Since I can't seem to get a straight/believable answer on what the actual potential of our Boeing/TRW laser cannon is currently all about (no one even seems to know where the hell it's been for the past 6 months, not to mention on that dreadful morning of February 01, 2003), so I've applied some of my own testy math as based upon some relatively conservative laser performance. This is never easy nor can I keep it down to any dull roar where every wantabe village idiot can understand all of it, as half the time I can't even understand it.
This is also not specifically regarding what happened to our shuttle COLUMBIA, except that in my warped mind anything is possible in the way of friendly fire or perhaps prototype trial and error (just asking a Canadian, or those of a certain Japanise fisheries expedition, or those onboard a certain french gondola, or perhaps those of flight-800, or those of the USS LIBERTY and so on, as there's actually quite a substantial "OOPS" list).
Even though it's entirely within our existing science and physics to have accomplished the following, it'll certainly be another sad day if we should discover they (Boeing/TRW ~ Phantom Works) actually (unofficially) utilized the shuttle COLUMBIA as a thermal sensor drone.
Just for an example; should we create a 0.5 m2 initial laser beam source with a modest divergence of 2.5 milliradian (.005º beam), that having a gross input of 1 GW as well as having an overall efficiency to target of 33%
At the hypothetical target range of 80 km (50 miles), if we have created a target beam diameter of roughly 7 meters.
7 m diameter = 38.5 m2 (414.4 sq.ft.)
1 GW @33% eff. = 333 MW
As for utilizing but 1% of that 333 MW = 3.33 MW
3.33 mw / 414.4 sq.ft. = 8.036 kw/sq.ft (86.5 kw/m2).
Of course that sort of energy delivery for a few seconds should not have been all that significant, unless we're talking about a good too many seconds (as in minutes). The 8 kw/sf is obviously nowhere near the 10 kw/sf I had initially stipulated may have been applied to the exposed (thermal sensory loaded) bottom of those shuttle wings (but then the distance to target certainly could have been somewhat closer than 80 km, as well as for the beam narrower). However, by obtaining even that 7 meter diameter spot would have permitted at their discretion of selecting either right/left wing area, so that of those existing internal thermal sensors (many per wing) which are directly downloaded via the ship's data/com links as well as for that same data going into the flight recorder, could certainly have offered a real-world test/verification of the differential (left/right) thermal measurements, that which should have been safely performed while being quietly live monitored by the Phantom Works crew onboard the Boeing/747 ABL, presumably with no harm done, as I would expect those thermal sensors to have detected at best an internal rise of perhaps 10ºC, thus clearly indicating to Phantom Works at what level of success or not the Boeing/TRW-747 team could deliver (if it wanted to) as for bringing down or causing a premature catastrophic failure upon re-entry, such as a hostile spacecraft or missile. I mean to say, since that was and still is the "Star Wars" laser cannon objective, what exactly is there of any other point?
In retrospect of the added thermal punishment applied onto those already stressed and possibly damaged external tiles, of subsequent time/dwell (duration of laser burn) for the added heat to migrate through would have had to have been creating substantially greater external as well as measurable internal stress impact in order to have created any short term 10ºC internal rise, possibly capable of adding at least another external 100ºC if all the conditions were just right, which may have required 120+ seconds to accumulate, whereas the idea being that if 1% laser output could in fact affect a 100ºC external impact (10ºC internal), then of 100% laser cannon fire (because such things are never perfectly linear) should cause at the very least 1,000ºC, and as such a nearly instantaneous destruction of the incoming target that was already functioning at near maximum (already utilizing every trick in the book in order to lose as much of that reentry heat buildup as possible).
Of course, the potential in target thermal absorbson is also dependent upon the coefficients of windage/cooling as well as for not being overly reflective of IR nor of rotating itself away from the beam and, certainly not being cloaked behind clouds, thus having the Boeing/TRW cruising at 12 km would have placed that ABL instrument well above any such clouds and, of the thinner atmosphere the better as for beam delivery efficiency. Obviously the shuttle had no such thing as windage cooling (just the opposit, as it had reentry windage heating), as being on the already hot receiving end of just getting itself back home, where as such the added impact of any new thermal energy would likely have been more quickly transferred through those non reflecting as well as non-rotating under-side tiles that were already maxed out.
More than a year before any of this COLUMBIA shuttle fiasco was factored, I had already been informing the world as well as Boeing/TRW of an opportunity to utilize the ABL for something humanitarian, if not for merely accomplishing some of their "star wars" duty cycle testing at no added charge, upon a target that all at the time would seemingly have been convinced was an absolute non-risk, a non issue of causing harm to anyone or anything existing on Venus because, supposedly no one lives on Venus (period!). Though I recall, I'd previously cautioned as to initially utilizing a relatively low energy level for good reasons, one of which was to insure that a low baud rate of binary code could be sustained for perhaps 5 minutes out of every 15 minutes, thus secondly in that cooling aspects of the ABL wouldn't have been compromised, even if the output was taken to 10%.
