however, such a space mirror could be used to melt icebergs
and alter temperatures."[14] Another reputable German scientist who has
been working for a number of years on photon (electromagnetic ray) power
as a source of propulsion, declares that if such power is possible so is
"the idea of a 'death ray,' a weapon beam which burns or melts targets,
such as enemy missiles, on which it is trained. The idea has been
familiar in science fiction for a long time and has been scorned often
enough. Yet, if the photon rocket is possible so is the ray gun."[15]

Still another proposal, one made to the Congress, involves use of the
Moon as a military base. "It could, at some future date, be used as a
secure base to deter aggression. Lunar launching sites, perhaps located
on the far side of the Moon, which could never be viewed directly from
the Earth, could launch missiles earthward. They could be guided
accurately during flight and to impact, and thus might serve peaceful
ends by deterring any would-be aggressor."[16]

In spite of the fact that ideas such as these are being sponsored by
competent and responsible scientists, other scientists equally competent
and responsible sometimes cry them down as impractical, impossible or
even childish. One engineer, for instance, describes maneuverable manned
space vehicles as having "no military value," bases on the Moon as
having no military or communications use, and the idea of high velocity
photon-power for space travel as "a fantasy strictly for immature
science fiction." He also characterizes the reconnaissance satellite,
which U.S. military authorities have long since programmed and even
launched, as being "definitely submarginal * * *. A fraction of the cost
of a reconnaissance satellite could accomplish wonders in conventional
information gathering."[17]

Controversies such as these are difficult for the person who is neither
a scientist nor a military expert to judge. One is inclined to recall,
though, the treatment received by General Billy Mitchell for his
devotion to nonconventional bombing concepts; the fact that the utility
of the rocket as developed by America's pioneer, Dr. Robert H. Goddard,
was generally ignored during World War II; the fact that it took a
personal letter from Albert Einstein to President Roosevelt to get the
Manhattan Project underway.

Yet today the bomber, the missile, and the nuclear weapon form the
backbone of our military posture.

In other wo