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Article: THE NEXT SPACE RACE THIS FALL, CHINA WILL LAUNCH ITS FIRST MANNED SATELLITE INTO ORBIT. FOR THE UNITED STATES, THIS IS A THREAT - AND AN OPPORTUNITY.
- Article from:
- The Boston Globe (Boston, MA)
- Article date:
- February 23, 2003
- Author:
CopyrightCopyright 2003 The Boston Globe. Provided by ProQuest LLC. (Hide copyright information)
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"QUICK ALERT! " SHOUTED Air Force Captain Roger Cutshaw. "Secure
all unclassified lines! "
An early-detection satellite had just spotted an unscheduled
rocket launch inside China. Cutshaw was the ranking officer on duty
at the space control center of the North American Aerospace Defense
Command-better known as NORAD-inside Cheyenne Mountain. It was a few
minutes before 10 o'clock in the morning, Colorado time, this past
Dec. 29.
Six other people were in Cutshaw's small room. They scrambled to
identify the unknown object and track its flight path, glaring at
monitors and tapping at keyboards. If this were a missile, they would
need to know its trajectory as soon as possible.
As it turned out, ...