May 15, 1987: The Soviet Skif-DM launches from Baikonur.(www.buran-energia.com)
From Air And Smithsonian:
It sounds like something from a James Bond movie: a massive satellite, the largest ever launched, equipped with a powerful laser to take out the American anti-missile shield in advance of a Soviet first strike. It was real, though—or at least the plan was. In fact, when Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev walked out of the October 1986 summit in Reykjavik, Iceland, because President Ronald Reagan wouldn't abandon his Strategic Defense Initiative, or SDI, the Soviets were closer to fielding a space-based weapon than the United States was. Less than a year later, as the world continued to criticize Reagan for his "Star Wars" concept, the Soviet Union launched a test satellite for its own space-based laser system, which failed to reach orbit. Had it succeeded, the cold war might have taken a different turn.
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My Comment: As a person who had to live through the long debate on the U.S. SDI program, this article makes my blood boil. The protestations and denunciations that we had to go through during this time .... as well as the lies from the Soviet Government against SDI (their lying should never be a surprise to anyone) .... and to now know this news.
My prediction .... the only news outlet that will publicize this story is the Air And Smithsonian Magazine .... and that's it.
yeah, to bad we didn't spend even MORE money on something we'd never use.
ReplyDeleteAll that effort and treasure wasted on school lunches, roads, the internet, flu shots, the list goes on and on.