What Was the "Star Wars" Program?

Reagan became a Jedi and taught Bush the force. Just kidding, we're talking about nuclear war today.
Music by No Sustain
/ @nosustain74

[@choninja21]

A book about this was the only "Star Wars" book in my elementary school library.

[@wilholm8399]

ayy

[@tommymaxey2665]

that's sad

[@happyflygon8096]

Lesson: School doesn't like fun.

[@patrickilmoni9380]

Do you happen to remember what it was called ?

[@choninja21]

The Star Wars if I'm not mistaken

[@NikolaiNochnoiTV03]

Meanwhile the USSR must be developing their "Empire Strikes Back" program.

[@lennylocker7863]

NikolaiNochnoiTV03 I’ve been laughing for 3 minutes now 😂

[@xaviersaavedra7442]

This will be countered with "The return of the Americans"

[@seanslawson98]

Xavier Saavedra yeah and the Russia will be the Phantom Menace

[@redpotato2282]

Empire? DOWN WITH THE ARISTOCRACY

[@aviet8520]

*Union Strikes Back

[@FootLettuce]

"It's over Soviets, we have the high ground." Said Obi-Gan Reanobi

[@christopher9727]

Romans 6:23 For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. Come to Jesus Christ today Jesus Christ is only way to heaven Repent and follow him today seek his heart Jesus Christ can fill the emptiness he can fill the void Heaven and hell is real cone to the loving savior today Today is the day of salvation tomorrow might be to late come to the loving savior today John 3:16-21 16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. 17 For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. 18 He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. 19 And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. 20 For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved. 21 But he that doeth truth cometh to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest, that they are wrought in God. Mark 1.15 15 And saying, The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye, and believe the gospel. 2 Peter 3:9 The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. Hebrews 11:6 6 But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him. Jesus

[@Xeon897]

Legit thought this was gonna be about the Star Wars franchise... I already know what the space defense program thing was...

[@wilholm8399]

ayy

[@SupahFox24]

Ayyy

[@jaskapenttila7644]

ayy

[@kfcnyancat]

lol fail

[@RyujinNoKami]

The DEATH STAR

[@Zeldaschampion]

War. War never changes...

[@US395Official]

It will

[@Zeldaschampion]

The Everlasting Gaze Once the war robots are made.

[@US395Official]

Zeldas Champion beep boop

[@DocWolph]

Actually its always changing. But the goal never changes: "Crush your enemies, see them lie dead before you, hear the lamentations of their women."

[@w.a.r4856]

+DocWolph Stop talking about me.

[@mememabon4059]

U M.A.D Bro? - kill me

[@ferbthe2gadgetguy]

Yes. But i don't want to kill you if you're just going to kill me. Why don't you just stand behind your line and i would stand in mine?

[@jeffdaprodoesstuff1969]

LMMDN Of Narnia LOL

[@mememabon4059]

Giga Phoenix "You know my methods, Watson."

[@ferbthe2gadgetguy]

kelly wilson whitehead *Points at you* He has a gun *launches a nuke at everyone else*

[@ocbee6175]

LMMDN Of Narnia puts nuke on Davy Crocket. K. Fires Nuke.

[@JeffrevinYT]

"Who would _strike first?"_ "What happens when somebody _strikes back?"_ 1. Han shot first! 2. The Empire Strikes Back The subliminal messages though..

[@neongray7959]

I was looking for this comment

[@autofox1744]

The USSR took the threat of SDI seriously enough that, in 1988, they attempted to launch a prototype school bus-sized satellite equipped with a megawatt carbon-dioxide laser into orbit. Called Polyus, the purpose of the satellite would have been to shoot down SDI satellites in the opening phase of a large-scale nuclear strike. Unfortunately - or fortunately - the satellite's booster malfunctioned after separation from its Energia heavy-lift launch vehicle, and it did not achieve a stable orbit, reentering the atmosphere over the South Pacific and burning up.

