As Christmas approaches, it would be so wonderful if the way to peace on Earth were revealed.
Once shown the way, would we step in that direction, or prefer war, which in our age could all too easily go nuclear, which at worst could leave a radioactive dead Earth.
Could the arrival of atomic weapons be the star that we need to see really clearly?
In my poem, Second Dawn, I wonder if the ultimate weapon of mass destruction could turn out to be our star of peace.
Why?
Because leading powers can no long fight a total war, and hope to win.
But on Earth environmental crisis and national tensions are still fresh as a jack frost.
In this poem I suggest that the process of finding peace on Earth, needs to be completed in space, where the threat of kinetic weapons, each with the power of a nuclear armed missile, will lead to a level of scrutiny, one nation on another, to ensure that there are no kinetic weapons being made or deployed.
In this way, space can lead to peace, which I explore in the article following the poem.
This will be a celestial peace, and a peace on Earth, delivered because in space there is no limit to resources that can be processed with the power of the Sun, to create a stellar economy that is free of poverty.
Ending poverty on Earth would be a great stride to peace on our troubled planet.
This future with peace is never going to happen on Earth alone, where we wait and wonder if there will be a second dawn to take away our future mornings.
I wonder who would be willing to march on the street to win a peace, delivered by action with space.
“Space for Peace” could become our wake-up call on Earth.
SECOND DAWN
Could a weapon be so terrible to wield
that it would bring about the end of war
because it would herald the end of life
if used to settle an angry score?
It was a second dawn
when the first atom bomb lit up the sky
and a second dawn again
when sent to remove a city from time
Mutually assured destruction
made the angry think twice
about another second dawn
that could send them out of time
As the clever tool-maker builds spaceships
and creates machines that can think
is the second dawn weapon a sign
that its time for peace to have a fling?
More terrible weapons wait in space
with the power of a second dawn
and no radiation fall-out
when kinetic weapons are born
Just a telegraph pole of metal
falling through the sky
that cannot be stopped
until striking where it fly
The fear of kinetic weapons in space
may make peace a thing to last
as everyone watches everyone
to make sure such weapons are past
So is space the key to peace
and the end to second dawn death
as folk spread out in space
and find happiness is a better bet?
Where creativity displaces war
where dreams can have their day
in the light of the Sun in space
folk can find better ways to play
Kim Peart
Monday
12
November
2018
The Terrible Truth of Kinetic Weapons
Could space development be blocked by the fear on Earth of being hit by an object from space that has the power of a small nuclear bomb?
The threat of asteroids is well appreciated, even to the size of the monster that sent the dinosaurs into extinction 66 million years ago.
Robert Heinlein explored the use of Moon rocks to fight a war with the Earth in his novel ~ The Moon is a Harsh Mistress.
Would one nation on Earth wait around for another nation in space to gain the ability to drop Moon rocks on their terrestrial cities, or asteroids, or metal rods?
A recent Pentagon report on China’s military intentions included “kinetic-kill missiles” as being on their wish list. [1]
This may not seem like such a huge problem at present, because the metal rods in question would be the size of a telegraph pole, would be costly to send into space, and efforts to do so may be monitored.
The problem of kinetic-kill weapons takes on a deadly nature as a weapon of mass-destruction, when nations, or private companies, begin mining asteroids and the Moon.
Rather than launching metal rods from Earth, those rods of death could be made in space from mined materials, and in time, could become more numerous than ICBMs on Earth.
The great appeal of metal rods, is that they need no explosive material in them to work as explosive devices, drawing all their power from the kinetic energy of falling to Earth, and releasing that energy on impact, and with no radioactive fallout.
Even without a human presence in space, automated and robot run factories and mining operations could run an assembly line to manufacture endless numbers of such weapons, and the factory could be hidden away on the dark side of the Moon.
Once on their way to a target, kinetic weapons travel so fast, they cannot be stopped.
The fear of such weapons may lead to great tension between space nations.
Private mining ambitions may become stifled, or blocked.
Hopes of founding a nation in space, as with Asgardia, may be grounded through fear by terrestrial nations.
Is there a working solution to this problem?
Could peace be put to work?
A declaration of peace in space, and transparency of activity, could be the simple answer.
Considering the power of the Sun is a virtually infinite energy-well in space, and there is no lack of raw materials across the Solar System, there is plenty of income generating opportunities in space for all nations, and unlimited space for national activities.
