Dual use SPS

To support my statement,
"> Blasting space debris (to eliminate it) with lasers powered by SPS
would
> likely make more than it eliminates by destroying operational weathersats,
> landsats, etc. One could know where the beam was going, and so not shoot
> when it might hit something else beyond the target, but after the beam hit
a
> metal surface on the debris, the debris would reflect some of it to who
> knows where."
I would remind you to eliminate space debris by laser beam evaporation
the beam will have to be bright enough to evaporate through structural
metal, which can be thick. There are lots of problems with this, as the
vapor coming off (evaporating) blocks the incoming beam, so lots of extra
energy is needed. And the vapor coming off will also function as a rocket
and move the metal away from the beam. There is even a program to make a
"rocket" using this, which spins the rocket to help keep it in the beam.
But anyway, to destroy the sensors on weathersats, landsats, spysats, etc.,
all one has to do is exceed their allowable light intensity, some of which
are designed to sense very dim light. One simply way this would happen is
to mar the optical surfaces, which could be accomplished by removing a few
atomic or molecular layers (the thickness of some optical coatings).
Scattered beams would do this.

In regard to,
"> There is not that much orbiting debris anyway compared to what
> nature has passing into the upper atmosphere, several tons every day." and
"Do you have a citation for this claim?",
Yes, one you can access from Google.com, "of one percent of the meteor
mass that has landed on ... to affect her orbit? This mass adds up to about
ten ... 40,000 metric tons per year. That total seems like ...
www.usatoday.com/news/science/wonderquest/2001-05-02-earth-debris.htm - 19k
- Cached - Similar pages" but there are lots of other citations in print
media, though not all agree, most give this range. How could this number be
known exactly? Still 40,000 tons per year is over 100 tons per day. I was
conservative with the term "several tons". With nearly 8,000 launches to
space in a half-a-century, "rocket scientists" have yet to get significantly
beyond one years worth of natural debris falling to Earth. The above
article counts only 5,000 launches and estimates their mass at 17,500 tons,
but I have seen a list of the nearly 8,000 launches, so I believe that.
Sincerely, Jay Huebner at jhuebn@...