MILITARY ASTRONAUTS A NEW BREED: JANE'S

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP90-00845R000100570001-4
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: June 10, 2010
• Sequence Number: 1
• Publication Date: September 26, 1984
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2010/06/11: CIA-RDP90-00845R000100570001-4
- 7 1 1 r7 n ~. ^.
M
CHICAGO TRIBUNE
26 September 1984
STAT
Military astronauts a new, breed: Jane's
LONDON [AP]-The United
States is developing a new breed of
military astronauts because
generals fear that superpower skir-
mishing in space is "almost inevita-
ble' in the next 25 years, said the
new Jane's Spaceflight Directory
published Tuesday.
Although the U.S. is ahead in
space technology, "the Russians
have been far more energetic and
successful in applying the technolo-
gy that they possess," editor Re-
ginald Turnill said in an introduc-
tion-to the 311-page directory.
The directory is produced by
Jane's Publishing Co., which issues
military yearbooks that are con-
sidered highly authoritative by the
defense establishment.
Turnill said the formation of
space commands by the U.S. Air
Force and Navy reflected growing
concern about increased military
activity in space. "The belief
among U.S. defense chiefs that in
the next 25 years contests in space
are not only possible but almost
inevitable, have led to the setting
up of the new USAF Space Com-
mand," he said.
IN A RADIO INTERVIEW Tues
day, .he said that means fierce
superpower competition and techno-
logical skirmishing, rather than-
outright space battles, as the U.S:
and the Soviet Union jockey for the
"high ground" above the Earth..-
"The feeling is that contests..-
rather than war, are likely. And `,
this sort of thing has already begun;
of course, with the superpowers
pushing and shoving one another upp
there in space,'' Turniil
said, "There's some indication that
possibly the Russians have inter-?
fered with one or two U.S. satellites
used for reconnaissance or spying'
purposes."
He wrote in the directory that the
National Aeronautics and Space Ad-'
ministration's "tradition of an open-
space program is being steadily"
eroded by the addition of secret
control rooms at the Kennedy and
Johnson Space Centers, and by
pressure for a separate military
fleet of space shuttles."
The long-term aim is to form the
"new breed of military astronauts"
among NASA's 77 space travelers
into 'a separate team who will
nurse their secrets," flying shuttle
craft "to and from the inevitable
manned military reconnaissance
platforms," Turnill said.
BUT HE SAID THE Soviets ap-
pear to be winning the second space
race-to build a manned station
above the Earth."The . battle for
space-based laser weapons is
settling down to be grimmer and
much more expensive than the race
to the moon 20 years ago," he said.
Cin L1.S. intellip n so ~rces~
h vi able -to
ace high-energy laser weapons in
orbit ii The U.S. does not
expect to do hat. until 1989.
Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2010/06/11: CIA-RDP90-00845R000100570001-4