# Why Don't Satellites Contain Bombs?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-satellites-contain-bombs/596859>\
**Category:** In My Humble Opinion\
**Created:** [September 19, 2011, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-satellites-contain-bombs/596859 "2011-09-19T20:12:23Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 1\
**Page:** 2

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![muldoonthief](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muldoonthief/32/3188_2.png) [@muldoonthief](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/muldoonthief)\
**Post date:** [September 20, 2011, 3:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-satellites-contain-bombs/596859/21 "2011-09-20T03:19:46Z")

</div>

> [@CalMeacham](#):
>
> The idea was used believably in the 1964 flick _Robinson Crusoe on Mars_ and arguably in _Star Trek III_, but it’s still a freaky idea. The explosive might, after all, be set off by accident. TOS _The Corbomite Maneuver_, after all, was a trick.

It was for real in TOS _Let That be your Last Battlefield_ though. And the Nostromo in _Alien_ had a self destruct mechanism too. But the Star Trek one is kind of a special case - if you power your ship with antimatter, then a self-destruct mechanism is probably all in software, and maybe a guy with a wrench to open a mechanical safety or ten - you’ve already got all the explosive power you need.

[Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-satellites-contain-bombs/596859.md?page=1)