KOPPEL

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP88-01070R000301460002-4
• Release Decision: RIFPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: January 14, 2010
• Sequence Number: 2
• Publication Date: November 19, 1984
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

Approved For Release 2010/01/14: CIA-RDP88-01070R000301460002-4
ABC NIGHTLINE
19 November 1984
KOPPEL: All right. Gene Cernan, I, I'd like to take a look... And I'm not
going to ask-you to tell me, because you don't know either, what, what's gonna
happen at the beginning of next year, but tell us something about the-military
applications of the space shuttle. What kinds of things is it capable of doing
that is of use to the intelligence community and of use to the military
community? CERNAN: 'Ted, I, ah, I'm not sure. what's on that, ah, that shuttle
-flight next January-either. We can only assume, perhaps, it's a,.ah, it's a
high-altitude recon satellite of some kind. The shuttle has demonstrated,*
obviously... We've talked about the commercial impact. I believe the private
sector has to aid in the development of that commercial impact, ah, because of
the-high cost of getting into space. There's no question about that. But from,
the military point of view, I, I just don't believe now that we are
demonstrating a capability that we have in this new environment that, that
surrounds us, that we not only have access to, but we have capability within...
I don't, I don't think we as ,a nation can,. ah, can bury our heads in the sand
and can ignore. that. You know, the high ground is a, is a tremendous advantage
point, ah, ail, for any nation at any time, and I think now that we have the,
the
capability to utilize that high ground, whether it's for surveillance, to know
what's going on in some other part of the world for our own self-defense or our
own strategic welfare, that we oughta certainly use that. The Air Force is
gonna be developing a capability out of Vandenberg Air Force Base. I would
venture' to say that you: and I will know less about those flights, ah, as time
goes on, as we do about that flight in January. -
Approved For Release 2010/01/14: CIA-RDP88-01070R000301460002-4