Are nukes really innefective in space?

[ggf31416]

Many said that nukes are innefective in space as there is only radiation but the energy delivered to the target is about the same.
Most of the radiation in an atmosferic explosion would be absorbed by the air creating the firewall but in space the radiation would hit the hull of the ship (assuming no shields) almost instantly and be absorbed by the first centimeters to meters of the hull (depending on the material) heating it to millons of degrees, creting an explosion as it vaporises.

[thekillman]

the explosion goes the way of the least resistance: IE, space.

also, half the radiation goes to space.

the greatest power of a nuke is the shockwave, and that shockwave does not occur in space. (unless you blow up a hive, more than enough matter to form a plasma shockwave)

[BwenGun]

Against hives at least you can expect some damage though, especially if you're using Nukes designed to pierce through the first few layers of armour and then detonate. Against shields however it is undoubtedly a lot less effective.

[Rise Of The Phoenix]

I think if you built a shielded nuke missile, that could penetrate the hull of a Hive, even if it got lodged half way down in the armor it would blow a Hive to pieces.
One Nuke hitting a Hive's out hull in No Man's Land did massive damage to a Hive so a few could probably destroy one IMO even without being inside the target.

[Quadhelix]

One Nuke hitting a Hive's out hull in No Man's Land did massive damage to a Hive so a few could probably destroy one IMO even without being inside the target.

"Massive damage"? The Hive was barely affected. The Daedalus's railguns did more damage than the nuke!

Of course, that it mostly because the railguns caused a significant number of secondary explosions, but the point remains that the Hive was largely unaffected by the Daedalus's nuclear attack.

[Rise Of The Phoenix]

"Massive damage"? The Hive was barely affected. The Daedalus's railguns did more damage than the nuke!

Of course, that it mostly because the railguns caused a significant number of secondary explosions, but the point remains that the Hive was largely unaffected by the Daedalus's nuclear attack.

This is from the Gateworld transcript of No Man's Land:

KLEINMAN: Five, four, three ...

(In space, the hive ships are surrounded by dozens, if not hundreds, of Darts. A hyperspace window opens and Daedalus flies out. Instantly, she deploys all her missiles.)

KLEINMAN: Missiles are away.

CALDWELL: Dart activity?

KLEINMAN: Quite a number of them, sir. They're moving to intercept our missiles.

CALDWELL (quietly, to himself): Now would be a good time, Orion.

(We switch to an external view some distance away from Daedalus and see the vast number of missiles heading away from the ship and towards the hives. Many of them explode before they reach the hive ships, impacting with Darts, but at least one reaches one of the hives and a massive explosion goes off at the front of the ship. Inside, Ronon and Rodney stumble as the ship shakes.)

McKAY: What the hell?!

(Elsewhere on the ship, Michael and John run to a control panel as alarms sound. Michael activates the panel and looks at it.)

MICHAEL: One of your ships has launched an attack. The first strike has done serious damage on this hive.

So OK Michael doesn't say massive damage, but he's not exactly saying it was barely affected and in the episode there is a massive flash of light from where the Nuke hits.

It's possible that the Hive regenerated quickly from the damage but I doubt it was unaffected.

[SavetheGate]

I think nukes would be ineffective 'cos of there not being any gravity

[Quadhelix]

I think nukes would be ineffective 'cos of there not being any gravity

I apologize for my ignorance, but what does the presence of gravity have to due with the power of nuclear weapons? The real problem would seem to be the absence of an atmosphere, and thus of destructive shockwaves.

[Crazy Tom]

I apologize for my ignorance, but what does the presence of gravity have to due with the power of nuclear weapons? The real problem would seem to be the absence of an atmosphere, and thus of destructive shockwaves.

Absolutely nothing. You right on the atmo.

[morrismike]

Nukes would be very effective in space against unshielded targets. Even a 20kt blast from a mile away would kill all life.
http://www.hq.nasa.gov/office/pao/Hi...nd/nuclear.htm

Without an atmosphere and matter to absorb the blast energy a nuke in space would be like a star with temperatures high enough to evaporate anything unsheilded if there is anything near to a point blank impact.

[apollo22]

we have seen that nukes in space can be effective, no mans land is a great example. it almost completely disabled the ships because it hit towards the rear of the ship.

the reason that nukes have not been effective against shielded targets, a good example and one of the only ones i can think of with nukes was either the end of season 1 or the beginning of season two when aphosis attacks earth and we attack with nukes. the reason that the nukes were so ineffective was because we did not anticipate shields and the nukes merely impacted the shields before the nuke reaction could take place. i think if the nuke went off just before impacting the sheilds, it might do a good job in weakening the shields if not making them collapse completely. as we know, the shields on a hatak are not the best

[Splitsecond]

A nuke in space is effectively just a gamma ray burst, so the physical damage to the ship will be minimal, however without adequate radiation shielding all the crew will be dosed with radiation. Any other ship close by would also suffer the same effects. All nukes in space are effectively neutron bombs.

[thekillman]

Are nukes really innefective in space?

well then the answer would be "no".

why? they arent ineffective. they do have a massive loss of effect. so on a planet, a nuke is better, in space, other weapons are better

[Mister Oragahn]

It only depends where it detonates, if it's shaped, and if the vast range of multiple radiation types are effective against shields and metals.

[Quadhelix]

we have seen that nukes in space can be effective, no mans land is a great example. it almost completely disabled the ships because it hit towards the rear of the ship.

Where did you get that impression? The Hive was still in good enough condition to destroy the Orion in less than half a minute.

It seems that it was mostly the internal detonations caused by the railgun attack on the Dart bays that disabled the ship.