Space Mines: Difference between revisions

{{trope}}

 

Just like there are several types of [[Sea Mine]]s, so there are also many types of '''Space Mines'''. Most common are proximity mines, that go off when a ship gets too near, and contact mines that go off when they hit a ship's hull. Magnetic mines are attracted to metal hulls. Homing mines are essentially missiles that sit around until they detect a ship's engine or weapon energy signature, then angle themselves at the target and let fly. Some mines are miniature weapons platforms that open fire when ships get too close. Remote-detonated mines can be set off by a waiting vessel when a target ship gets in range. Nuclear mines have nuclear warheads in them. Then there are mines that rob ships of power (dampening fields) instead of just exploding. There are many other variations and combinations.

[[I Thought It Meant|Not to be confused with]] [[Asteroid Miners|Space Mining operations]], mining valuable materials from [[Asteroid Thicket|asteroids]] or other planets [[In Space]].

 

* There are massive space minefields around the Men's Planet (Tarak) that is visited towards the end of ''[[Vandread]]'' (second season). They are used to reveal {{spoiler|First Mate BC}} as [[The Mole]], since s/he knows the friend-foe codes of the mines that allow ''Nirvana'' to pass them.

* Mines are used in multiple battles in ''[[Legend of the Galactic Heroes]]''.

 

== [[Live Action TV]] ==

* In the ''[[Babylon 5]]'' episode "Matters of Honor", we see a Centauri minefield deployed to interdict access to a planet. This minefield actually consists of orbiting weapon platforms that fire on intruding starships instead of merely exploding when they get within range.

** Captain Sheridan also used nuclear warheads as mines on at least two occasions, but these were remotely detonated from a starship when enemy vessels were deemed close enough.

** ''[[Star Trek: The Original Series]]'' episode "Balance of Terror". The Romulan ship uses one of its [[Self-Destruct Mechanism|self destruct devices]] as an impromptu mine in an attempt to destroy the Enterprise.

** ''[[Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan]]''. In the [[Unwinnable Training Simulation]] that starts off the movie, the ship the ''Enterprise'' needs to rescue was disabled by a gravitic mine.

** Both the ''[[Star Wars: X-Wing]]'' and ''[[TIE Fighter]]'' games feature mines that shoot at you, rather than exploding. Most of the missions that feature these tend to be quite [[Nintendo Hard|difficult]].

** ''[[Star Wars Rebel Assault]] II'' and ''[[Rogue Squadron]] II'' also have space minefield levels.

* ''[[Freelancer]]'' has a few minefields, which have their own haunting ambience theme whenever the player is near or within one. These minefields are less like a field of mines and more like a thick, spherical meshwork of explosives, which kill any intruding spacecraft<ref>that aren't using cheats</ref> ''very'' quickly.

** Also comes with its own hilarious form of [[Artificial Stupidity]]: patrol routes for the [[Space Station|space prison BPA Newgate]] graze the minefield surrounding it. Every so often one of the patrolling Bretonia Police Authority ships will plow into the minefield, [[Death Cry Echo|screaming]] while everyone else does [[Unusually Uninteresting Sight|absolutely nothing about it]].

* The Artemis System Net from ''[[Master of Orion]] 2: Battle At Antares'' is a massive minefield that surrounds the system it's built at. It has a chance of damaging or destroying enemy warships that attack the system depending on the size class.

* This is the special weapon (proximity, limited homing) of the Defiant-class in [[Star Trek Armada]].

* Also possible in [[Sins of a Solar Empire]], mixing two of the above excuses with 2D Space, and direct lines of approach to separate gravity wells.

* Several varieties of Space Mines in ''[[X (video game)|X3 Terran Conflict]]''. SQUASH Mines are your standard high explosive mines, Ion Mines target ship shields, Tracker Mines... [[Exactly What It Says on the Tin|track the enemy]], and Matter/Antimatter Mines are like SQUASH mines but with more boom. One of the most effective uses of the mines is to load your ship with them, get a ton of enemies to chase you, drop all the mines, then order one mine to self-destruct. Big bada boom.

* Stage 1 of ''[[R-Type]] Leo'' has space mines that form a laser grid with other mines.

* [[Proud Warrior Race Guy|Aera]] in ''[[Vega Strike]]'' has Porcupine "mines". It's a sluggish (about 0.5 g in any direction) [[Attack Drone]] with an [[Lead the Target|autotracking]] gun and 100 shield-piercing shells to pelt enemies in range. It explodes if approached, but weaker than any missiles proper. In terms of volume and compatible mounts it's a "medium missile", which allows Aera escort fighters to carry a dozen of these pests, in addition to six mounts of the same weapon with much more ammo, rocket pods (in assault variant) and normal missiles.

* In ''[[Another Century's Episode]]'' (the original), one mission (loosely based on ''[[Gundam Wing]]'', mentioned above) has you clearing out a minefield so Relena Peacecraft can make a goodwill visit to the colonies.

* In ''VGA Planets'' ships with torpedo tubes can lay mines. Efficiency depends on [[Tech Level]]. It can be expensive in terms of restocking ammo, though mines that aren't swept can be scooped by another ship or even another allied player's ship, so it sometimes allows to reload empty torpedo tubes in the middle of nothing. Both laying and sweeping minefields are fleet orders, i.e. ships have to stand there and not do anything else other than defending themselves. [[Silicon-Based Life|Crystals]] race also have web mines—these stop enemy ships at random, so the fleets break apart and steadily drain fuel, so the victime can get stuck for good.

== [[Web Comics]] ==

* In ''[[Inhuman]]'', the whole planet Hekshano is cordoned with a minefield. Some pilots have races in there.

 

== [[Real Life]] ==

*** http://books.google.com/books?id=AQROL_5mY5cC&lpg=[[PA 53]]&ots=vn8i70rVAg&pg=[[PA 53]]#v=onepage (1984)

*** http://www.fas.org/rlg/030522-space.pdf (2003)

*** http://wuxinghongqi.blogspot.com/2010/08/chinas-space-weapons-exposured-russia.html (2010)

* Currently, space debris, also known as orbital debris, space junk, and space waste, is the collection of objects in orbit around Earth that were created by humans but no longer serve any useful purpose. These objects consist of everything from spent rocket stages and defunct satellites to erosion, explosion and collision fragments. To date there have been several known and suspected impact events, and several satellites have been destroyed.

** As the chance of collision is a function of the number of objects in space, there is a critical density where the creation of new debris occurs faster than the various natural forces remove these objects from orbit. Beyond this point a runaway chain reaction can occur that reduces all objects in orbit to debris in a period of years or months. This possibility is known as the "Kessler syndrome", and there is debate as to whether or not this critical density has already been reached in certain orbital bands.

 

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