Now, as for understanding the ultimate challenge of doing something that's of humanitarian worth and of the best moral intentions, as well as utilization of that same (bought and paid for) laser cannon, except having its CO2 gas spiked with sufficient mercury so that it's offering a greater amount of white light as well as for creating near-UV and of some fully UV spectrums (of thereby representing far less heat and of much greater illumination value), where obviously the intended objective is now primarily of interplanetary laser communications, especially if that beam is comprised of pulsed/binary packets at perhaps a maximum 10% duty cycle. As if need be, we should be able to safely push that energy beam into at a 10 fold pulse improvement while remaining well within the operational parameters of what the entire ABL/CW package has to offer.
Best of all, and so unlike IR, of those near UV spectrums (especially of 375 to 450 nm) are not losing all that much of their energy exiting Earth's atmosphere (especially if that were initiated from an altitude of 12 km) and, even upon that beam reaching Venus, where those clouds might at their best stop 90% of near UV (more likely blocking at most 75% of 450+nm) but of not likely blocking 75% of what's below 450 nm, or of as little as 50% > 25% absorbson of UV/b. In other words, a sufficiently good amount (25% to 50%) of near UV spectrum (especially of 450 > 350 nm) would penetrate those clouds and, perchance a great deal more so of the full UV (325 to 375 nm) spectrum is going to be detectable to any nocturnal within such an absolutely pitch black sky, as for what the nighttime season of Venus offers is essentially a crystal clear shot anywhere situated below those clouds.
In somewhat review of achieving this interplanetary communications objective;
If working by way of a relatively broad divergence of 5 milliradian and, of having to target at 50^6 km should subsequently obtain a relatively wide laser target diameter of 8,726.6 km or 5,422.5 miles (roughly 75% the diameter of Venus). Obviously the further the distance the greater the beam-target diameter and subsequently less lumens or Cd per m2 is available.
Binary pulsed @10% X 333 MW = 3.333 GW of UV (a/b/c) spectrum
Beam-target-diameter 8726.6 km (5423 miles) = 59.8^12 m2 (642^12 sq.ft.)
3.333 GW / 59.8^12 = 56 uw/m2 as delivered onto those cloud tops
So, I'm thinking if to be including the additional cloud divergence and transparency reductions, if only 25% of the near UV and/or upper most UV/a spectrum were to illuminate through those pitch black but of sufficiently UV transparent nighttime clouds, we're capable of delivering 14 uw/m2 (four times that amount by merely cutting the beam divergence in half and of delivering a hundred fold upon that initial 14 uw/m2 if the beam divergence were to get down to 0.5 milliradian that would create 1.4 mw/m2).
Even though this is another of my corrections that's offering substantially less than I had previously calculated, you'll need to remember that of being on the surface and of looking up at those nighttime clouds which might bottom out at 25 to 35 km, that's only 2.5 degree of view per km2 worth of illuminated area to contemplate and, so that the 5 milliradian beam is now representing itself at the 14 w/km2 and, likewise becoming 1400 w/km2 if we were to be dealing with a 0.5 milliradian beam (I do believe the latest outfitting of adaptive optics upgrade for the Boeing/TRW ABL is in fact within the neighborhood of achieving 1 milliradian if not sub-milliradian performance, which is imparitive if it's to accomplish a 1000 mile task of disrupting a worthy target).
Short of my making a few too many math mistakes; as far as for considering anything remotely human like, we're delivering a relatively safe level of near UV/a, at only a slightly greater dosage of perhaps 28 watts/km2 at 400 nm and/or at best 42 watts/km2 worth of the 350 nm spectrum onto those residing below the cool nighttime clouds. Of this greater UV/a spectrum penetration is also another reason why I'm of the opinion that Venus folks (Cathars or otherwise) may need to migrate at sunrise, so as to remain within their somewhat cooler season of nighttime but more so as to be avoiding the relatively intense influx of solar UV rays, perhaps doing such by way of utilizing their metro airship as to packing everything up and head for either of at least two alternate sunset communities, as otherwise of any planet lacking those Van Allen belts, daytime is not offering the best of situations unless you remain within sufficient shelter, as far better yet is for situating the entire globe between yourself and the nasty sun by simply remaining in the season of night. And besides, a little heat you can always get use to and/or accommodate through technology, as compared to solar cosmic radiation including UV, especially those b/c spectrums and of worse being those solar flare radiations that hasn't been adequately blocked by the robust atmosphere is perhaps still a no-win situation (air conditioning or not, unless you've got yourself darn good shelter and/or one hell of an exoskeletal tough body, nighttime is going to have to do quite nicely, besides it's at least somewhat cooler at night and cooler yet if being sufficiently elevated, such as the Northern hemisphere containing their continent of Istar Terra at 10+km).
