On Thursday, February 15, 2018 at 1:02:28 AM UTC-5, Wolffan wrote:   
   > On 14Feb 2018, Klaus Meinhard wrote   
   > (in article ):   
   >    
   > > Not counting Star-Trek-like "shields", a simple mirror could deflect   
   > > 99.9% of the laser energy   
   >    
   > no, it won’t. For one thing, mirrors which work against visible light    
   > won’t do diddly against ultraviolet. For another, contrary to popular    
   > belief, military lasers are systems for delivering a lot of energy into a    
   > small point on a distant target. A mirror would simply heat up... or,   
   rather,    
   > a very small part of a mirror would simply heat up. Very, very, very   
   quickly.    
   > Part of it would vaporize. Very, very, very quickly. This kind of thing is    
   > known as ‘an explosion’. You now have an ex-mirror, and the lasers rip    
   > you to pieces. Why doesn’t this apply to the mirrors on the laser itself?    
   > First, they’re really, really, really flat... and you can’t have your    
   > spacecraft’s entire hull be that flat. Even if you could build it, shortly    
   > after being operational dust impacts and scuff marks from EVA crews would    
   > make it no longer flat enough. Second, the guy pointing the laser knows what    
   > freq his laser uses, you don’t. Yes, this matters. A mirror good enough   
   for    
   > red light will NOT be good enough for green light and definitely won’t be    
   > of much help against ultraviolet. And, worse, those lovely flat surfaces   
   will    
   > reflect other electromagnetic radiation... such as radar. A ship with laser    
   > mirrors would be a ship which shows beautifully on radar and will attract    
   > other weapons, such as ultraviolet lasers, particle beams, lots of small    
   > projectiles (shotgun pellets, say) launched at interesting relative    
   > velocities;even one shotgun pellet moving at 5 km/s relative is gonna mess   
   up    
   > your mirror... and then the lasers will rip you to shreds,   
   > Spinning is of even less help than mirrors. For one thing you have a problem    
   > aiming your weapons. For another, maneuvering just got interesting.   
   >    
   > If you don’t have ‘shields’, the fight is gonna be really short.   
      
      
   Mirrors could be deployed in multiple ways.  Pure aluminum foil, nothing high   
   tech reflects 92% of light at 240 nm radiation.  At higher angles % reflected   
   increases and also energy per unit area decreases.     
   -You could toss balloons in front of your ship. Milligrams of gas can inflate   
   very large aluminum balloons.  The laser would punch holes which would convert   
   the balloons into sheets. Sheets are still reflective.   
   -Deploy a parasol and spin it.  If, for example, the film is rotating at 30m/s   
   and the laser burst is 1 second long the energy is spread over a 30 meter long   
   stripe.  Counter rotating 2(or more) parasols would prevent any hole.  If the   
   laser blast is    
   strong enough to vaporize/detonate the outer parasol the result is a thin film   
   of aluminum vapor deposited on the other thin film of aluminum. Parasols can   
   also be deployed at angles to spread the beam further and increase deflection.   
   -Use a tread. You can position a conveyor belt of mirrors around your ship.    
   As they heat up or damage one plate the next plate moves into place. You can   
   use multiple layers of belts too.    
   -If the enemy is at a point location you can use all of the above and use your   
   used cat litter too.  Move everything valuable into a straight line pointing   
   at the enemy.  Could look like a freight train or an arrow/needle.  The enemy   
   will frantically    
   shoot through your balloons and parasols to clear a path.  Then the laser hits   
   the used cat litter and vaporizes the cat dropping.  The vapor disperses the   
   cat litter.  The attack fleet is already in a hyperbolic orbit so the cat   
   litter remains at    
   hyperbolic velocity.  The fragments of balloon foil also pass through at   
   hyperbolic velocity.  Both the balloon fragments and grains of litter would   
   severely damage satellites in orbit. The "caboose" has the rail gun that   
   shoots perpendicular (or high    
   angle/backward as needed) to the train's motion. That lets you fire pellets   
   into any window that gets missed by the debris.     
   You also want several needle shaped units connected by tethers so that you can   
   move around behind the parasol.   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)