world. Moreover in 1979, Russian forces invaded Afghanistan and overcame the
local Mujahedeen defence, which was strongly supported by Washington.
25
Reagan promised to return America to its role of world leader. He made a commitment to restore the same momentum that fuelled the Apollo mission to the
Moon years earlier. Early on, he declared that “absolute leadership in space is a
fundamental objective for the US”.
26
NASA immediately stopped the joint Apollo-Soyuz project, and the political
tensions between America and Russia returned to the early post-WWII level,
plunging the world back into a state of fear. During a NATO summit,
27
French
President Francois Mitterrand compared that current political situation to the one
seventeen years earlier, when Moscow had directed its ICBM’s towards Cuba.
Reagan called the Soviet Union “the evil empire”,
28
and Yuri Andropov, General
Secretary of the Communist Party, replied that the US President was irresponsible,
a liar, and even insane.
29
The Russian press compared Reagan to Hitler,
30
and he
replied calling Andropov the evil Darth Vader from the movie Star Wars.
31
All
these declarations were certainly media exaggerations, but they revealed a real
mutual distrust and deep adversity.
On March 23, 1983 during a dinner at the White House, Ronald Reagan
announced his intention to build a star shield around the Earth to intercept and
destroy all Soviet ICBM’s before their arrival on American soil, making the
nuclear threat “impotent and obsolete”.
32
But since the star shield was clearly a
military project, the President also needed to propose a great civil space program
so that America would not be seen as pursuing space exploration for military purposes only.
NASA Administrator James Beggs therefore proposed to Reagan to build a
large orbital outpost around the Earth, warning that:
When President Kennedy decided to go to the Moon, we took a path that led
us to global leadership; then President Nixon, against the wishes of many,
continued our commitment by approving the space shuttle. Nowadays and in
25
https://history.state.gov/milestones/1977-1980/soviet-invasion-afghanistan.
26
White House, National Security Decision Directive Number 42. 1982. National Space Policy.
In “Exploring the Unknown” by J. Logsdon.
27
Alarcón, Antonio. 2013. French and US Approaches to Foreign Policy. Palgrave Macmillan
Publisher, 25.
28
The “Evil Empire Speech” from the Ronald Reagan Official Home Page: President Reagan’s
Speech to the House of Commons, June 8, 1982.
29
https://www.nytimes.com/1983/03/27/world/andropov-says-us-spurring-race-strategicarms-excerpts-interview-page-14.html.
30
Wilson, James. 2014. The Triumph of Improvisation: Gorbachev’s Adaptability, Reagan’s
Engagement, and the End of the Cold War. Publisher Cornell University Press.
31
Idem
32
http://www.reagan.utexas.edu/archives/speeches/1983/32383d.htm.
46 Rocket Man: From The Space Shuttle to the International Space Station
local Mujahedeen defence, which was strongly supported by Washington.
25
Reagan promised to return America to its role of world leader. He made a commitment to restore the same momentum that fuelled the Apollo mission to the
Moon years earlier. Early on, he declared that “absolute leadership in space is a
fundamental objective for the US”.
26
NASA immediately stopped the joint Apollo-Soyuz project, and the political
tensions between America and Russia returned to the early post-WWII level,
plunging the world back into a state of fear. During a NATO summit,
27
French
President Francois Mitterrand compared that current political situation to the one
seventeen years earlier, when Moscow had directed its ICBM’s towards Cuba.
Reagan called the Soviet Union “the evil empire”,
28
and Yuri Andropov, General
Secretary of the Communist Party, replied that the US President was irresponsible,
a liar, and even insane.
29
The Russian press compared Reagan to Hitler,
30
and he
replied calling Andropov the evil Darth Vader from the movie Star Wars.
31
All
these declarations were certainly media exaggerations, but they revealed a real
mutual distrust and deep adversity.
On March 23, 1983 during a dinner at the White House, Ronald Reagan
announced his intention to build a star shield around the Earth to intercept and
destroy all Soviet ICBM’s before their arrival on American soil, making the
nuclear threat “impotent and obsolete”.
32
But since the star shield was clearly a
military project, the President also needed to propose a great civil space program
so that America would not be seen as pursuing space exploration for military purposes only.
NASA Administrator James Beggs therefore proposed to Reagan to build a
large orbital outpost around the Earth, warning that:
When President Kennedy decided to go to the Moon, we took a path that led
us to global leadership; then President Nixon, against the wishes of many,
continued our commitment by approving the space shuttle. Nowadays and in
25
https://history.state.gov/milestones/1977-1980/soviet-invasion-afghanistan.
26
White House, National Security Decision Directive Number 42. 1982. National Space Policy.
In “Exploring the Unknown” by J. Logsdon.
27
Alarcón, Antonio. 2013. French and US Approaches to Foreign Policy. Palgrave Macmillan
Publisher, 25.
28
The “Evil Empire Speech” from the Ronald Reagan Official Home Page: President Reagan’s
Speech to the House of Commons, June 8, 1982.
29
https://www.nytimes.com/1983/03/27/world/andropov-says-us-spurring-race-strategicarms-excerpts-interview-page-14.html.
30
Wilson, James. 2014. The Triumph of Improvisation: Gorbachev’s Adaptability, Reagan’s
Engagement, and the End of the Cold War. Publisher Cornell University Press.
31
Idem
32
http://www.reagan.utexas.edu/archives/speeches/1983/32383d.htm.
46 Rocket Man: From The Space Shuttle to the International Space Station