Space and National Security Exam 2 Study
Why did Von Braun choose the Americans over the Soviets?
"We despise the French; we are mortally afraid of the Soviets; we do not believe the British can afford us; so that leaves the Americans.
What were the shortcomings of space support in the First Gulf War?
- Rigid Cold War-era systems were designed for national strategic missions and were not designed to support conventional users. - Jury-rigged arrangements to get space-based intelligence to the field. - Field commanders and space liaison officers did not know how to help each other.
Detente time period
1971 - 1979. Started deteriorating in 1975
When did GPS reach full operational capacity?
1995, 24 satellites. Led to precision-guided weapons and navigation systems.
What is the difference between USAAF Program 437 and US Army Program 505?
505 (surface-to-air missiles, Kwajalein Atoll) had a faster response time and 437 (Thor IRBMs, Johnson island) had greater range.
U-2 aircraft
A plane that flew at higher altitudes than what the Soviet fighters could reach. Temporary intelligence solution in the early 1950s.
What did the 2019 Missile Defense Review (MDR) entail?
Add more interceptors at Vandenberg and Ft. Greely, build an East Coast site to defend against Iranian missiles, develop a space-based component. None of these things have been done.
Space Control
Allowing friendly forces to use space while denying unfriendly forces from doing the same.
What strained US-Soviet relations after WWII?
Arguments about the administration of occupied territories (Germany, Eastern Europe, Japan, etc.) and international institutions (United Nations, World Bank, etc.)
UN resolution 1884
Bans the placement of weapons of mass destruction in orbit around Earth
What did Von Braun do in the United States after World War II?
Became a driving force in the US space launch program (NASA)
What events occurred around 1949 that made Eisenhower want information on the USSR?
Berlin blockade, Soviets testing an atomic bomb early, Mao Zedong winning the Chinese civil war, North Korea invading South Korea
Space Force Enhancement
Capabilities that enhance the performance of our terrestrial troops
Which administration explicitly stated that we do satellite reconnaissance?
Clinton administration
Why was the Soviet Union difficult to gather intelligence on?
Closed society and police state, large land mass, overflight was dangerous.
Network-Centric Warfare (NCW)
Command centers, sensors, and weapons connected on a space-based communications backbone.
Advanced Projects Research Agency (ARPA)
Created in 1958 to oversee all space programs. NASA was created to manage all civil space programs and conceal ARPA.
NRO
Created in 1961, used to oversee reconnaissance programs (National Reconnaissance Office)
Project Corona
Developed off of the WS-117L, shot pictures on chemical film and deorbited in canisters caught by aircraft. Publicly called Discoverer and was described as biomedical experiments to gather data for human space flight.
What missile defenses were discontinued and continued after the Cold War? (Clinton administration)
Discontinued space-based weapons (Brilliant Pebbles). Continued terrestrial-based missile defenses (PAC III, Aegis Ballistic Missile Defense System, THAAD)
What did Robert Goddard do?
Discovered that rockets work in a vacuum, launched the first liquid fuel rocket, published "A Method of Attaining Extreme Altitude." AMERICAN
What is RAND's main focus?
Doing studies to identify the space missions that would be done throughout the rest of the century
Uninhabited aerial vehicles (UAVs)
Drones. Used for reconnaissance, then strike operations.
WS-117L
Early Air Force satellite. Funding cut to make sure the IGY NASA satellite flew first.
EMP
Electromagnetic pulse, caused by nuclear explosions
Why was it beneficial to cancel anti-ballistic missile systems?
Enhanced stability induced by mutually-assured destruction.
FOBS
Fractional Orbit Bombardment System
GPALS vs. SDI
GPALS was a scaled-down version of SDI, but it was more ambitious in some ways (whole planet vs. just North America)
Which president after Reagan said that the US would return to the Moon and go to Mars?
George H. W. Bush
GPALS
George H. W. Bush's scaled-down version of SDI. Had the goal of defending the continental US against large-scale nuclear attack.
What nation originally had scientists interested in space travel in the early 20th century?
Germany (Walter Hohmann, Hermann Oberth). Russia followed in 1931.
What was Ronald Reagan's stance on ASAT weapons?
He did not want to ban them. He had an aggressive attitude about the Soviet Union.
What happened when President Kennedy took office?
He revealed that there was no missile gap between the US and the USSR. He also said that the US would put a man on the moon.
Space Force Application
ICBMs. Weapons systems operating in, through, or from space that are targeted at Earth targets.
