‘Star Wars’

The Air Force claims that its June 21 laser-reflection experiment--bouncing a beam off the space shuttle Discovery’s mirror--was a “complete success.” Yet, in a way the Air Force could hardly have intended, the failure of its previous experiment inadvertently reveals how absurd is the dream that “Star Wars”--or SDI, if you wish--is going to provide a foolproof shield against nuclear attack.

For the June 19 attempt failed because a simple mathematical error caused the shuttle and its mirror to point in the wrong direction. Yet if “Star Wars” were to live up to President Reagan’s billing for it, such high-tech wonders as laser-reflection would have to be absolutely 100% reliable.

These tests should remind us that the possibility of simple mathematical error can’t be abolished by Hollywood wishfulness, even in its high-tech incarnation. There is no technological fix to the appalling proliferation of nuclear bombs. The proponents of the “Starry Dream” Initiative are the starry-eyed utopians. We old-fashioned proponents of nuclear disarmament are the realists.

TODD GITLIN

Berkeley