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From: al@ames.UUCP (Al Globus)
Newsgroups: net.space
Subject: Space for Peace
Message-ID: <554@ames.UUCP>
Date: Tue, 9-Oct-84 20:55:56 EDT
Article-I.D.: ames.554
Posted: Tue Oct  9 20:55:56 1984
Date-Received: Fri, 12-Oct-84 06:44:01 EDT
Organization: NASA-Ames Research Center, Mtn. View, CA
Lines: 31

I have the beginings of a plan that I believe could make a real dent in
the warlike tendencies of the human race.  It's based on the assumtion,
supported by our experience during Vietnam, that if people see REAL WAR
in their livingrooms on a daily basis they will be less likely to fight
one.

First element:  three direct broadcast satellites with TV coverage of
the entire globe and enough power to overcome jamming (say, 100 Megawatts).
Expensive, but feasible.

Second element:  Portable tv cameras that can communicate directly with
the satellites.  Remember that the enormous power of the satellites reduces
the power requirements of the cameras for communication.  These cameras
are carried by hand, or on remote piloted vehicles (used by Israel to waste
Syria), or on long endurance aircraft (such as the one Lockheed is building),
or on low Earth orbit satellites.  In any case, they take pictures of
the wars going on and ship the images to the satellites for editing and
broadcasting.  People will watch as examination of the news shows indicates.

The thing is that war, John Wayne style, is a wonderful thing.  People have
been conditioned to regard war as a noble endevor for millenia.  The real
facts of matter, however, is that war is miserable, boring, painful, and
deadly.  If this point was brought to everyones attention in the form
of direct observation of the actual conduct of war, I believe that it
would be much more difficult to whip people into war fever.

This system will not work if star wars is built.  The critical communication
satellites will be knocked out by one or both of the super powers.  If
the system was in place today, however, it would be essentially unstopable
since no weapon system is capable of taking out satellites in geosynchronous
orbit.