the fact that China can now track and destroy satellites.

  7. #7
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    I'm pretty sure Russians can destroy satellites as well, and US has been nemesis of theirs for nearly a century. I wouldn't worry about China yet.

  8. #8
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    Quote Originally Posted by WHTer
    I'm pretty sure Russians can destroy satellites as well, and US has been nemesis of theirs for nearly a century. I wouldn't worry about China yet.
    Russia has had nukes for quite a while too, that doesnt mean I'm not going to worry about North Korea. What I am concerned about more is the U.S. over-stepping it's authority, spying on China, so China knocks out the satellite, and the U.S. take it as an act of war (by claiming innocence because no nation has authority over space, etc, and that it wasnt a spysat)

  9. #9
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  10. #10
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    Quote Originally Posted by Webdude
    Russia has had nukes for quite a while too, that doesnt mean I'm not going to worry about North Korea. What I am concerned about more is the U.S. over-stepping it's authority, spying on China, so China knocks out the satellite, and the U.S. take it as an act of war (by claiming innocence because no nation has authority over space, etc, and that it wasnt a spysat)
    That's not entirely true. NASA has plans to place some kind of installation on the moon. Probably military in nature.

  11. #11
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    lol Im not sure whats up with most of the folks here. China needs USA to survive. Creating troubles for US is the last thing it needs for its economy. United States and European countries are the running blood vessel of the chinese economy. USA does not think of china as its enemy and I am sure china only has reservations on few political issues but no real intent of harm on both sides.

    They both need each other but china being more vulnerable to policy changes as it faces other outsourcing heavens like the indian subcontinent or other east asian countries.

  12. #12
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    Well you may or may not remember but there was a time several years ago when the United States was very cruel to Chinese immigrants (cough Angel Island cough). Not to mention we were sponsoring other countries in carving up china. China has a lot of good reasons to hate the United States for our actions in the past. IMO they've been real kind to let it go and have open trade with the United States. It benefits them immensely but you still have to acknowledge what they've been through.

  13. #13
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    Saying China needs the US for money is like saying the bank needs you for your money after you stop paying your mortgage.

    The US is just another way for China to make some money in the world. China may not make quite as much but then again those products would just sell to another country that would in turn sell it to the US. So in the end the US would just pay more for those products.

    Now if the Us would stop importing so much that would put a dent in what they make off of the US but still China would be just fine.
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  14. #14
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    I don't forsee another conflict between China and US - especially when investment from US and Europe in China is very high.

  15. #15
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    Quote Originally Posted by Kiamori
    Saying China needs the US for money is like saying the bank needs you for your money after you stop paying your mortgage.
    Actually, it would be more accurate as

    -----------------------------------
    Saying China needs the US for money is like saying the bank needs you for your money after thousands of people stop paying their mortgage.
    -----------------------------------

    China wasnt in that good of a financial shape, which is why they allowed American industry into their country to make money off of. American industry has made China more money than many other countries combined.

    On the other hand, now China has a lot more to lose by getting into a war with the U.S. China is no longer just a bunch of poor people working in acres and acres of wet rice fields. Now those still poor people slave labor in the factories making China tons of money off the U.S.

  16. #16
    Some crazy stuff...

  17. #17
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    Quote Originally Posted by Backyard Billy
    I'm sure critical american satellites have some kind of protective shielding to protect from lasers like the one China's using.
    Might be the same "protective" system everyone thought they had in place around the White House when that plane crashed into years ago.

    (small plane, Clinton was in office).

    I don't know if anyone corrected this, but I thought this was a missle, not a laser....

    "Using a ground-based medium-range ballistic missile, the test knocked out an aging Chinese weather satellite about 537 miles (860 kilometers) above the earth on Jan. 11 through “kinetic impact,” or by slamming into it, Johndroe said."


    http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/16689558/

    Although, I think someone did test a laser to destroy a sat last summer... if I remember correctly...
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  18. #18
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    Quote Originally Posted by Webdude
    http://science.slashdot.org/article....35229&from=rss

    China destroyed a satellite with a laser?? If we ever goto war with China, this is bad news. Our war setup heavily relies on our satellites. I guess China has a clear advantage now. With this, China can tell the U.S. to back off in the middle east now, and the U.S. would know China can severely weaken both our defenses and offenses if it doesnt.
    Not hard to do. It's actually really coincidental - a friend of mine built a laser last year for an engineering convention, which he actually won. Now he's working as a head research assistant for an electric storage device, which is really interesting. However, we were at the bar Tuesday and I said this year instead of making a new device, "we" should improve upon his current laser so that it's able to burn a hole through the moon. Apparently with a proper cooling device, slightly more power, and correct magnification lens it could be done with relative ease, all of which the government could easily come up with.

  19. #19
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    Quote Originally Posted by inogenius
    Not hard to do. .
    Let's rephrase for fun

    --------------------------
    Apparently with a proper [insert], slightly more [insert], and a correct [insert] it could be done with relative ease,
    all of which the government could easily come up with.
    --------------------------

    Now, I wonder how many things that could cover that we havent even thought of yet

  20. #20
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    Post

    Quote Originally Posted by pixelized
    Well you may or may not remember but there was a time several years ago when the United States was very cruel to Chinese immigrants (cough Angel Island cough). Not to mention we were sponsoring other countries in carving up china. China has a lot of good reasons to hate the United States for our actions in the past. IMO they've been real kind to let it go..
    'You must surely be aware Mr Bauer, China has a long memory.. '
    <erno> hm. I've lost a machine.. literally _lost_. it responds to ping, it works completely, I just can't figure out where in my apartment it is.

  21. #21
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    well, military satellite uses orbit which is up to 23000 miles above the earth, they just hit satellite at 800 miles, still long way to go, IMO.

  22. #22
    Yup... still long way to go. Just heard on tv that China still cannot afford an aircraft carrier and its military budget is a fraction of US budget.

  23. #23
    just what we need.. another great weapon.
    just shot a nuke, and blow up near the satelite, magnetic + radiation would bring down the satelite in no time. china got more than 10k nuke, what the need to invest to a laser ?

  24. #24
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    My original post was incorrect, it was "tracked" with a laser. As for your post about nukes, I dont think the Chinese want to destroy our upper atmosphere just to kill an enemy satellite... They need that atmosphere as much as we do.

    Quote Originally Posted by James79
    just what we need.. another great weapon.
    just shot a nuke, and blow up near the satelite, magnetic + radiation would bring down the satelite in no time. china got more than 10k nuke, what the need to invest to a laser ?

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