I’m aware that it’s illegal to put any kind of weapon in space, for the sake of the explanation assume there’s no legal reason why not.
My Grug Smash brain has me wondering that if nuclear weapons are so difficult to properly dispose of, surely the easiest option would be to set them off somewhere where they can’t cause any damage.
In: Physics
if it explodes on the launch pad or crashes before it reaches orbit, you have a VERY big problem on your hands
if it does manage to reach orbit and detonate you have just released a lot of bad shit into our upper atmosphere (where gravity will eventually pull it back), potentially destroyed lots of expensive satellites, etc. Remember that with a few notable exceptions, everything we’ve ever launched into space is in orbit around earth and will eventually come back
de-arming is a political problem, not a technical one. Why spend tens of millions of dollars to launch a nuke into space when you could spend tens of thousands to have a team of technicians just take it apart?
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