[@caav56]

IIRC, there wasn't even an actual laser aboard the Polyus, because it was so rushed to launch (also the reason for glitch, which made Polyus deorbit itself).

[@ericwilson6994]

I'm 9, upside down, inside out, and one minute ahead of time d 6 I M M I 6 + 1 minute. MI6 has the capacity to fold space and time back upon itself up to one minute out. Therefore, all your Russian missiles miss -SOURCE 'enemy combatant' 'prisoner of war' 'your cell' make up paint operating acting 'it all ends in Peru' Jedi

[@SpoopySquid]

Still less terrifying than Jar Jar Binks

[@clayface7118]

To be honest I thought this had to do with the Death Star that was going to be built but denied by Obama...

[@germanempireball617]

icu8some2 same I'm surprised you even remembered that... not many people do

[@SuperKittenator]

he denied this one too the program was ended by Obama

[@germanempireball617]

icu8some2 R.I.P Americans Death Star

[@romulusnuma116]

+Darth sidiuse66 Thanks Obama

[@Nugcon]

same

[@araposkulo]

So Reagan wanted to make an anti-nuke Deathstar? No wonder it was called "Star Wars" :p

[@monkofdarktimes]

This is why we need some anti nuclear missile

[@wenrredoctober1980]

have you heard of the patriot missile?

[@avengermkii7872]

Or dismantling our nuclear weapons. What's the point of having it if we can't even use it without destroying ourselves and the planet?

[@wenrredoctober1980]

im not for sure but what I do know is that nuclear weapons are honestly the worst thing that happened to the world

[@dingdingdingding5544]

Yeah but ICBMs are too fast, sorry

[@buckeyeinblack]

Ever heard of Anti Ballistic Missiles? Actually escalated the Cold War.

[@goldiz1978]

I saw actual footage of these lasers in operation on the Military Channel back in the 1990s. They worked really well, with one bright green flash of light and an Intercontinental ballistic was vaporized instantly. Why they discontinued this highly effective program is a mystery..

[@wolverinexo6417]

They probably didn’t lol

[@NathanTowles]

Most likely because it would be hella expensive to get things like that into orbit

[@koyashorrween2380]

"Discontinued"? Thats what they want us to think.. effective weapons are good even if it costs alot. More like a top secret that leaked out.

[@lucwenbourne2337]

They didn’t dude I doubt it

[@2hotflavored666]

Ludicrously expensive.

[@2710cruiser]

Man... I was expecting you to open this episode with the iconic Star Wars text scroll

[@sandsbelowstory396]

*looks at the title* This was the military's secret project to make the clone wars

[@Milkynaomi1]

lmao, imagine if it actually happened

[@SaturnVII]

It was an attempt around the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty and not only was it illegal because of the reasons you mentioned, it was irresponsible because it was in effect a mission to be able to win a nuclear war. Which is madness.

[@Mrtroop-bd3xu]

I understand that it would be madness to try to win a nuclear war but I mean I would want to

[@Kraigon42]

So I just came across you by accident, but you've really grabbed my attention with just two videos.

[@stoltheds7698]

fun fact about the two first pictures of things in space in this video: 1st is Apollo-soyouz, first space cooperation between the US and USSR.(perfect choice here, I guess) 2nd isn't a satellite. it's a progress cargo, going to the iss

[@dmitriyparfenov]

SDI never happened, but "Dead Hand" project was successfully implemented in USSR and is still in service today in modern Russia. It`s Russian name is "Perimetr".

[@jackbrandon2787]

Love the Dr Strange Love reference

[@MrGiygas1]

Where was that reference?

[@jackbrandon2787]

The picture of the man riding the atomic bomb lol.

[@TheGuyThatsNotFunny]

Me: *looks at the comments* "ThIS iS hOw sTaR wARs wAS bOrN" Me: *cries in German Sturmtruppens*

[@jackau08]

The problem is that today, one nation think it can win a nuclear war...

