Weapons in Space?

Question

Which human weapons would work in space, or on planets like Mars?

Answer 1

Guns will work.
Nukes will work kinda, but there is no medium for the shock wave but the blast location will be toast and there will be heat.

Mars has an atmosphere so Nukes will be more effective there.

Artillery will work at both locations due to velocity. They will go forever in space until something stops it.

Answer 2

Nuclear weapons, lasers, particle accelerators, rail guns, missiles and satellites armed with coventional explosive warheads, even bullets would work in space as weapons. In fact, no weapons at all other than an objects momentum is really needed to destroy something in space at least because everything moves out there at incredibly high velocites relative to other objects. A piece of metal the size of a baseball would reduce the Space telescope or Space Shuttle to a vast cloud of metallic debris because objects pass each other at an average relative velocity of 20,000 mph in low Earth orbit. A larger object would turn the ISS into a massive belt of debris that would make putting anything into space nearly impossible. China recently obliterated a defunct weather satellite with an Intercontinental Ballistic Missile topped with a "kill vehicle" instead of nuclear warheads. After separating from the missile, the kill vehicle homed in upon the Feng-Yun weather satellite and plowed into it, turning itself and the satellite into a lethal belt of debris that now threatens the ISS and the Space Telescope among other vehicles in LEO. For attacking sites on the surface of a planet, loading thermonuclear bombs into re-entry vehicles would destroy a target on Mars just as effectively as they would a large city on Earth. In space, nuclear weapons are almost as deadly. They can destroy electronics from a great distance due to electromagnetic pulse. Close to the blast, the nuetron surge would melt or destroy a space vehicle, and would certain kill astronauts too. Even a satellite packed with plastic explosives could be deadly enough to wipe out a space vehicle, especially if they cannot change their orbit to avoid it. Lasers and rail guns are far more effective in space, because there's no atmosphere to disperse the beam or affect the trajectory of the projectile, which can leave the gun at more than 25,000 mph. Even firearms would work in space or on a planet with no free oxygen in it's atmosphere, because the gun powder and primer cap have oxygen chemically built into them.

Answer 3

Guns would work as well as projectiles (arrows), however, the recoil of even a small pistol on an astronaut in space would send him/her flying backwards. Missiles driven by chemical combustions wouldn't work, there's no air to push against. Missiles with a two tier fuel and gas release engines would work. Sonic weapons wouldn't, no sound in a vaccum. Explosions would work to a certain degree, it depends on the type of charge. I think thats about all...

Answer 4

Various projectile weapons would all work well except for the recoil that is produced. So a craft firing a projectile would have to account for the deceleration produced by that firing and burn its engines to compensate. The US's "Star Wars" system was planning to use lasers, I think, to destroy satellites and warheads, and those would work too and without recoil, but you have to have lots of energy in the beam and some warheads might be made to resist the laser by having high reflectivity.

Answer 5

Well, a knife would still be pretty dangerous in space. Possibly even more so. You do not need to cut the person at all in order to kill them. Just cut deep enough into their suit and they will die from exposure to the vacuum.

A gun will probably still work. The powder in a gun does not need external oxygen. All that is required is in the primer and the gunpowder. One thing to worry about it the force of the gun and the laws of motion. A small gun would not be too much worry. A large cannon would propell you pretty good though.

A flamethrower would be pretty useless though. It would not ignite.

Answer 6

Ones that don't require chemical combustions that needs such elements as oxygen.