SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy could launch for the first time as soon as Feb 6
bloomberg.com
bloomberg.com
How cool is that? I hope they have a camera on that car, so we can see it in the video stream.
And I'd rather have them postpone it once more than take chances, if it works the first time that would be awesome.
For context, a 14.5x114mm cartridge fires to about 1.5 miles; the more popular .308 Winchester cartridge only goes half a mile [1].
A 50 cal can go well beyond that the chances of hitting a man sized target are pretty slim that said it’s maximum range is 7000m hitting a space rocket sized target is quite possible at that range.
With bigger caliber rifles like the ones used for avalanche control you probably can get to 7 miles and beyond but those are effectively cannons at that point.
That said if you really want to fuck up a launch there are plenty of drones or RC planes that you could use to ram the rocket with or without an explosive payload.
Which is why they launch from a military base with arguably quite good perimeter security that goes well beyond the range of its fence.
How do you think you need to prepare for a pressure pulse that would dissipate to a whisper a few miles from the pad?