In space, everyone can be a winner, creating a stellar economy with no limits to growth among the stars.
A stellar economy could be designed to ensure that there is no unemployment, poverty, or homelessness, and that every citizen has a life-path, work, income, career and a home, in space and on Earth.
Eliminating poverty will be a giant stride toward peace in human society.
To leap over the present and real threat of kinetic-kill weapons being located in space, all nations on Earth could be invited to collaborate in space development, and work together to harvest the power of the Sun, mine resources, establish space factories, and build orbital space cities that offer an Earth gravity via rotation. [2]
In simple terms, once mining and manufacture is sustainable in space, and powered by the energy of the Sun, there is no further cost involved in space development, opening the way to unlimited production of space settlements.
The need for peace and transparency in space, could also prove to be the direct link to peace on Earth.
With no limit to expansion in space, there would be no need for nations to be in conflict on Earth.
What would the alternative be like?
If the nations will not consider peace and transparency in space, the outcome could be war in space that blocks space development, and worse.
Any conflict in space may simply trigger the long-feared space junk cascade, which could destroy all satellites and space stations, leaving a maelstrom of high velocity debris that blocks access to space for hundreds of years. [3]
It is believed that a chip in the observation window of the International Space Station, was caused by a flake of paint hitting at high velocity. [4]
In the vacuum of space, there is no drag on any object to slow it down.
Such a volume of space junk flying in at high velocity, may also destroy planes, and even make air travel too dangerous.
Without satellites, without space exploration, and without planes, humankind would be plunged into a rather dark and miserable future.
The loss of military satellites may also trigger conflicts on Earth, which could all too easily slide into nuclear insanity.
Investing in peace and transparency in space, may prove to be the key to human survival.
With peace in space and peace on Earth, we could look toward an amazing and creative future among the stars.
If space is the key to peace, we could march for that along the streets of our cities, and demand action.
This would be a song worth singing, for peace, in space and on Earth.
REFERENCES ~
[1] China has transformed its military to ‘fight and win wars’, Pentagon warns
Sandeep Gopalan, 2 September 2018, ABC News Online
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-09-02/pentagon-report-on-chinas-military-contains-warnings-australia/10148162
“Seventh, China’s military ambitions extend to space: it wishes to acquire “counterspace capabilities, including kinetic-kill missiles, ground-based lasers, and orbiting space robots, as well as to expand space surveillance capabilities that can monitor objects across the globe and in space and enable counterspace actions.””
Kinetic bombardment
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kinetic_bombardment
[2] Space habitat
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_habitat
Orbital Space Settlements
National Space Society
http://space.nss.org/orbital-space-settlements/
Kalpana One Space Settlement
NASA
https://settlement.arc.nasa.gov/Kalpana/KalpanaOne.html
[3] Kessler syndrome
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kessler_syndrome
Space debris
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_debris
[4] Impact Chip
European Space Agency
https://www.esa.int/spaceinimages/Images/2016/05/Impact_chip
ABOUT KIM PEART ~
After following the Space Race to the Moon during high school years, Kim engaged in the space vision in 1976, with proposals by the Princeton physics professor, Gerard K. O’Neill, to build orbital space habitats. In 2011 he founded Space Pioneers, and serves as director. In September 2017 Kim was in Adelaide for the International Astronautical Congress, where an Australian Space Agency was launched on the first day. This year Kim travelled to Bremen in Germany for the 2018 International Astronautical Congress. Kim recently wrote a document detailing the Space Pioneers vision, The Message, followed with a photo essay of Space Pioneers work to develop a space program in the virtual world (NASA develops virtual worlds for use in deep space missions). Kim is now preparing for participation in the International Astronautical Congress in Washington, D.C. 21-25 October 2019, where Space Pioneers have booked a booth in the Exhibitions Hall, just along from NASA, where we will beat the drum of peace among the stars. In our booth we will have dedicated Internet access, and be able to show visitors our projects in Second Life, including the creations in our Space Art Gallery ~
https://stargategrid.forumchitchat.com/post/space-art-exhibition-7-sep-2018-9840291?pid=1306526453
The Message ~
https://stargategrid.forumchitchat.com/post/the-message-2-august-2018-9809502?trail=15