A real life Hammer of Dawn sound awesome

[@Hellhound23691]

+Nico Hussa Gears of War reference...

[@clowntrooper61]

That was also a great game. That twist blew my mind

[@Bonolovesme]

Did you forget the part in Gears where they obliterated the planet surface for empty results?

[@archeyburger4722]

The soviet program is called "Perimeter", and it still exists

[@99batran]

That's actually a interesting alternate history. What if we, as a people, have the force? It would be interesting to think about Reagan being some sort of Jedi (if we ever invent them in that timeline)

[@josephstalin8423]

I remember my history teacher teaching us about Duck & Cover. He said, "In a scenario of a Nuclear war, you must duck, cover and kiss your ass goodbye because you gonna end up dead".

[@librarianseth5572]

Your name and PFP make this both better and worse

[@VicodinElmo]

The fact that there were numerous close calls (due to human error) in the Cold War destroys the MAD argument. The avoidance of Able Archer was sheer luck.

[@fuy65h45]

How Star Wars was born US : WE NEED TO PREVENT NUCLEAR FALLOUT! 5 hours later... US : You know what. Let's make a movie because we have nothing else to do.

[@ShneekeyTheLost]

Oddly enough, we're very close to a ground-based anti-missile system which Regan dreamed of. They are working on a variant of the M109 to fire hypervelocity projectiles to shoot down ICBM's. There's also some advancement in railgun technology, although that hasn't panned out to anything useful just yet. There's also a new anti-missile system using lasers in development, but requires a larger power budget than the new Gerald R Ford class supercarrier that was supposed to be using it.

[@ericwilson6994]

I'm 9, upside down, inside out, and one minute ahead of time d 6 I M M I 6 + 1 minute. MI6 has the capacity to fold space and time back upon itself up to one minute out. Therefore, all your Russian missiles miss -SOURCE 'enemy combatant' 'prisoner of war' 'your cell' make up paint operating acting 'it all ends in Peru' Jedi

[@ricktator1418]

Video Idea: History of Military Training among state armies. Like from just handing a conscript a musket and teach him how to shoot and march, to the modern 21st century military training.

[@tanimationchannel4951]

Reagan's idea would be insane, insanely expensive and insanely awesome

[@flaviusbelisarius7517]

The way this was described to me a few years ago made it sound like a death star

[@Jaydee-wd7wr]

We watched this in class today and I had this sudden sinking feeling of, “Damn, I watch Cody for fun, I’m pretty sad aren’t I”

[@gl1500ctv]

Strategic Defense Initiative for those who were teens during that era understood they just wanted to make a real-life Missile Command (tm) video game. Shoot down the incoming missiles with your own proximity detonated missiles. They even included MIRVs in the video game! I think the game was from 1982, so I wonder if it was just natural for the government to say "hey, that might work!" Not to mention 1984's "Real Genius" movie, short version, put a satellite in orbit with a 5 megawatt laser, and a mirror tracking system to effectively shoot anything on the planet. SDI included this network of satellite laser platforms in the concept. I believe the US Air Force has something very similar (but firing from an aircraft instead of a satellite.) Neat how fiction and research/development seems to follow each other...

[@af_1283]

I've never been this early before...

[@wilholm8399]

ayy

[@af_1283]

(Slow claps)

[@subjectnamehere3023]

+MurderMongoose I've seen it coming...

[@vitosalmeri326]

2:03 nice DR. STRANGELOVE reference

[@dankdark974]

My Dad worked on that project way back when, and said it was actually feasible before they cancelled it. I mean he was working for a private contractor working on smaller parts of the operation, but things were still going along quite well

[@CapnJigglypuff]

Only Soviets deal in absolutes.

[@silentwitness5957]

I heard about something called, "The Rods of God"... Is that suppose to be the successor to the "Star Wars" program without nuclear weapons?

[@caav56]

No. SDI is a network of anti-ICBM space-based weapons, designed to destroy the after they launch. Rods from God is a tactical kinetic bombardment system, designed to attack planetary targets.

