Broadcast 886 (Special Edition)

Guest: Mike Moore. Mike Moore was the guest for this Space Show program to discuss his new book, "Twilight War: The Folly of U.S. Space Dominance." We started our discussion by asking Mr. Moore to give us the premise of his book as well as a working definition for what might constitute a space weapon. This is a very interesting discussion. As you will hear, common sense and logic both play a fundamental role in how one defines a space weapon, since almost anything can qualify as a weapon just like here on Earth. Mike does a terrific job of cutting through the chaff on this issue, making it clear what can rationally be considered a weapon. The subject of operationally responsive space came up and we talked about approaches to defending space assets and supporting the war-fighter in combat. I shared with him my understanding of the need to quickly launch with lots of replacement satellites and other assets. This would probably be the best way to defend space-based assets rather than trying to use weapons to defend those assets. Again, this is a good discussion and you will want to hear how Mike sees the situation. We also spoke about how many in the military view space dominance and space weapons. In addition, we talked about pitfalls of a space dominance policy and how it can drive nations to conflicts. Here, a listener asked about the Chinese ASAT test last year being a result of the changes President Bush made to our National Space Policy. Mike did not believe that was the case, but you will want to hear the full discussion on this issue. Mike brought up the treaty that other nations want to create which would go further with banning space weapons than our current treaties we now have in force. We learned that the U.S.and Israel consistently block these new treaty efforts. We also learned that this has been a policy of administrations of both parties. It's not one party or the other. Eventually during the program, we defined the problem as being directly associated with national security and defense, thus it becomes harder to see space dominance as a separate issue. We also talked about this issue becoming a political in the near future. Visit the Independent Institute website for more information about Mike Moore and his book, www.independent.org/. Mike wrote a Space Review article on Jan. 28, 2008 and you can find it on The Space Review website at www.thespacereview.com/article/1049/1. If you have comments, questions, or feedback for Mike Moore, please email him at m-smoore@socket.net. I urge all of you to buy his book and learn about this subject. It's important and has the potential to shape our space-faring future one way or the other. We need to be informed about this issue.