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Link – Exploration Causes Weaponization
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- [____] A new Exploration program will be used to weaponize space – the money will benefit defense contractors.
Link – Exploration Causes Weaponization[____] [____] Almost any space activity can be used to military advantage. Even peaceful deployments in space well be seen as our rivals as an attempt to weaponize.Jeremy Hsu, writer for Space.com. 5/05/2010, “Is a New Space Weapon Race Heating Up?”, SPACE.com, http://www.space.com/8342-space-weapon-race-heating.html “Space has been militarized since before NASA was even created," said Joan Johnson-Freese, a space policy analyst at the Naval War College in Newport, RI. Yet she sees weaponization as a different issue from militarization because "so much space technology is dual use" in terms of having both civilian and military purposes, as well as offensive or defensive use. Such uncertainty regarding space technology can make it tricky for nations to gauge the purpose or intentions behind new prototypes, including the X-37B space plane or the HTV-2 hypersonic glider. The U.S. military could even be using the cloak of mystery to deliberately bamboozle and confuse rival militaries, according to John Pike, a military and security analyst who runs GlobalSecurity.org. He suggested that the X-37B and HTV-2 projects could represent the tip of a space weapons program hidden within the Pentagon's secret "black budget," or they might be nothing more than smoke and mirrors. The devil is in the details Many existing space technologies play dual roles in both military and civilian life. The Global Positioning Satellite (GPS) system which started out as military-only has since become common in consumer smartphones and car navigation systems. Modern rocketry grew in part from the technology and scientific minds behind Nazi Germany's V-2 rockets of World War II, and continued to evolve alongside ballistic missile technology. Even something as basic as a satellite image can be used for either military weapons targeting or civilian crop rotation, Johnson-Freese said. Space plane technology can seem equally ambiguous ? the Air Force deputy undersecretary of space programs scoffed at the notion of X-37B paving the way for future space weapons. "The whole issue is further complicated because beyond technologies like lasers, Rods from God, explosives, etc.... virtually any object traveling in space can be a weapon if it can be maneuvered to run into another object," Johnson-Freese told SPACE.com. Uncertainty matters a great deal for how other nations view the recent U.S. space plane and hypersonic glider tests, regardless of whether or not the technologies lead to future weapons. "They are testing capabilities that could certainly be useful to the military if it chose to use them in an offensive manner," Johnson-Freese said. "And the military has been silent on intent." Intrigue and deception Pike said the current work under way by the U.S. military leaves plenty of room for misinterpretations or even outright deception, which could be a ploy to distract other nations with military space projects. Link – Exploration Causes Weaponization[____] [____] Because the U.S. acts alone, it is seen as going back on Obama’s strategy of international cooperation and his commitment to peace in space. Marcia A. Smith, Space and Technology Policy Group, 02/2011 Space Policy, Vol. 27, Issue 1, p. 22-23, Reality is that we don’t fight alone, we don’t deter alone, we don’t assure alone. Everything is done in partnerships. Everything is in coalitions. We [think we] have to have the only capability; we have to fill every rung on the ladder with the best capability in the world. We can’t afford it, nor can we do it. There are other very capable nations out there very willing to partner up. We’ve got to make sure that our strategy is inclusive. You cannot afford to do everything yourself. We are not an island [4]. Thus, a major thrust of the new US policy is working together with like-minded countries in using space and treating space as a global commons for which all are responsible. 2. Implementing the new policy A policy, of course, is just words on paper the real point is how it is implemented. But perception is key and the Obama policy clearly wants to convey that the USA is willing not only to talk, but to listen, and to find mechanisms for ensuring space sustainability. In a real sense implementation will have to happen on an international basis. If other countries do not agree that space sustainability is a critical need, the USA cannot do it alone. “Sustainability” has become the keyword and while it is not defined in the policy, that means all the stakeholders will have the opportunity to discuss what it is and what is needed to achieve it. Non-US policy makers may have as much influence on the implementation of these aspects of the policy as their American colleagues. Europe already deserves a lot of credit for its draft Code of Conduct for Outer Space Activities. A revised version was released at a meeting at the UN in October 2010 [5]. [____] A new Exploration program will be used to weaponize space – the money will benefit defense contractors.Richard C. Cook, former NASA analyst and frequent contributor to Global Research, 1/22/2007, “Militarization and The Moon-Mars Program: Another Wrong Turn in Space?” Global Research, http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=4554 The way NASA has started its new moon-to-Mars exploration program, the October 2006 White House announcement of a new national space policy, and subsequent statements by the State Department raise grave concerns about whether a new push to militarize space has begun. Events are pointing to an aggressive extension of U.S. supremacy beyond the stratosphere reminiscent of Reagan administration actions in the 1980s. Then it was the militarization of the space shuttle and the start-up of the Strategic Defense Initiative—"Star Wars"—which were gaining momentum until space weapons technology testing halted with the space shuttle Challenger disaster. To date, the principal beneficiary of the moon-Mars program is Lockheed Martin, to which NASA awarded a prime contract with a potential value stated at $8.15 billion. Already the world’s largest defense contractor, Lockheed Martin’s stock yielded an instant bonanza, rising more than seven percent in the five weeks following NASA’s August 2006 announcement. NASA is not paying the giant of the military-industrial complex $8.15 billion to have people hop around and hit golf balls on the moon. The aim of the moon-Mars program is U.S. dominance, as suggested by NASA Administrator Michael Griffin’s statements that "my language"—i.e., English—and not those of "another, bolder or more persistent culture" will be "passed down over the generations to future lunar colonies." Directory: wp-content -> uploads -> 2011 2011 -> Voices of the Old Sea Norman Lewis 2011 -> Malevil Robert Merle 2011 -> The Elephant Keeper’s Children Peter Hoeg 2011 -> Jv packet •Mars Colonization Affirmative •Mars Colonization Negative 2011 -> Registration Form (Rev. 8-86) omb no. 1024-0018 2011 -> All America Looks Up to Virginia;” Virginia and the Declaration of Independence 2011 -> Rao bulletin 2011 -> Christopher Columbus was born between 25 August and 31 October 1451 in 2011 -> The Battle of Frenchtown (1855), Washington Territory: the Political and Demographic Context rev 9/4/11 2011 -> The harmony society Download 2.75 Mb. Share with your friends:
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