In rememberance of Ronald Reagan today, perhaps someone would like to
comment on how he used NASA to help bring an end to the Cold War.

NSDD-42 spelled it out very clearly how Reagan was using NASA for
military purposes. One statement that didn't jibe was this:


"The United States is committed to the exploration and use of outer
space by all nations for peaceful purposes and for the benefit of all
mankind. [Sentence deleted during declassification review]"


In the preceding paragraph, the policy had just spelled out that the
top priority was national security, and then right on it's heels they
want to maintain that this security goal is going to be accomplished
in accordance with the principle of using space for peaceful purposes
benefiting all nations. Hmm.

Reagan certainly didn't show much desire for benefit of Communist
nations. His goal was to defeat those nations. Space was being used
to terrorize. This was the standard policy of "advanced nations" who
possessed nuclear ballistic missiles. The reason why national
security was the top priority for Reagan's space policy (as well as
Carter, Ford, Nixon, Johnson, and Ike before him) was because of
living under the threat of being vaporized within a matter of minutes.
The terror that most people concern themselves with today are mere
firecrackers in comparison to a nuclear onslaught.


Strangely, many prefer the mindset that ICBMs do not count against the
US stated policy of using space "for peaceful purposes". Some simply
choose to ignore ICBMs as a space weapon. Others apply a reasoning
that since ICBMs sit in silos on the ground, then they aren't space
weapons. That would be like reasoning that nuclear bombers sitting in
their alert huts do not count as aviation weapons.

Along with such missiles, it is also curious to note that at the time
NSDD-42 was drafted, the Navstar/GPS program was well on its way with
seven Block 1 satellites already in orbit.

GPS was designed and funded as a system that would get nuclear
warheads to their targets more accurately.

Aside from the obvious application of bomber navigation, GPS
technology was developed from a system that was designed to improve
guidance and control of ICBMs themselves (I searched the sci.space
archives and could not find a single comment on MOSAIC, MObile System
for Accurate ICBM Control).

....so much for the use of outer space for "peaceful purposes" for the
"benefit of all mankind".


Reagan clearly backed the use of the space shuttle as a militarily
operated vehicle, carrying military payloads, flown by military crews.
(An interesting side question that I haven't heard anyone ask is
whether it was improper to fly the space shuttle on such overtly
military missions without painting military insignias on the vehicle.)

And of course, today's ISS came from the Reagan approved program that
fit with his NSDD-42 policy.


Here is the anecdotal story of how Reagan arrived at his plan for
winning the Cold War:

(from http://www.wtntam570.com/script/head...ews&feed_id=59)
-------------------------------------------------
If he failed to actually shrink the federal bureaucracy himself, it
was because of what he did to end what he called "the evil empire" the
Soviet Union.

How that came about is a favorite story of one of his military
advisers, the late Gen. Vernon Walters, who recounted a meeting that
occurred shortly after Reagan first became president. There was a
briefing by top security officials on the comparative strengths of the
United States and the USSR.

"Do we have more guns?" Reagan wanted to know.

"No," he was told.

"More missiles?"

"No."

"More ships?"

"No."

"Well what do we have more of?" Reagan wondered.

And somebody tossed out, almost laughingly, "Money."

"That's it," said Reagan. "We'll beat them with money."

Reagan began a massive military buildup. He demanded a 600-ship Navy.
He ordered a Strategic Defense Initiative, or SDI, popularly known as
"Star Wars," a high-tech gamble on intercepting missiles in space. His
own experts told him it couldn't work but the Soviets couldn't be sure
of that.

Moscow tried to keep up, and the USSR went broke.
-------------------------------------------------

As much as we have Reagan to thank for leading us to a world where the
threat of destruction from space has been amazingly reduced, I'm sad
to see these words published on the current Air Force Space Command
fact sheet (dated April 2003):

"The ICBM force consists of Minuteman III and Peacekeeper missiles
that provide the critical component of America's on-alert strategic
forces. As the nation's "silent sentinels," ICBMs, and the people who
operate them, have remained on continuous around-the-clock alert since
1959 -- longer than any other U.S. strategic force. More than 500
ICBMs are currently on alert in reinforced concrete launch facilities
beneath the Great Plains."

(From http://www.af.mil/factsheets/factshe...sID=155&page=1)


I would like to see bold leadership in Washington DC ask:

Are 500 ICBMs necessary? Is "continuous around-the-clock alert since
1959" something that we are proud of?

Thanks to people like Ronald Reagan, we no longer live in the Cold
War. Having "peaceful purposes and for the benefit of all" is a
wonderful ideal to strive for. Although it was not the reality of
1982, nor the reality of today, we can still uphold it as our goal.


~ CT