Sep 1 1968
From The Space Library
In Baltimore Sun William J. Perkinson warned against "A Czechoslovakia In Space." He said experts explained U.S. and other free-world nations "must insure that future Russian leaders will never be able to blackmail nations or whole continents of nations into submitting to the will of such Soviet leaders the way the leaders of the Kremlin forced Czechoslovakia to yield through the invasion of that country on the night of August 21." By marrying technology of "spook," or hovering, satellite with that used to produce MIRV and by use of more powerful rockets, "it would be possible to launch truly 'orbiting men-of-war' that could be used far more effectively to cow any nation than the most powerful of gunboats were able to do in the days of 'gunboat diplomacy.' " Blackmail might not occur, if arms limitation treaties granted each nation right to board and inspect all heavy satellites in orbit "But even that right would have to be backed up by means of spacecraft and spacemen capable of exercising that right. That . . . is why the invasion of Czechoslovakia is certain to spark new interest in manned space flight" (B Sun, 9/1/68, 3)
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