Think Tank Warns Against Space Weapons Systems

Space.com ^ | January 22, 2004 | Tariq Malik

[hchutch]

Oh, where do I start?

First, the fact is right now, all we have in space are targets. Why? Because these things are primarily surveillance and communications assets. Not only are they targets, but they are HIGHLY VALUABLE targets. Why? It's because the satellites provide INFORMATION - the most valuable commodity in war.

Second, this is also a shot at an effective missile defense system. The ideal system would have layers capable of targeting ballistic missiles from launch through their final attack on targets. Some of those systems have to be in space to work best.

I could go on, but I need to keep my blood pressure down.

[Cincinatus' Wife]

.....our GPS satellites are already targets for our enemies. The Chinese will be sending Sinonauts into orbit, and perhaps militarizing space, whatever we do.

All those military and commercial satellites just circling above.

[Cincinatus' Wife]

First, the fact is right now, all we have in space are targets. Why? Because these things are primarily surveillance and communications assets. Not only are they targets, but they are HIGHLY VALUABLE targets. Why? It's because the satellites provide INFORMATION - the most valuable commodity in war.

Bump!!

[Cincinatus' Wife]

A base on the Moon would allow us to use the local resources for rocket fuel. With that capability, we could service and protect our assets in space - and venture further out into the solar system.

[Cincinatus' Wife]

Bumps!

[JimRed]

Don't announce it, just do it! Kind of like concealed carry. The first inkling that it exists should be when it performs its' function.

[Land of the Free 04]

Should the U.S. military "weaponize" space, the report states, it will most likely be affect global commerce, weaken American ties with other nations and eventually lead to space weapons proliferation as other groups develop countermeasures or their own space weapons systems.

It took a "think tank" to produce this leftie blubbering? Barbara Streisand is as deep a thinker.

[pawdoggie]

Henry L. Stimpson, as I recall, was Secretary of War under FDR and HST.

True, but even more significantly as regards this article, he was the former Secretary of State who shut down our fledling cryptologic (code-breaking) service in the 1920s on the grounds that, "Gentlemen don't read each other's mail". Is it ironic or appropriate that the organization bearing Stimson's name is carrying on his legacy of enhancing America's ability to defend itself?

[ThanhPhero]

If we "weaponize" space, other nations will rush to find counter weapons. If we do not weaponize space, then other nations will race to get the jump on us. We should weaponize space. It is much easier to counter others' efforts above the atmosphere if we already control that area. We dont need to be in the position of having to decide what to do when China threatens us with her orbitals and we dont have anything up there yet. If we do not "weaponize" space then others will see it as their opportunity to sandbag the only country standing in their way to global dominance.

[eyespysomething]

The guy I work with says:

The moon would be perfect for nuclear reactors, since the gravity is so low, if anything did happen, the fallout would just fall to the surface, plus people would already be wearing protection suits just to be there. Also, if the radiation went into space, then what? Nothing. If only we could figure how to get the energy here from there. Plus, lift off from the moon would be so incredibly easier because of the no atmosphere thingy going on at the moon.

His $.02

My $.02:
Enterprise (The newest Star trek) they leave from the Jupiter Base to leave our solar system, to boldly go where no man has gone before. We gotta get out there to get out there. Man is an explorer. We've explored the earth, now onward and upward.

[Cincinatus' Wife]

We've seen what China will do when we fly near their airspace. I don't doubt their intentions are space dominance.

[Cincinatus' Wife]

That's .04 more in the kitty.

Bump!

[Cincinatus' Wife]

The first inkling that it exists should be when it performs its' function.

Unless you have some bonehead LIBERAL in the WH.

[Cincinatus' Wife]

Bump!

[Poohbah]

Henry L. Stimpson, as I recall, was Secretary of War under FDR and HST.

He was a Republican. Served as Secretary of State for Hoover. His most famous quote was his pious statement when he closed down the State Department's cryptanalysis shop: "Gentlemen do not read each other's mail."

[steve8714]

We could better spend all those billions here on Earth, to find a cure for AIDS and save butterflies.

[jpl]

Now that the old Soviet Union is gone, they're rooting for China to assume world domination, the last great Communist hope.

[He Rides A White Horse]

But a new report warns that too much of a space military presence, mainly the use of space-based weapons systems, may inevitably cause more problems than they're meant to solve

Especially if the enemies of freedom get there first.

[Atlantic Friend]

Bah, the Think Tank's argument is, in itself, counterproductive. They say America must not put weapons in space because other countries would follow. How exactly would America refraining from putting weapons in space compel the other interested countries to show the same restraint?

It didn't work with the submarines, it didn't work with the atom bombs...how on Earth could it work with space-based weapons ?

[hchutch]

Of course, when Japan launched the sneak attack, he had no problem with the notion any longer...

And in fact, nobody thought of acting like a gentleman when a certain admiral's travel plans were intercepted and decoded. Instead, a guy named Tom Lanphier proceeded to avenge Pearl Harbor.