From Newsgroup: rec.aviation.military
On Thu, 16 Apr 2026 13:21:39 -0400, "Jim Wilkins"
<
muratlanne@gmail.com> wrote:
"a425couple" wrote in message news:JZ7ER.26693$d5bf.23463@fx07.iad...
It isnAt the first time the U.S. has considered nuclear power in space.
The NERVA program, Nuclear Engine for Rocket Vehicle Applications, was >designed and tested in the 1960s.
There may be videos of this on YouTube or something, but I remember
they tested this with conventional explosives on a small model, and it
really worked.
OK, found a playlist of 17 clips on YouTube about NERVA:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j6gKFvPjGpQ&list=PL84b1TR9XxFntht_kErePdrUj-kQDrpgB&pp=0gcJCbcEOCosWNin
Took some doing to refine the search because there's a biotech company
called Nerva that was constantly cropping up....
I built a laboratory demonstration model of a spacecraft communications >laser design on my home shop metal lathe and milling machine which were made >in the 1960's and still can do precise work.
Yeah, laser communications are being used actively by the military. An infra-red laser beam can be modulated for communication between two
units on the ground. Even works full duplex (like a phone) if you
have both a transmitter and receiver operating concurrently at both
sites. Totally undetectable by anyone trying to monitor your
communications, but depends completely on "clear air" between the two
locations -- dust or other obstructions would cause partial or total communications loss.
Obviously, in the airless environment of space this isn't a problem.
For maintaining constant communications, line of sight of course,
between two locations on the Moon would be a piece of cake. Might be
handy for monitoring a remote operation like a nuclear power source or
a remote sensor suite for whatever research purpose, and getting
real-time data back to the base camp location.
That also works for high-bandwidth communications between spacecraft,
or ground to orbit comms, providing a clear line of sight along with
tracking systems that keep the beams aimed where they need to go.
I've heard of ham radio operators fiddling around with this from time
to time, and I =think= there have been articles about it in QST, the
magazine of the American Radio Relay League (the US national
organization for amateur radio operators), and probably QEX (another
ARRL publication for experimenters). Might be worth a search or two,
or a message to their technical division via the
https://arrl.org
website.
--
//Steve//
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