As for those nocturnal lizard folk (looking back at Earth) side of this equation; if these souls have developed through evolution any magnitude 5 nightvision, we may have ourselves another problem because, we may have just blinded some of them, especially if we utilized the full potential of the ABL laser cannon spiked with mercury, probably even partially sterilized others, not to mention the fact that it's entirely possible that under certain nighttime weather patterns, those clouds are much lower as well as optically thinner (contrasting in thickness and/or of being more transparent by a factor of 50:1 instead of the reported daytime of 20:1) and, there could even be a limited chance of slight clearings. One other option that's still alive and kicking is of their utilizing that metro airship for astronomy functions above those nighttime clouds, as of the science and physics that would permit such a massive rigid airship to exist and cruise above those cool nighttime clouds is certainly within the cards, even if it's buoyancy is N2 based, though H2 seems a rather obvious alternative, especially with regard to pulling (vacuum distilling) pure H2O and subsequently processing that into H2, or in regards to the liquid tin metal bath method of production for creating pure H2; here is the exact URL for a PDF file that lays it all on the line. http://www.alchemix.us/hydromax.pdf
Perhaps the problem being with the tin metal bath method is in obtaining a production of merely 47 million standard cubic feet per day (MMscd) of hydrogen (40,000 metric tons per year) from a quantity of 1.6 million metric tons per year of steam is only a 25,000:1 ratio of obtaining H2 from H2O, of which this is obviously going to be a serious problem for those wishing to extinguish any possibility of life on Venus and possibly even that of Mercury, as with such capabilities comes a reality of life surviving where mere humans supposedly can not (especially really stupid Earthly humans).
All and all, this is why I was trying to be nice to our neighbors, by not insulting their nocturnal sensitive eyes nor their intelligence, as obviously the Boeing/TRW (ABL) laser cannon can deliver a rather substantial near UV punch. So, I was thinking a mere 1% ott to be initially sufficient, as even that's achieving 1.4 uw/m2. Actually, since we're no longer delivering thermal energy but of illumination, that 1.4 uw (1% laser output as getting through those clouds) is potentially creating a great amount of illumination, perhaps a cd/m2 value of roughly a thousand times the wattage should become a conservative estimate of creating 1400 mcd/m2 worth of UV illumination. As a reference, I've located common LED's performing at 147 cd/watt as based upon a 7.5 radian of divergence (that's 1.47^6 cd/watt at 0.15 degrees [75 milliradian] and so on down the line, such as 7.5 milliradian we're creating a beam worthy of 147^6 cd/m2/w).
Obviously, as any UV beam strikes those less turbulent nighttime clouds, there's a good deal of further divergence or more correctly diffusion taking place and, on top of all that we're not the least bit certain they're interested or configured for returning any signal. As I've stipulated before, those folks may have been a little too busing just surviving, as to be attempting to contact Earth heathens via light for at least the past 14 years (especially whenever they're within the 50^6 km range) but had given up because we're simply too stupid to bother with. I'm thinking, if they've managed to intercept and decode anything as primitive and inefficient as radio, perhaps they should know better than to be letting on about their existence, as they may not be prepared to fend off warlord Bush, let alone the Pope (remember, these lizard folks could be of what's left of those nice Cathars and, much like NASA or the Pope, having no sense of humor).
Without my going into greater "what if" details, as I offered a fair number of interplanetary communications related pages intended for our calling Venus, I'll just close out this page by restipulating that we've had all the necessary technology to be looking closely at the nighttime side of Venus (Hubble, TRACE, SOHO as well as almost any Earthly based telescope suitably outfitted for minimizing solar interference, as otherwise significant magnification is simply not all that essential) and, since we're not having to look for even cloud details but merely of Venus nighttime illuminations where there supposedly shouldn't be any, for that capability we've more than had the "off the shelf" optical technology as well as the xenon beam projection illumination cannons (these are not even lasers) that could have been safely employed, very cheaply and at absolutely no astronaut risk whatsoever. Even the prospect of having to create and deliver the VL2 communications platform as a satellite is certainly primitive and outdated by the standards of the past decade, where perhaps by now this belated satellite should have the title of TRACE-II or perhaps VL2-Duh!
It's not that others capable and formally charged with their having the moral obligation and responsibility as to seeing that such discoveries are properly attended to were not being informed, as it's been only by way of their arrogance and apparent greed and intentional preferences of sustaining the inefficient as well as downright dangerous if not lethal "status quo", as in irregardless of accomplishing whatever is morally right, as only those fearing the truth have been keeping our best talents and resources from focusing upon the obtainable goals of what Venus has to offer. If you're interested in some of the other facts about Venus, at least start yourself off with this discovery basics page, then consider on some of the "can do" aspects and perhaps go from there into considering the alternate basics of Venus evolution (with or without NASA).
Unfortunately, I have a good number of other efforts worth your review, that is if you can stand up to my dyslexic delivery and poor syntax (consider it a form of my very own encryption, as well as another challenge to see if you're as smart as you think you are).