From: seawasp@sgeinc.invalid.com   
      
   On 7/28/16 4:24 PM, emmett.obrian@gmail.com wrote:   
   > On Thursday, July 28, 2016 at 1:02:23 PM UTC-4, Sea Wasp (Ryk E. Spoor)   
   wrote:   
   >   
   >> 	No. Minor -- and enough distance to be missed by any reasonable-sized   
   >> hazard is minor -- deviations won't take them out of orbit, and they can   
   >> maneuver BACK to orbit. Sure, if you keep firing huge salvoes in a way   
   >> that they CAN'T, yes, you could drive them out of their original orbits   
   >> permanently, but jebus, you'll be spending so many orders of magnitude   
   >> more to shoot at them than they cost to put there that your opponent   
   >> will be winning on pure economics.   
   >   
   > If you're maneuvering with a solar sail, you have some limits to where you   
   can go.   
      
   	That turns out not to be the case.   
      
   > I've heard of tacking with a solar sail, and correct me if I'm wrong,   
      
   	Indeed.   
      
   > but you really can't get back to your original position with one.   
      
      
   	In essence, remember that an orbit goes in a particular direction. If   
   your solar sail is turned so that it vectors AGAINST that orbital   
   direction, you will fall inward to a lower orbit. If you vector WITH   
   that direction, you fall outward to a higher orbit. The combination   
   allows you to go anywhere you like. You're not "tacking" in the same   
   sense as water sailing, of course -- it's simply a matter of orbital   
   mechanics -- but the net effect is yes, I can move to any orbit I like,   
   which means I can dodge and come back.   
      
      
   >   
   > Let's say you can fully "tack into the wind" with a solar sail. Ok, what   
   does that mean? It means that the sensor drone (it's not just a platform this   
   point) is going to leave it's set point and then travel in a random direction   
   for a random but    
   limited amount of time and then turn back and start heading back. There's   
   going to be constraints on it's movement and that makes it predictable almost   
   to a fault. I might take two or three shots (individual shots, not necessarily   
   buckshot) just to up my    
   chances, but this is classic hunting at this point. When I go out and hunt an   
   animal, I don't have any guarantee that my bullet will hit, but I often do.   
   Add a targeting computer to that and I feel my chances are pretty good.   
   >   
   > The inclusion of all that maneuvering equipment and the constant strain   
      
      
   	WHAT strain? We're not talking stresses you will notice here. The   
   forces are trivial. Remember, to dodge an attack that covers fifty or   
   even hundreds of kilometers in area requires an absolutely *minuscule*   
   acceleration, something akin to a mosquito towing my Subaru. Literally   
   you will not notice it. The only strain is on the motors to extend or   
   retract, and as this can be done on timescales of a week or more just to   
   start the maneuver without making a significant difference, those can   
   also move slowly and very low-strain.   
      
      
   	And I assure you, your repeated volleying of 50+km salvoes will be   
   costing you vastly more than the slight increased wear-and-tear.   
      
   >   
   > Which sounds like a valid war tactic to me.   
      
   	If you don't mind making the only habitable world in your solar system   
   unreachable, yeah. Not seeing that happening in any reasonable timeframe.   
      
   --   
                         Sea Wasp   
                           /^\   
                           ;;;	   
   Website: http://www.grandcentralarena.com  Blog:   
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   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)