And if there were any such IRL self-destruct mechanisms, you can be sure it would require a better chosen password to activate it than Star Trek’s “Code Zero Zero Zero”.
So the US government used to have it on some jets. What kind of destruction did it employ? A wiping of the software or a literal explosion?
This was something I didn’t think about, thanks. It seems some unmanned stuff has self-destruct on them. What about manned vehicles? Is there an equivalent to a self-destruct which much be manually initiated in a manned vehicle/station where people are given some countdown to get to safety? I imagine OSHA would have problems with things like that
[Total Trek nerd hat on]
Well, I first saw that episode (Let That Be Your Last Battlefield, with the half black/white humanoids) in syndication as a kid in the early 70s and even back then I assumed that the primary security measure was that the computer had to analyze and except that the voices were legitimate bridge officers speaking of their own free will. Of course, that would mean it probably wouldn’t have worked in STIII:TSFS.
And the final command was actually, “Code 0, 0, 0, destruct, 0” Good episode, if a tad heavy-handed…
Although it’s not a dedicated self-destruct system, a thermite grenade will generally slag down any piece of equipment you lay it on top of.
The earliest real self-destruct systems I am aware of were fitted to the cavity magnetrons in the H2S bombing radars in British bombers in WW2. This didn’t work too well as the secret part was essentially a solid chunk of carefully machined copper.
There seems to be a previous thread here:http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/archive/index.php/t-413114.html
In Star Trek, I sort of feel like the “self destruct” is really “just turning off whatever it is that keeps the ship from exploding”. IIRC, in Alien, the self destruct involved turning off the coolant for the reactors. At something like 5 minutes remaining, it became irreversible (presumably because the system would be too badly damaged at that point).
I suppose the reason to have something like that is if your mile long million ton ship is on a collision course with Earth or a space station or something. Same reason they put self destructs on unmanned rockets.
IRL, the “self destruct” for most aircraft is basically an aircraft full of jet fuel colliding with the ground at 500 mph. Most other things, I think someone just tosses a thermite satchel charge into it.
The famous WWII Norden bombsight had, IIRC, a self destruct device
Which reminds me of something…
The portable Obvious And Accessible Self-Destruct Mechanism
IIRC artillery crews have the ability to destroy their guns if in danger of being overrun.
umm…is it really as simple as just pressing one button? What happens if it is pressed accidently?
I hope that button is a little hard to reach, or covered with a little plastic protector, or something…
This is not really correct. There was a destruct charge on the film canister and camera that was intended to prevent a foreign power from determining the photographic capability of the imagining system. Powers did fail to function the film cartridge destruct charge; by his own recollection he was not aware of the intercept and only became conscious after separating from the aircraft. While various people have cast doubts on Powers account of the shootdown, there is really no definitive reason to question his statements, nor did recovery of the U-2 aircraft materially affect US intelligence other than to give lie to the previous claims by the Eisenhower administration that the US was not overflying Soviet territory.
A destruct charge that could ‘destroy’ a U-2 aircraft would be several hundred pounds of energetics, which would be unviable for an aircraft such as the U-2 which was very weight sensitive and often landed after Soviet overflights with a fuel reserve measured in spare gallons.
All US-based rocket launch vehicles launching from government controlled or sponsored ranges (e.g. the Eastern and Western Ranges, Spaceport America, et cetera) that fly high or far enough to threaten occupied land or shipping lanes are equipped with a flight termination system (FTS) which will destruct the vehicle, either upon command by a Range Safety Officer (RSO) or automatically upon indications that the vehicle has lost positive control authority or structural integrity per RCC-319-07/10/14 and/or AFSPCMAN 91-710. This is true for sounding rockets (Scout, Black Brant, Juno), uncrewed space launch vehicles (Minotaur, Athena, Atlas, Delta, SpaceX Falcon), and even crewed systems such as the Space Transportation System (‘Shuttle’) and Space Launch System. The systems are activated remotely by sending ‘tones’ (a coded signal on a specific frequency) or will be activated automatically if the vehicle loses link with the range assets for more than a set period of time. There are additional systems which may automatically destruct if the vehicle is clearly out of control, or will mechanically active the destruct system if the stages ‘prematurely separate’ (e.g. break apart). The same applies to flight test missions (‘Glory Trips’) of Minuteman III and (formerly) Peacekeeper missiles, but these systems are not installed on operationally deployed systems.
There has been considerable debate from the NASA astronaut corps about the need for a flight termination system on crewed vehicles but current range safety regulations require it and will likely continue to owing to the potential hazard to the public in the case of an out of control vehicle; the only exception to this would be aystems.
Stranger
Self-destruct also showed up in The Andromeda Strain, both book and movie. In that case, it was to destroy the secret underground lab, rather than a vehicle. And the reason was not to prevent it from falling into enemy hands, but rather to destroy any deadly alien diseases that may escape the containment of the base.
The device was a nuclear bomb. In the book, the air in the lab was to be evacuated 30 seconds before the nuke gets set off. This was supposedly to make the nuke more effective. That probably wouldn’t have much effect (and could even have made the nuke less effective) so it mostly shows that Crichton didn’t understand nukes.
On the system I wrote the manuals for it was just one button. A software button with an “are you sure?” pop-up.
And while I never saw anyone click it by accident I did arrive at the factory in the aftermath of a careless click. Two days to reload and configure the test system because somebody wanted to test the button without warning the software engineers first. The button was disabled after that.
I think that spy plane that landed in China years ago had one to wipe the computers.
Also that stealth helicopter that they used to take out Bin Laden I think had one.
There’s a self-destruct mechanism on the Little David in Between Planets, IIRC. Don’t have it handy to check.
Dn’t recall that, personally. But it’s been a long time since I read it.
It also sends a signal directly into the brain of the S6 turning him into a nerdier version of the Hulk. It also automatically generates your Article 15 paperwork.
It can be reloaded but from what I understand it has to be sent back to the depot to be done. The local 6 shop is not authorized to reload the system.
I’m trying to imagine the pumps required to draw any kind of a vacuum on a sealed five story building in less than thirty seconds . . . is that even possible?
The “[Hainan Island incident](Hainan Island incident occurred when a mid-air collision between a United States Navy EP-3E ARIES II signals intelligence aircraft)”? If so, it was a Navy EP-3E ARIES II signals intelligence aircraft, and if I recall correctly they “self destructed” the computer hard drives with hammers . . . yup,
CMC fnord!
I’m trying to imagine how stout the walls and doors would have to be. For a 72"x30" door, a pressure differential of 14.7 psi means about 37,000 pounds of force, and the roof loading would make Boston’s[sup]*[/sup] snow loads look like chump change; stud walls and hollow-core doors ain’t gonna make the grade.
*[sub]if you’re reading this far in the future, this is the year Boston got six feet of snow in just a couple of weeks…[/sub]
The IronKey secure flash drives are not only extremely difficult (impossible, the IK people claim) to decrypt, and the data is supposed to “self destruct” after N incorrect attempts to log on. But “self destruct” is a lot less traumatic than spaceships – the data just gets overwritten and scrubbed.
At least, I HOPE it’s not like this scene from David Cronenberg’s Scanners: