Originally posted by: CaptnKirk
Originally posted by: MadRat
Two points I wanted to comment on.
1. You have to use liquids; solids just don't have the energy density.
2. The dispersal of radioactive material from within nuclear warheads is the same mess regardless if its destroyed up higher or down lower. Endoatmospheric interception is not ideal because the mass still has to go somewhere. Exoatmospheric interception may delay the descent of the mass, but it too has to go somewhere. The material doesn't magically shed mass when vapourized. A kinetic kill will turn the mass into plasma vapor which is more difficult to contain than an intact mass. I'd much rather have a dud splatter into the ground whereas minimal aerial dispersion takes place than have it plasmarized in the atmosphere where its another mini-Chernobyl. It doesn't take alot - and we are only talking some tens of pounds at most in the multi-megaton warheads - to create a serious problem.
1) Liquids do not provide the thrust energy that solid fuels do, but solids can not be shut down or re started.
You light the torch & ride it until it burns out.
The Shuttle main engines do not have the power to lift the entire system off the pad. The solid boosters main job is to lift the external tank and carry it above the gravity well to a point where the
mains can sustain acceleration & position the vehicle for orbital insertion.
Early liquid fuel ICMS, Atlas & Titans have been replaced by much more capable solid fuel systems - MX & Minuteman series.
Retrofit modifications enabled the Atlas & Titans to be used for satellite launch operations,
as will be the ultime fate of the MX.
2)
Either Plutonium or U-238 is the preferred material to make a warhead from
Plutonium is the most deadly thing known to man (Other than OJ Simpson) as a fleck the size of a speck of pepper
can kill all that come within some 100 feet or so of it by radioactive contamination.
Detonation in deep space becomes a spherical radiation event, only the area directly under the burst,
while all other energy is dispersed into space. that way less than 1% of the total radiation bath his the ground.
Fragmentation of a non-exploded Plutonim device means years of dangerous exposure to a clean-up crew.
Materials and isotobes that are re-manufactured during a thermonuclear explosion make radioactive residues,
depending on what is present at the site of the detonation, that linger in the area, or are aerial dispersed
for thousands of mile downwind in the fallout plume's footprint & path, depending on an ever changing wind pattern.
Some of these radioactive isotobes have half-lives that span thousands of years.
Nagasaki & Hiroshimo which were nuked in the 40's are still cities today, they were severly damaged
but not wiped of the map for all time.
Arial bursts, ground bursts, and sea bursts all yield simular isotobes, but each is specifically unique due to materials involved.
Our weaponry tends to be cleaner than that used by Russia and other nations, leaving a lower lingering residue.
We also employ the use of Nuetron Technology, which kills organic matter, people, animals, & plants,
but post-detonation isotobe decay is less lingering and quicker decaying allowing entry into the target area sooner.
Aerial bursts wipe out the populations, but leave buildings standing except those within the primary blast zone.
Wipe out an entire city's population and only loose the infastructue of a few hundred meters of footprint.
Pop!