A Moon Gun could defend Earth from asteroids

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funkervogt
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Joined: Mon May 17, 2021 3:03 pm

A Moon Gun could defend Earth from asteroids

Post by funkervogt »

The Moon is an ideal location to launch intercepting missions to life-threatening and catastrophic asteroids. The effectiveness of the interception greatly depends on the weight of the spacecraft. Unfortunately, interceptors launched from the Earth lose more than 98% of their weight by burning the majority of their onboard fuel and by jettisoning their lower stage structures before entering a heliocentric orbit. However, if interceptors are launched from the Moon by a lunar surface accelerator, they can enter a heliocentric orbit without consuming any onboard fuel or jettisoning any part of the spacecraft. A 5-ton construction package, which consists of robots and industrial production equipment, would enable mining on the moon and construction of a 3.5 km-long, 5,000-ton accelerator.
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/a ... 6717300617

Looks like Starship Troopers was prophetic:
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