Mutual Assured Destruction (MAD)
If one side launched a nuclear attack, the other side would retaliate, destroying both sides.
What changed about space policy during the Reagan Administration?
Increase in scope of space missions. Before Reagan, "national strategic" missions were the only missions supported. Reagan changed space policy to make it help conventional war fighting and defend US space capabilities.
What did the positive response to the moon race cause?
Increased funding for national security missions in space
What German Lieutenant Colonel was instrumental to developing German ballistic missile technology?
Karl Heinrich Emil Becker. Worked with Walter Dornberger.
Why was the US behind the Soviets in rocket science after WWII?
Less funding on rocket research during WWII, more focus on nuclear weapons, debates between the services on which branch should control what (Air Force independence)
Anti-ballistic Missile (ABM) treaty
Limited each side to two ABM sites: one near the capitol and one near ICBM fields.
Strategic Arms Limitations Treaty (SALT)
Limited the number of ICBMs, SLBMs, and SLBM-capable submarines. May 1972, Nixon and Brezhnev. Specified verification by "national technical means" (reconnaissance satellites)
What change did Reagan make to national space policy?
Made it more openly militarized. Following presidents continued this.
What message did Khrushchev share via Soviet propaganda after Soviet space race victories?
Marxist-Leninism is a scientific form of government and is the wave of the future. Eisenhower knew this was false but could not share this with the public without revealing military secrets. Lyndon Johnson and John F Kennedy criticized Eisenhower for this.
What kinds of weapons were produced in Peenemunde?
Messerschmitt (rocket-powered aircraft), Vergeltung cruise missile, V-2 ballistic missile
Where were German missiles assembled during World War II?
Mittelwerk (factory in the Hartz Mountains, used slave labor from concentration camps)
What was contained in the Trump Administration National Space Policy?
More substantial than the National Space Strategy. Return to moon in 2024, permanent moon presence in 2028.
Are conventional ASATs prohibited by the Outer Space Treaty?
NO
Did George W. Bush resume development of a space-based weapons capability?
NO
Is space a legal sanctuary from war?
NO
What did Gerald Ford sign the day before he left office?
National Security Memorandum ordering the US to develop a new US ASAT system
What happened after the USSR launched Sputnik I?
Nikita Khrushchev declared the USSR's right of freedom of space for satellite over-flight. Caused humiliation for US and "missile gap" fears.
What changes did Obama make to national space policy?
No major change other than moving emphases. Dropped references to missile defense. Prioritized commercial and civil space guidelines.
Did missile defense systems change significantly during the Obama or Trump administrations?
No.
Where did Werner von Braun do his German rocket research during World War II?
Peenemunde (Baltic Sea peninsula)
What happened in 1960 regarding USSR reconnaissance?
Pilot Francis Gary Powers (flying a U-2 recon aircraft) was shot down over the Soviet Union and Eisenhower was forced to cancel all subsequent flights after. The U.S. recovered the first film canister from a Project Corona satellite just a few months later.
What was the first RAND report?
Preliminary Design of an Experimental World-Circling Spaceship? (1946)
What was President Carter's stance on arms control?
Pro arms control. Wanted a comprehensive ban on ASAT weapons.
Baruch Plan
Proposed that the US relinquished control of atomic weapons to an international agency. Sponsored by Harry Truman
During detente, how did NASA survive?
Proposing the Space Transportation System (STS). NASA wanted to go to mars but Congress and President Nixon did not think it was worth it.
1967 Outer Space Treaty
Provides the basic legal framework for international space law. Does not prohibit states from putting conventional weapons in space or firing them through space.
What did Reagan do in 1985 that made Congress upset?
Ran a successful ASAT test during a temporary lapse in a Congressional ban on ASAT testing
Star Wars (Strategic Defense Initiative, or SDI)
Reagan's intention to develop systems to defeat ballistic missile attacks against the American homeland. Scientists thought it wasn't possible, strategists thought it would destabilize MAD, and Congress thought it would start a strategic arms race.
What was Robert Goddard's personality like
Reclusive and shy. He was very secretive about his work.
What was the priority for US space missions in the 60s?
Reconnaissance
Problem caused by the 1986 Challenger (STS) failure
Resulted in temporary loss of US access to space. Expendable boosters had been discontinued because of the STS program.
Advantages of the STS
Reusable launch system that would be a cheaper way to put satellites into orbit
Who was the father of modern rocketry?
Robert Goddard
Program 505 / project MUDFLAP
Rockets armed with nuclear warheads for ASAT purposes. Stationed in the middle of the Pacific Ocean
What inspired public interest in space travel in the early 20th century?
