6,500 Scientists and Engineers Pledge No Work on ‘Star Wars’
More than 6,500 scientists and engineers, warning that President Reagan’s “Star Wars” defense proposal will endanger arms control agreements, pledged today not to participate in research on the program.
The pledges, including those of 15 Nobel Prize winners, were presented at a Capitol Hill news conference to Rep. George E. Brown Jr. (D-Colton), a leading congressional critic of the President’s Strategic Defense Initiative, commonly called “Star Wars.”
The concept envisions a defensive space shield against Soviet missiles, and Reagan has called for a massive research program to develop the satellite, laser and other technologies needed for the new system.
Brown said the “pledge of resistance” by researchers from schools across the country “represents one of the most compelling statements yet made against” the President’s plan.
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