[@jupiterjaeden9163]

The US (and other countries) already have several anti-ballistic missile (ABM) programs in progress and completed. While many are for short or medium range missiles (for example, THAAD), some, like the Ground Defense Initiative are directed at shooting down ICBMs and have shown success in the prototype stage. Of course, at this point these programs have no chance of stopping 1000s of ICBMs, but the potential for ABM systems is real.

[@alexthepotato]

Okay I literally just learned about this in my US History class 13 hours ago and this video piped up in my recommended... WHAT IS THIS SORCERY

[@samuelcarver1343]

I watched this in history class

[@warrcoww6717]

Space lasers aren't a bad idea though, after all a super-heated laser can destroy most any projectile, but back then it would've been to experimental and expensive

[@acey195]

I'm pretty sure the picture at 3:29 is a rendering of the Soyuz capsule docking to the Apollo capsule in a joint test in 1975, which makes it maybe a bit weird in the context.

[@Sevv9220]

Sir, can you do a video on exo-skeleton development for both military and civilian functions?

[@Brassard1985]

The legacy of the SDI definitely lives on. The SDI is the reason why the Department of Defense and the Department of Energy continue to invest so heavily in basic science research. Federal funding was poured into many critical scientific and engineering disciplines like high-energy physics and supercomputing as a result of SDI, and this is the reason why the DOD and DOE continue to do basic research in these areas.

[@gh0sts630]

5:20 Cody: Tungsten based projectiles.... Me: Don't you mean "Rods From Gods"

[@JakobM325]

exactly what I thaught of when I heard it (a "realistc" concept of a not nuclear superwapon (kinetic Energy weapon actually)

[@_yellow]

New video idea: Watch the Norwegian world war two drama movie "Kongens Nei" (The King's No) what if the king said yes? What the kings answered 'no' to is kinda complicated, so check wikipedia or imdb to find out.

[@taylorbeckett9686]

My teacher was no Reagan fan.. but he said that if the US government made such a defense, they wouldn't let enemies know about it.

[@treyspencer1659]

May not have come true but we spooked the shit out of the soviets

[@mistertwister2000]

"What happens when somebody strikes back?" Like, say, *T H E E M P I R E?*

[@akemap4]

Loved the reference of doctor strangelove. Yee haw

[@shanejones7906]

SDI was intended to be a long term project, not a system to be built overnight.

[@UNYEILDING]

A counter to the SDI program would have probably been a high altitude nuke blast that EMPs the satellites. Leap frog the blasts forward until the defense net is disabled then follow with full attack.

[@clyax113]

I had a teacher's father get offered the equivalent of approximately a $300,000 annual salary in today's money to work as a scientist in the Star Wars program. He turned it down saying essentially "I can't be responsible for all of those people that can be killed from this project. Whether or not it was a defense project, just the idea that something that powerful in orbit can exist would scare any scientist away.

[@manfromnantucket9544]

I'd like to see you cover George Orwell's dystopian world of 1984. See if it can actually hold it's own in one timeline or another.

[@jamilahrazzaq8780]

SDI would have been interesting had it come to fruition!

[@stephenwright8824]

A big product of SDI was the Patriot Antiballistic Missile System, as used in the first Gulf War, to more hype than its effectiveness later warranted.

[@hotdogfingerz9674]

Two uploads? A gift by the gods.

[@SRVRCRSHR]

D-Double upload... THE ALTERNATE HISTORY GOD CODY HAS BLESSED US TODAY!!!

[@leosypher9993]

Alternate history idea - What if the U.S. was the only country to develop nuclear weapons, or perhaps it just took the Soviets as long as north Korea (and every other country as well even though they don't correspond) I really want to see this

[@jimparsons6803]

I lived through this era and I sort of recall the play by play. Reagan's come back consistently seemed to be the notion that because of the way that the US was set up, there were loads and loads of 'highly educated,' 'back yard experimenters' who would 'likely, any minute now, any minute,' come up with some sort of 'devastating and cheap to produce weapons' that would 'obliterate the USSR.' And Gorbachev's shorts got filled with bricks... My question was to the effect (because I lived through those times and am an eye witness of a sort): was this before or after the checks had been signed by Uncle for those "matching funds?" A bluff and a yawn. Yadda.

