Somehow, I doubt it...Keith Johnson [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:
Hell, I guess we need Gary Seven to drop an orbital nuclear weapon on China, blowing it up at the last moment! Think we'll get the message then?
-Original Message-From: scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Brent WodehouseSent: Friday, May 20, 2005 19:29To: scifinoir2@yahoogroups.comSubject: [scifinoir2] Scientists Warn Against Weaponizing Spacehttp://www.space.com/news/ap_050520_space_weapons.htmlScientists Warn Against Weaponizing SpaceBy Nick WadhamsAssociated Pressposted: 20 May 2005UNITED NATIONS (AP) - A scientists' group on Thursday warned the UnitedStates against weaponizing space, saying the move would be prohibitivelyexpensive and could set off a new arms race.The Union of Concerned Scientists, a watchdog group that opposes weaponsin space, said the United Nations should consider
drafting a treaty thatwould prohibit interfering with unarmed satellites, taking away anyjustification for putting weapons in space to protect them."The United States has a huge lead in the space field - it can afford totry out the multilateral approach,'' said Jonathan Dean, a former U.S.ambassador and an adviser on global security issues.The Union's demand comes as the administration of President Bush isreviewing the U.S. space policy doctrine. Some scientists worry that thereview will set out a more aggressive policy that could lead to thegreater militarization of space.On Wednesday, White House spokesman Scott McClellan told reporters thatthe policy review was not considering the weaponization of space. But hesaid new threats to U.S. satellites have emerged in the years since theU.S. space doctrine was last reviewed in 1996, and those satellites mustbe protected."There are changes that have occurred over
the last eight or nine years,and there are countries that have taken an interest in space, McClellansaid. "And they have looked at things that could - or technologies thatcould - threaten our space systems. And so you obviously need to take thatinto account when you're updating the policy.''The Bush administration has also included some money in the budget forspace-based weapons programs to defend satellites, strike ground targetsand defend against missile attacks, said Laura Grego, a scientist with theunion.Any complete weapons system in space would be very expensive, running intothe many billions of dollars. Developing a shield to defend against asingle missile attack would require deploying 1,000 space-basedinterceptors and cost anywhere between $20 billion and $100 billion, saidDavid Wright, a union scientists and co-author of a recent report on thefeasibility of space weapons.And such a system would require
a huge expansion of U.S. launchingcapability. The United States currently launches between 10-12 largerockets a year, while with space interceptors, it would need to launchmany times more that each year.Wright argued that space-based ground attack systems were not yetpractical either. One, dubbed "Rods from God'' - which would fire rods oftungsten from space - would cost 50-100 times as much as a similar attackfrom the ground."The fact that it's still being considered I think suggests that there'ssome sort of emotional attachment to it for putting weapons in spacerather than a hard-nosed analysis,'' Wright said.Any such move would also likely draw swift international condemnation. In2002, after the United States withdrew from the 1972 Anti-BallisticMissile Treaty, China and Russia submitted a proposal for a newinternational treaty to ban weapons in outer space.But the United States has said it sees no need
for any new space armscontrol agreements. It is party to the 1967 Outer Space Treaty, whichprohibits stationing weapons of mass destruction in space."Excuse me while I whip this out."Cleavon Little , "Blazing Saddles"__Do You Yahoo!?Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com
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