From: utzoo!decvax!cca!Miller@YALE@sri-unix
Newsgroups: net.space
Title: The Shuttle and the Military
Article-I.D.: sri-unix.1620
Posted: Thu Jun  3 07:28:12 1982
Received: Fri Jun  4 04:59:57 1982

From:    David Miller 

It  would  seem  to  me  that  any  space  launch  vehicle  is extremely
vulnerable to anybody who doesn't like it.  The  only  thing  that  kept
all the  Mercury,  Gemini, and  Apollo  missions  from being attacked is
that they were not legal military targets, and had  they  been  attacked
the attacker  would  have  been  looked  upon with extreme disfavor from
all of the remaining international  community.   Now  that  the  Shuttle
is being  used  for  military  missions, it is giving up that protection
...and it could therefore become vulnerable to  attack.   One  does  not
need a  cruise  missile  or  killer  satellite to destroy the shuttle, a
person with a high power rifle can do an adequate job.

If the DoD is going to endanger the space program  in  this  way,  I  am
curious what  steps  they  are  taking to add new protection; is it soon
going to be illegal to park outside the Cape and watch a launch?
                                           --Dave
                                           (miller@yale)
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