[@filip9587]

I always loved and will love the Star Wars trilogy!! #StarWarsforever

[@JojoWolfcat]

What a fabulous video by a fabulous person.

[@tommykarrick9130]

I honestly feel like humanity has to either develop a defense program to stop any approaching nuclear weapon and install it all over the world, or face the inevitability of our world ending in nuclear flames

[@blankmantm2501]

I'm guessing this is what RoboCop was referencing to when they mentioned a Star Wars Peace Platform that accidentally fired

[@nathanoliver9237]

What about Israel's iron dome

[@Arocks-lj8qr]

Nathan Oliver the iron dome can only theoretically destroy a nuclear missile, yet alone cause no damage. The iron dome has a success rate of 90% and is made for small to medium sized missiles, not the ones that carry warheads, and also, Israel only recently gave the secrets of the iron to dome to the US, almost 20 years after the cold war

[@Hellhound23691]

Israel is also much smaller than the US.

[@speedy01247]

try to protect the 4th largest nation on earth from nuke's then protect all her allies who would probably realize the suddenly even more real possibility of instant demise. (because one of the people in the nuclear stand off just lost their reason not to shoot)

[@Keinlicht]

Hasn't been tested against something moving at orbital speed, and even if it were 90% effective there would still be massive damage from the ones it missed

[@dmitrybelogub7104]

+Nathan Oliver Soviet warheads are far much faster and comlicated than scud missles(hypersound evasive maneuvers, false warheads etc).

[@tonyyoung8477]

Ship Based Laser weapons are already coming into existence on Naval Ships, they're capable of destroying missiles as the rise above the horizon, 'Star Wars" lives on!

[@ConnorNotyerbidness]

ive talked to several people about reagan and theyll all bring up the star wars program as if it was crazy and they thought it was to build a death star. not understanding it meant just stellar warfare in general

[@Suzaku455]

What if through failing Soviet equipment believed an American first strike was happening only for the Star Wars defense to completely destroy and prevent Soviet nukes from exploading?

[@martincouturier7368]

If you could do an episode on the dust bowl thing that went down in the thirties that'd be great. Your channel is awesome please don't stop

[@Idontknowwhattoput876]

You soud an awful lot like alternate history hub

[@ga-america5030]

two minutes till midnight comes to mind

[@mrcountdowncity1006]

Tungsten projectiles? Kinetic bombardment? What of they made it look like a giant 6 shooter in space?

[@julez2106]

Yee haw :D Love those funny sequences,they make you videos even better!

[@redeye3869]

You should do a video on "what if SDI actually happened/ probably funded "

[@redeye3869]

-properly- (sorry, typo)

[@mikemesser4326]

Why "probably"? SDI is now becoming feasible. I'd say about 5 years off. Just depends on how much funding the program got. Plus there is the cost of launching the system into orbit. (I do mean a fully re-usable system.

[@FlowerBoyH]

we aready got ti BOI ITS HAPPNENG gen 2 lazer defense systems are coming kzbin.info/www/bejne/qqq4mZKuiM-pjrM the military is currently working on devoloping gen 2 lazer defense systems to shoot down incoming projectiles hmmm sounds alot like sdi to me

[@mrsmith2876]

MagenticArcanine they never really stopped working on it, just took awhile because of budget cuts and technology. I mean the US Navy just built an aircraft carrier that within it's lifetime will mount a Laser CWIS. Also we have a functioning railgun and and the USAF has an unmanned reusable space plane.

[@mitchellbrown5846]

So how feasible would it be now? It has been 30 years.

