Yearbook of Science and the Future 1980 [antikvár]

(Overleaf) An advanced space weapons system in low Earth orbit intercepts a volley of intercontinental ballistic missiles in mid-trajectory with a focused beam of neutral hydrogen. In the background one of a fleet of killer satellites closes with a second particle beam weapon and explodes, incapacitating its target with a shower of metal fragments. It is late 1981. A U.S. space shuttle orbiter maneuvers into position 250 km (150 mi) above the Earth. Its crew listens intently as a low mechanical whine confirms the opening of the shuttle's white clamshell payload bay doors to the blue-black vacuum of space. Then, like the leg of a giant insect, the slender remote manipulator arm of the orbiter extracts an ungainly piece of cargo called Teal Ruby from the bay and releases it in orbit. A real-life drama of the near future, this action will signal the first military application of the shuttle transport system. Teal Ruby is a prototype satellite designed for low Earth orbit to detect infrared radiation emitted by the engines of strategic bombers and other aircraft flying within the Earth's atmosphere. First mission-oriented flights with the shuttle will be nonmilitary and will begin in 1980. Running as many as 60 flights per year, this space workhorse not only will be capable of lofting 30,000-kg (65,000-lb) payloads into orbit but also will be able to return with as much as 14,500 kg, enabling satellite recovery in space for repair, refurbishing, and reuse. Eventually the stubby delta-wing orbiter will become the cornerstone for a U.S. space defense effort in the face of growing threats to its spacecraft from Soviet weapons. The space shuttle is also the mechanism that will enable the U.S. Air Force and Army to take advantage of technological revolutions in the areas of electronic sensing, onboard computing, and exotic weaponry capable of destroying enemy spacecraft and intercontinental ballistic missiles (icbm's). When coupled with a laser communications system now being tested, such technology will move the U.S. to the threshold of an adventure in space as imaginative as the Apollo flights to the Moon were a decade ago. The shuttle system will replace today's single-use, expensive launch vehicles to position satellites in low Earth orbit routinely for communications, timely high-resolu- tion reconnaissance, and electronic eavesdropping and to park early warn- ing spacecraft and defensive space weapons for boosting to more distant orbits. To meet these growing needs, the Air Force is planning to establish a major new Space Command and expects to begin a military man-in-space program in the 1990s. CLARENCE A. ROBINSON, JR., is Senior Military Editor for Aviation Week & Space Technology magazine, Washington, D.C. Illustrations by John Youssi Importance for peace During the past decade the U.S. and the U.S.S.R. have so increased their dependence on military satellites in space that such devices are now the first line of defense. They act as the eyes and ears of the two nations to assure adherence to strategic arms limitation treaties limiting the development, testing, and deployment of nuclear weapons. Without these satellites, re- ferred to euphemistically as "national technical means of verification," there could be no agreement on limiting strategic nuclear weapons. Without reconnaissance spacecraft each superpower would be virtually deaf and blind to the other's military preparations. Early warning satellites provide an alert for a nuclear attack and the necessary time to trigger a return strike to assure mutual destruction. It is upon this tenet that world peace now rests: either side will inflict unacceptable damage on the other regardless of which possesses the advantage of surprise. In 1978 U.S. Pres. Jimmy Carter signed a directive to guide the conduct of U.S. activities in and related to space programs. He confirmed that the