Nukes in Space

[kojikun]

What would a nuke detonation in space look like if it were detonated near a ship? I'm fairly certain the nuke itself would look like a very bright glowing ball, but not very large. But wouldnt the large amounts of XRays hitting the ship cause the ship to vaporise on the side hit? or even the entire ship??

[Kuroneko]

What would a nuke detonation in space look like if it were detonated near a ship? I'm fairly certain the nuke itself would look like a very bright glowing ball, but not very large.

Likely not. There woud not be any fireball, nor a cloud in a vacuum, except for the fragments of the bomb itself, which would be minor compared to an atmospheric explosion. It would just be a bright, near-instantaneous burst of what is mostly gamma, neutron, and beta radiation.

But wouldnt the large amounts of XRays hitting the ship cause the ship to vaporise on the side hit? or even the entire ship??

Gamma/x-ray radiation makes up only about 5-8% of a fission reaction. That's enough to vaporize the ship, I suppose, provided the yield was great enough and the distance was short enough. But overall, I think the most dangerous part of the bomb at close range would be the 80-85% of the energy that went into accelerating the bomb fragments. Nevertheless, x-rays and neutron radiation could be very dangerous to the ship even at long distances, simply because they would fry electronics.

It should be noted that atmospheric nuclear bombs release much more x-rays, because of such factors as the accelerated neutrons interacting with the atmosphere. But we won't see that here.

[kojikun]

true enough, but the vapor cloud wont harm a ship really. The radiation would, however, vape some of the hull. Youd see a flash, then a few seconds later the bomb-side of the ship would glow ALOT, vaporise like. it would be a VERY bizzare thing to see, it would seem as tho half the ship exploded without being touched.

[Sea Skimmer]

The bomb would give off a flash, and the size of the ship facing it would depending on the relative strengths of the bomb and hull material begin to be vaporized, its highly unlikely the whole ship would be vaped with any reasonable yield device. If there were any expose portholes, the radiation would enter though them and destroy the compartment behind.

[Kuroneko]

true enough, but the vapor cloud wont harm a ship really.

You mean what's left of the bomb? I assure you, at such energies, it's quite dangerous. A water gun may be mostly harmless, but with enough velocity a stream of water could cut steel with ease.

The radiation would, however, vape some of the hull. Youd see a flash, then a few seconds later the bomb-side of the ship would glow ALOT, vaporise like. it would be a VERY bizzare thing to see, it would seem as tho half the ship exploded without being touched.

Ah, well, certainly it's quite dangerous, but I thought you sought to vaporize the ship altogether. Sorry for misunderstanding you. Nevertheless, I still feel you're over-optimistic about the thermal effects of gamma radation. It is not exactly known for its heating abilities, but for penetration.

[kojikun]

sure, blow up the bomb right outside the ship and the vapor will fuck it over, but at a distance, like a few hundred or thousand feet, the cloud will a be little more like solar wind. the ship i think could hand the shock.

and yes, the XRays would pnetrate, but not entirely through a huge metal ship. they'll be absorbed, preferably by the hull if its a warship, and cause vaping. and even if not, the immense amount of thermal and visible radiation emitted on detonation would be enough to melt melt i suspect, if it can flash burn wood miles away on earth with the atmosphere in its way.

granted, lots of that comes from xray downstepping, but also youre not concentrating the bomb into a small casing, which would absorb and remit far more energy.

[Soontir C'boath]

Awww and I thought this was about deployment of nuclear weaponry in space...heheheh
Since this topic is kinda broad.....is a Space Shuttle large enough to house a nuclear weapon/s on a satellite?

Cyaround,
Jason
Edit: 900th....wow....

[kojikun]

yeah the shuttle is mroe then capable of boosting a nuke, theyre not that heavy.

[CaptainChewbacca]

I've done a bit of study on Project Orion, a program where they used focused external nuclear explostions to propel the ship. The medium that actually hits the ship is an energetic plasma, which according to calculations would give a strong, sustained push for a few seconds. That was at 200 meters.

To do significant damage, you would need to get within a hundred feet of the ship when the bomb went off. With no atmosphere for a pressure wave, a nuke is a lot less destructive in space.

I actually used plasma weapons in a scifi piece I'm writing.

[David]

Ooh but you could surround the bomb with packets of marble sized metal balls, give them a sheilding that would prevent them from being vaporized, but would propell them to tremendous speeds. Turn your target into Swiss cheese.

[CaptainChewbacca]

In the Orion pulse-bombs, they packed in boron and other such things to absorb the radiation and still vaporize nicely. IF you're propelling shrapnel with a nuke, I don't know why a rail-cannon wouldn't be more efficient.

[kojikun]

i think the orion also used ablative pusher plates that provided some of the vapor for the push explosion. i dont know if it was from radiative or conductive heating or not.

[CaptainChewbacca]

There was one ablative pusher plate to absorb the hit. In theory, it would have been coated with grease or something before each blast, to prevent gradual ablation due to the high temperatures. The plate was never meant to be replaced, and it absorbed the radiation.

[GrandMasterTerwynn]

Ooh but you could surround the bomb with packets of marble sized metal balls, give them a sheilding that would prevent them from being vaporized, but would propell them to tremendous speeds. Turn your target into Swiss cheese.

Bah, then you'd have a bomb made up mostly of shielding. You could probably do the same thing with conventional weaponry tied to some coils with steel balls in them. Energize the coils and when the explosive goes off, the resulting EMP will accelerate the balls down the coils. Boom, instant EMP/railgun bomb.