Re: Why big ships are too good...

On Wed, 11 Dec 1996 ericjw@cyberhighway.net wrote:

> 
> Judging from the source materials you quoted, the EMP from a nuclear
bomb in 
> space would not be as spectacular as it would be in an atmosphere.
> 
> However, no one ever said that a nuke was the only way to produce an
EMP.  
> You could, for instance, channel the energy from a nuclear explosion
and send 
> it through some kind of superconducting coil, producing a short-lived
and 
> very intense electromagnetic field.  Or, you could dump the charge
from a 
> really big capacitor into the coil.  I don't know if either of these
ideas 
> would really produce an intense enough pulse, but there is another 
> alternative.	Just as a neutron bomb is modified to produce more
neutrons 
> than normal, you could develop a nuclear weapon specifically designed
to 
> generate an EMP with no atmosphere or ground.
> 
> I'm sure that enough PSB applied to the problem will produce some kind
of 
> workable solution.
> 
> Eric
> 
> 

It must work, we do have EMP missiles after all :)

On a more serious note.  Now, please be kind.  I am in no way a
"scientist" and so I hope I don't sound too stupid.  But, the other
night
I was watching a show that detailed NASA plans for a Mars mission. 
During
the program the mentioned the danger of solar flares injuring the crew
(who seemed to be easily protected) and even more likely damaging
ship equipment.  The show mentioned that craft such as the space shuttle
didn't need to worry about this as they are close enough to the Earth to
be protected.  Perhaps an EMP missile generates this same effect. 
Notice
also that the EMP missile will only do 1d6 damage and the Standard
(Nuclear detonation) does 2d6 (with no EMP).  Makes me think that there
is
something going on besides a simple nuclear blast.  Just a thought is
all.

Chad Taylor 

(who is afraid his ignorance is about to be exposed :)