KYLE.WBST@PARC-GW.ARPA (03/24/84)
RE: MONDALE AND SPACE: I CAN SHED SOME PERSONAL LIGHT ON MONDALE AND SPACE. THE FOLLOWING DOES NOT REFLECT THE VIEWS OF MY CURRENT EMPLOYER. THESE ARE MY PERSONAL OBSERVATIONS. ALSO THE ALL CAPS IN THIS MESSAGE RESULTS FROM USING MY APPLE II AT HOME TO SEND THIS. IN THE EARLY 1970'S SEVERAL OF US WHO HAD DESIGNED SYSTEMS ON THE APOLLO PROJECT WERE ASKED TO JOIN A SPACE ADVISORY COMMITTEE TO THEN SENATOR MONDALE TO HELP HIM BETTER UNDERSTAND THE POTENTIAL OF THE SHUTTLE (THIS WAS RIGHT AFTER THE OFT QUOTED ANTI SHUTTLE STATEMENT OF HIS). WE WROTE SEVERAL POSITION PAPERS TO ILLUSTRATE THE BENEFITS OF THE SYSTEM RANGING FROM BIOMEDICAL APPLICATIONS TO COMMUNICATIONS FOR THE THIRD WORLD. I GOT THE IMPRESSION THAT HE WAS CONVINCED AND CHANGED HIS NEGATIVE ATTITUDE FROM BEFORE TO ONE THAT WAS ADMITTEDLY NOT OVERLY ENTHUSIASTIC, WAS AT LEAST BALANCED ON THE SUBJECT. IN LATE 1979 ( A FEW WEEKS BEFORE THE IRANIAN TAKEOVER OF OUR EMBASSY) I WAS AT THE WHITE HOUSE VISITING CARTER AND MONDALE AND SEVERAL CABINET MEMBERS. IT WAS A BIG FLAP DAY IN THAT WORD HAD JUST COME IN THAT PRESIDENT PARK OF SOUTH KOREA HAD JUST BEEN ASSASSINATED, AND THE SOUTH AFRICANS HAD REPORTEDLY SHOT OFF A NUCLEAR DEVICE IN THE SOUTH INDIAN OCEAN OFF THE COAST OF AFRICA. MONDALE MENTIONED TO ME THAT THE INFO RE: THE SOUTH AFRICAN A-BOMB HAD COME IN FROM SENSORS ON A SPY SATELLITE THAT DETECTED FLASHES THAT HAD SPECTRAL RESPONSE AND DECAY TIMES CHARACTERISTIC OF NUCLEAR EXPLOSIONS AND NOT NATURAL CAUSES SUCH AS LIGHTNING. IT WAS CLEAR TO ME THAT HE WAS CONCERNED ABOUT THE SKETCHINESS OF SUCH INFO FROM UNMANNED SENSORS, AND UNDERSTOOD THE BENEFITS OF MANNED SPACE STATIONS IN SUCH SITUATIONS. I'M NOT NECESSARILY PRO-MONDALE, BUT MY PERSONAL EXPERIENCE WITH HIM SUGGESTS TO ME THAT HE IS AN INTELLIGENT PERSON WHO IS WILLING TO LISTEN TO ALL SIDES OF AN ARGUMENT. IF YOUR SIDE MAKES SENSE TO HIM , HE WILL CHANGE HIS MIND. THEREFORE, I WOULD NOT WRITE HIM OFF AT THIS POINT JUST BECAUSE HE MADE SOME ANTI SHUTTLE COMMENTS MANY YEARS AGO. HOPE THIS SHEDS A LITTLE MORE LIGHT ON THE SUBJECT. NOW I WOULD LIKE TO HEAR FROM SOME ONE OUT THERE WHO KNOWS A BIT MORE ABOUT HART. HE'S THE ONLY ONE I REALLY DON'T KNOW ANY THING ABOUT AT ALL ON THE SUBJECT OF SPACE SUPPORT. EARLE (EX SPACE FREAK) KYLE.