Science fiction novels (War of the Worlds, the Skylark of Space, A Daring Trip to Mars)
Why was the US Air Force losing intellectual firepower after WWII?
Scientists and engineers returned to private occupations after the war effort.
What did the Soviets do with the engineers that Von Braun and the US left behind in Mittelwerk?
Sent them to Kapustin Yar. Reconstituted V-2 production in Germany. These enginers were thrown back to East Germany in 1953.
Operation Fishbowl
Series of 5 high-altitude nuclear tests in 1963 using Thor missiles from Johnson Island. Very bad for the atmosphere, showed the effects of EMP
What did Eisenhower want to do with regards to the ownership of space?
Similar to maritime principle of freedom. Orbital space would be considered an international common that was owned by no one.
What caused detente to end?
Soviets invading Afghanistan in 1979.
Why did President Carter fail to ban ASAT weapons?
Soviets refused to dismantle their system because they thought the STS was an ASAT. Soviets wanted to limit the ban to just US and Soviet satellites so they could attack Chinese satellites.
What caused Truman to start to develop a Hydrogen bomb?
Soviets testing an atomic bomb in 1949, 5 years ahead of what the CIA predicted
STS
Space Transportation System
Air Force doctrine for US military space operations (1980s)
Space support, space force enhancement, space control, space force application. Air Force has only mainly done the first two.
Why were the Soviets more motivated to develop ballistic missiles than the United States?
Stalin was motivated to develop atomic weapons and systems to deliver them. Didn't have technology to build long-range bombers. The US had atomic weapons and bases around the USSR, as well as limited funding.
Describe the overall trend of funding for Peenemunde rocket research during World War II
Started with low funding because money went to war production. When Germany started to lose, Hitler wanted a secret weapon and provided more funding.
Space support
Support space infrastructure and capabilities that enable other mission areas
What did the Soviets do the year the Outer Space Treaty was signed?
Test unarmed FOBS vehicles.
What model is the Space Force on?
The "corps" model
What was the "First Space War"?
The 1991 Gulf War (Iraq invaded Kuwait). Satellite products designed to support national strategic missions were made available to theater commanders.
What treaty did George W. Bush withdraw from in 2002?
The ABM treaty. Blamed the Clinton administration for leaving the US unprotected.
Who set up Project Research and Development (RAND)?
The Douglas Aircraft Corporation approached Generals Arnold and LeMay.
What happened to Germany's rocket research in 1932?
The German army took control. Rocket-powered weapon development was not prohibited in the Treaty of Versailles.
What happened during George H. W. Bush's presidency that changed international relations?
The Russian Federation was seen as a friend instead of an enemy. Future adversaries would most likely be small-to-medium sized powers (North Korea, Iran, etc.)
What event in 1948 destroyed friendly US-Soviet relations?
The Soviet blockade in Berlin. Truman made policy guidance on atomic weapons
What initially prompted the US to develop ASAT systems?
The Soviets stated that the US flying spy satellites over the USSR violated the "peaceful purposes" condition and threatened to develop a fractional orbital bombardment system to deliver nukes from orbit.
What was the US response to the Un Ad Hoc Committee for the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (UNCOPUS) decision that freedom of space only existed for spacecraft on peaceful missions?
The US declared that all US uses of space were peaceful.
What nation did Von Braun decide to surrender to at the end of World War II? How did he hide weapon developments from the Soviets?
The United States. He took all of the important information from Peenemunde and hid it near Mittelwerk. He then told the US Army where the info was hidden.
How many rounds of ASAT ban negotiations did President Carter initiate?
Three. Helsinki 1978, Vienna 1979 x2
How did Eisenhower establish space precedence?
Took advantage of the public view on scientific research via NASA. Ran military operations under that disguise (good of mankind).
Ground-based Midcourse Defense system (GMD)
Two operational sites: Ft Greely AK, Vandenberg AFG, CA
Limited Nuclear Test Ban Treaty
US, UK, USSR. Banned nuke tests in the atmosphere, ocean, and space.
What was Truman's initial stance on US-Soviet relations?
Wanted to maintain friendly relations. Regretted the atomic bomb droppings and wanted to have the US relinquish control.
Who did Lieutenant Colonel Karl Heinrich Emil Becker choose to lead German rocket research in the 1930s?
Werner von Braun
Detente or Thaw
When two tense sides have interests in reducing tensions. Occured in 1971 with the US and USSR