Word: sdi
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...head of the "Star Wars" program, Lt. Gen. James Abrahamson has admitted that nuclear power in space is necessary for SDI to work Without it, he said, "that's going to be a long, long lightcord that goes down to the surface of the earth." Ten percent of the SDI budget goes towards developing satellites powered by nuclear bomb pulses and nuclear reactors; current plans call for up to 100 to be put into orbit...
...Department of Energy contracted a study into the possible dangers of sending a nuclear reactor into orbit. Steven Aftergood, who heads the Committee to Bridge the Gap, a public interest group that concentrates on nuclear policy issues, knew that there was a joint DOE-SDI-NASA project to develop the SP-100, a space-based nuclear reactor. The SP-100 is in its final design stages, and a prototype is to be constructed in the next few years; deployment is tentatively scheduled for the mid- or late-1990s. Aftergood requested the DOE study through the Freedom of Information...
...Soviet leader will address the United Nations, tour a capitalist pleasure dome, then fly to Castro' s Cuba. -- Here' s how high- tech weapons like the Stealth bomber and SDI could make the world less stable. -- Why Bush lets ; Tower twist slowly in the wind. -- The Democrats wrestle with their Jackson problem...
Just how destabilizing such systems could be was illustrated last week when the Army conceded that SDI could severely threaten the Soviet Union's satellite system. Both the U.S. and the U.S.S.R. depend heavily on low-orbit satellites for military intelligence, navigation and communications. The Star Wars antimissile weapons, sitting in space, could easily be turned against Soviet satellites traveling in predictable orbits. Such a prospect is as unacceptable to the Soviets as it would be to the U.S. Former Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara describes SDI as so destabilizing that he believes the Soviets would "be justified in shooting...
...adversary's." The difference between an offensive first-strike weapon and one useful just for defensive retaliation "lies in intent only," says Carnesale. Yet often weapons are introduced largely because the technology is available, rather than to meet essential strategic requirements. As George Bush considers how to proceed with SDI, Stealth and the START talks, the standard he must apply is the quest for stability...