[@CassesVultus]

We can shoot down intermediate range missiles with some reliability but we still have no defense against ICBMs. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terminal_High_Altitude_Area_Defense

[@tinderminder7106]

Damn description, we all knew star wars was real

[@jedirevan7593]

Not mentioned was that this technology was decades away from even being possible. Or that after 9/11 there were people talking about restarting the program, as if we weren't spending enough on war already.

[@1571JohannesKepler]

Actually it is implied. But many of the technologies and equipments needed for the Apollo program didn't exist when Kennedy announced it. That's why it involved a crash program to develop them.

[@josephwodarczyk977]

Something that I find absolutely hilarious about this is that the promo video was animated by Lucas arts. They made the actual star wars.

[@grillmadeofrecycledgrenade3197]

Reagan became a Jedi and taught Bush the force. Just kidding, we're talking about nuclear war today. This may be the greatest thing ever written.

[@cfltheman]

Reagan and Bush would have been Siths.

[@TheRealEasyA]

Alternate History vid: What if the Stars Wars program was successful?

[@Jamie-kg8ig]

My great grandfather actually worked on SDI.

[@dionakgamer7769]

It was biggest prank in the history

[@enviousgaming3250]

ha ha i loved your fail safe reference you threw in

[@fallowfieldoutwest]

lol 2:03 Dr. Strangelove reference

[@jacobluna305]

My Uncle worked for NASA during the Cold War and helped develop the "Star Wars" Program, so ask me anything about this plan and I'll give you an answer from an actual scientist who was developing laser defenses.

[@SuperWalshBros]

You should do a Q and A video on the subject.

[@odysseyvoyager2354]

alright... was there anyway the Soviet Union could have possibly taken down the system? I know they planed on doing a military version of the Soyuz but it never happened.

[@omar.v]

What temperatures did it reach and how much was the expected cost of the gain medium?

[@lelagrangeeffectphysics4120]

how many warheads were they hoping to intercept without running out ammo, costs of the program, reaction time. im seeking to know those questions.

[@lelagrangeeffectphysics4120]

or running out of energy

[@Fingrek]

Dead hand sounds like Requiem stand

[@-noplangaming-9268]

Aliens come and wonder why our only defenses are pointing at earth

[@goyonman9655]

I Prefer this KnowledgeHub to the new one

[@rubym357]

Very good, BUT I can argue with points regarding the formation of the program and the causes of the USSR's collapse. The Star Wars program was just that, a PR campaign masterminded by Bush I (VP at the time) and Cheney (Secretary of Defense) who was taking advantage of Reagan's early onset Alzheimer's. Anyone with two working brain cells knew that what happened in Hiroshima and Nagasaki on a global scale would result in human civilization's demise, which means they would be dead and their families wouldn't be rich anymore. As for the USSR the catalyst fort its destruction was Chernobyl. Their resources were running dry, their tech insufficient, and economically propping up smaller communist regimes (like NK and Cuba) were cumbersome, they were now responsible for Soviet deaths and radiation poisoning of parts of both sides of the European Iron Curtain. Hence Perestroika and Glastnost under Gorby.

[@touta.matsuda]

This station is now fully operational!!!

[@Ozzy_Helix_]

the star wars program to oversimplify it was a giant anti-nuke shield around the U.S that went nowhere

[@mirandadavis1653]

The Dr. Strangelove cowboy hat reference >>>

[@joshuabinkley9864]

Love the duck and cover cartoon at the beginning. OH wait, no I don't because it reminds me of that STUPID song.

[@chrisdionela]

Meanwhile the new U.S Space Force: *laughs in laser beam sounds*

[@user-ro9zf9kz1h]

30 YEARS LATER, Ground Base Interceptor, THAAD, SM-3, Partiot 3.

[@Quacktum]

My great grandfather worked for project Star wars

[@Duke_of_Lorraine]

The only winning move is not to play

[@delson7522]

I got a star wars blade builders ad.