Corporate Media Selling Weaponization of Space

Space-based lasers

In another area of the facility, scientists are conducting futuristic research on space-based laser technology, with the aim of being able to identify and hit any target with pinpoint accuracy as well as to improve satellite imagery and laser communications, using high bandwidths to relay vast amounts of sensor data.

If the research ever becomes reality, field commanders envision a network of twin-mirror satellites that can relay the high-energy beams of ground-based lasers to any corner of the globe.

The Bifocal Relay Mirror Spacecraft project's potential military applications include detecting and identifying the use of chemical warfare agents, spotting installations that have been camouflaged, lighting up a battlefield at night, and detecting aircraft as well as emissions from underground structures and bunkers.

Headed by spacecraft designer Brij Agrawal, it is being funded by the National Reconnaissance Office and the Missile Defense Agency, and enables researchers to use a $10 million "inertial reference unit" to simulate spaceflight and find ways to correct jitters on fast-moving satellites. They are also focusing on laser beam control, using adaptive optics to correct for disturbances in the atmosphere that can compromise either the fine-point accuracy of a laser beam, or the imagery it transmits.

In a basement lab, researchers are creating docking mechanisms for small robots that are roughly the size of the robot R2-D2 in filmmaker George Lucas' mythical "Star Wars" franchise. The robots, once joined, can multiply their power to communicate, transmit images and attend to other chores. Powered by lithium-ion batteries, the robots use compressed-air thrusters and gyros to navigate on an epoxy floor made for race car pit stops. The docking devices were used last year on the military's Orbital Express satellite, a test flight for robotically refueling satellites.

Jim Doyle
San Francisco Chronicle
May18.2008
Navy's Monterey School is Lab for Terror War
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/05/18/MN5K10HEKM.DTL&type=printable