Time for physics:
At 1/10 speed of light 1 gram of material has an equivalent energy to
.1kton of TNT. Thus 10 grams = 1kton. Now, 1 cubic centimeter of lead
weighs 13 grams. So when a 1cc of lead hits a target it has one hell of an
energy release. Now 1cc of lead does not have exactly what I would call a
huge radar signature. It does not exactly have a huge surface area to cause
deviation in a 10 to the minus fifteen torr vacuum. Where the mean free path
is measured in the tens (or is it hundreds) of Kilometers.
Translation: It hits one atom approximately ever 10-100Kilometers
This object, say it's cooled to 4 degrees Kelvin (LH2 temp) will not have a
large thermal or gravitic signature.
Ok, there's a tiny amount of crud in the eccliptic plane of a system. Well
then fire from outside the eccliptic!
Actually, if this tiny thing has such a velocity, by the time radar hits
it and returns, it is bound to do something to the targets ability to scan
it. especilly if it has some Radar absorbant material or just a radar
ellusive shape. Hell, there so tiny you could buy a hand full for 10Cr.
That's a lot of bang for the buck. The damn thing is smaller than most of
the dice you roll! It's coming in at 30000 kilometers per second. It will
be in range of a Active EMS(Far Orbit) for 16.667 seconds. The average
sensor task for ships is twenty minutes....
Anyway, the point is that using asteroids is a dumb idea. For one you
have to tow the blasted things around. Two, they are so large, they
will have a large radar return. Any ship that can tow one is going to
be expensive and hard to conceal.
The one cubic centimeter of lead is easy to manipulate, easy to carry
and the ship of choice for launching is a scout or maybe a 6G light
escort. Asteroids need big tugs.
How about that?
Scott Kellogg
Physicist at large