Occasionally I find myself on a new kick. Studying, absorbing, learning all about a topic with high intensity as quickly as I can. The upside is that the knowledge influences future ideas, the downside is that I forget 99% of the important stuff in short order. Last winter I was on a mainframe kick. In the matter of only a couple weeks I had sketched out designs for building my own relay computer, optimized operator controls, calculated cost estimates, worked out an instruction set, read tomes of interviews with computer pioneers, even discovered, and read, cover-to-cover, the operating procedures for the UNIVAC computer system. And for a little while, should I have been dropped into 1955, I could've taken the helm and started warm-up procedures on the mercury memory tanks of such a beast. But like I said, I forget 99% of this stuff. Little good is does me now.
A quick stroll through the Rod Library the other night accidentally ignited a renewed interest (I tend to return to some of these topics every now and then). I caught the back cover of a 50-year old magazine touting BMEWS. If ever there was a winning acronym, that'd be it! Ballistic Missile Early Warning System. It was the first system to detect potential nuclear attack from the Soviet Union from long range ballistic missiles, scanning the skies over the north pole from three different global installations, all scanning, processing and reporting back information to Cheyenne Mountain, CO. Truly a feat, and to read stories of those that worked on the project, quite impressive. The system went on line in '59 and also served to track satellites. As the Cold War progressed, so did technology, with the Soviets creating low-orbit weapons that could target the US from the southern hemisphere. BTW, if you do any reading up on BMEWS, you'll quickly discover the "Moon Alarm incident" which I find, for some strange reason, terribly interesting. On October 5th, 1960, the moon rose line of sight with the Thule installation radar signal. Alarms sounded and tracking data indicated a potential threat from the skies, though no impact prediction reports were generated. The two other installations online confirmed there was no threat. What had happened was that the moon itself had reflected the tracking signal, returning it in a 2 second round trip. Once understood, modifications were made to prevent a recurrence. Any threat of this incident sparking WW3 is pretty slim.
But, where am I going with this Cold War ramble? I don't think many people realize how close we came to a total nuclear halocaust. And not just once, but an alarming number of times, and I’m not talking about anyone losing their head and pressing the button. It would be several years before something seemingly obvious, like a Hotline to Russia, was established. If you're like me, you'll find some of the incidents assinine, some of it unbelievable, but of course, hindsight is 20/20. You might also realize, that no matter how invincible you or I may occasionally feel. We really are not in the driver's seat. These incidents arose with an understanding of the technology, and a temperance of control. Today we have countries coming into nuclear power without a 60-year social learning curve, and in some cases, with an agenda that mutually assured destruction may be a good thing.
Of course, if you're like me, the price of gas weighs heavier on your mind than whether we'll get nuked tomorrow. In 2008 such things can't happen…right?
Stay tuned.
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