Behind Bush's push for the stars

by Kate Hudson

Alarm bells are already ringing over President Bush's latest 
space plans, with his announcement that the US is going beyond 
its current vision of world domination to space. This will 
involve establishing permanent bases on the moon and landing 
astronauts on Mars.

The spin that Bush places on these developments harks back to the 
idea of bravely pushing the frontiers of space in the noble cause 
of science and human progress, but behind this supposed "renewed 
spirit of discovery" is an alarming subtext of both military and 
commercial interests.

Space exploration and rocket technology have always been 
inextricably linked with missile military development ever since 
Werner Von Braun and his team took their V2 missile technology 
from Nazi Germany into the US space program.

Part of the new proposals that Bush has outlined is likely to be 
a nuclear rocket known as Project Prometheus, named after the God 
of Fire.

This would halve the amount of time that it would take to reach 
Mars, but according to peace activists the project would have 
military applications as well and is a dangerous, unproven 
technology.

And, according to the organisation Global Network Against Weapons 
and Nuclear Power in Space, "The military has long eyed the moon 
as a potential base of operations as warfare is moved into the 
heavens."

Again, this reinforces what we read about in the US strategy 
document Vision 2000, which refers to "full spectrum 
military dominance" on land, sea, air and in space.

Surely Bush's recent proposals are bringing this horrifying 
scenario closer than ever. Commercial interests are strongly to 
the fore here, too. The moon also happens to have an abundant 
supply of helium-3, an isotope that is rare on the earth and is a 
possible energy replacement for fossil fuels.

As reported in the New York Times in December last year: 
"When fusion reactors start coming online, lunar entrepreneurs 
may stand to make the kind of money their predecessors raked in 
during the gold rush and the oil boom".

This potentially adds a whole new terrifying dimension to the 
notion of resource wars if they are to be carried into space.

But attempts have been made to stop space becoming just another 
commercial and military battleground. For example, the UN 
introduced the Moon Treaty and the Outer Space Treaty as ways to 
prevent ownership, exploitation and war fighting beyond our own 
planet.

However, as Leeds Metropolitan University Professor Dave Webb 
explains, "The US never signed the 1979 Moon Treaty and estate 
agents are already selling plots of land [on the moon] to US 
citizens."

The question of the costs of these new initiatives is of great 
concern within the US as the country faces record deficits. The 
White House claims that the project will not require major 
spending increases in the short run, but initial estimates of the 
cost of a mission to Mars suggests around US$1 trillion over the 
next decade or so.

As the organisation Scientists for Global Responsibility argues, 
such a large sum of money could be put to much better use. "It is 
larger than the estimated increase in global aid necessary to 
provide clean water for all, eliminate hunger and malnutrition 
and provide universal literacy."

Few would argue against scientific advance and exploration, but 
the questions of motives and priorities are crucial. Take for 
example the US missile defence program. It is clearly 
contributing to new nuclear arms race and heightening global 
tensions.

As if that isn't bad enough, it also costs nearly US$10 billion a 
year — the cost of providing clean water for all — with an 
eventual total cost of over US$1 trillion.

We are better informed than ever about what is going on in the 
world — about the real motivations and interests that lie behind 
government policies and military strategies. It is absolutely 
clear what these space developments are about, no matter how they 
are dressed up.

So, let us keep on with our campaigning and keep space for peace 
and the world for the peaceful fulfilment of real human needs.

* * *

Kate Hudson is chairwoman of the Campaign for Nuclear 
Disarmament (CND), Britain.