Bomb Iraq?
Registered User
Joined: Feb 2001
Posts: 3,842
From: BC, Canada
so what do u know about project "star wars" craig ?
did it ever go functional .. is it in play right now !? or did they can the whole thing ?
we read about it in my "computers in society" course .. but i fergot if its actually in play or if it was given up.
did it ever go functional .. is it in play right now !? or did they can the whole thing ?
we read about it in my "computers in society" course .. but i fergot if its actually in play or if it was given up.
Registered User
Joined: Nov 2001
Posts: 1,213
From: North Vancouver, BC
Star Wars, aka the SDI (Strategic Defense Initiative) was introduced in Reagan's era, in 1983, as a way to counter the Soviet ballistic missile threat. The idea was to put laser carrying satellites into space to shoot down ballistic missles in flight. It proved far too difficult and costly to implement with the technology of the time, and thus never entered development. Apparently the system was so complex that even simulations and tests failed, never mind real system trials. the SDI amounted to little more then a massive and costly R&D project into spaceborne lasers.
Star Wars is not in play right now (if it is, it's a secret). Instead Bush is attempting to build an anti-missile system designed to counter attack from "rogue states" that do not have the ability to launch a full nuclear assault on the US. The system uses earth-based rockets to intercept and destroy/deflect missiles in flight. The defensive capacity is much smaller then what Regan envisioned, but would hopefully be able to destroy a handful of missiles launched by a nation such as North Korea. This is a very touchy subject, and Russia is most definitely opposed to it despite the new friendship between the former cold war enemies.
Star Wars is not in play right now (if it is, it's a secret). Instead Bush is attempting to build an anti-missile system designed to counter attack from "rogue states" that do not have the ability to launch a full nuclear assault on the US. The system uses earth-based rockets to intercept and destroy/deflect missiles in flight. The defensive capacity is much smaller then what Regan envisioned, but would hopefully be able to destroy a handful of missiles launched by a nation such as North Korea. This is a very touchy subject, and Russia is most definitely opposed to it despite the new friendship between the former cold war enemies.
Registered User
Joined: Jun 2001
Posts: 578
From: Vancouver, BC CANADA
To add to Craig's testimony, the Star Wars Project proposal put forward by Reagan was reignited after the attacks on the WTC. Advocates of the Strategic Defense Initiative claimed that a Star Wars-type system may have prevented the large-scale destruction witnessed by the world on 9/11.
Although the complexities of space-based weaponary disqualifies this sort of warfare as a valid form of battle, the US military still fights for satellite surveillance control. To this date, the only known Earth-surveillance mechanism is the Global Positioning System, which is coincidentally controlled and operated from the United States. The US government gladly allows foreign nations to harness the GPS technology and use it to monitor resources, missiles, vehicles and people BUT the data recieved is filtered through the US Department of Defense. As nations become more and more dependant on this technology, their vulnerability increases.
Thus it becomes apparent that although no physical space-based war systems are in place today, passive deterrents do indeed exist and are as equally effective.
Although the complexities of space-based weaponary disqualifies this sort of warfare as a valid form of battle, the US military still fights for satellite surveillance control. To this date, the only known Earth-surveillance mechanism is the Global Positioning System, which is coincidentally controlled and operated from the United States. The US government gladly allows foreign nations to harness the GPS technology and use it to monitor resources, missiles, vehicles and people BUT the data recieved is filtered through the US Department of Defense. As nations become more and more dependant on this technology, their vulnerability increases.
Thus it becomes apparent that although no physical space-based war systems are in place today, passive deterrents do indeed exist and are as equally effective.
