"What makes greater sense is to shift the focus of the world powers from the production and sale of weapons to the exploration of the oceans and space. This shift requires the kind of courage and vision that is sadly lacking among our political leaders," declares Quintana. "But the longer we ignore these opportunities, the greater is the risk of losing the very freedoms we value so much."

In his stimulating new work, Danny Quintana reviews the background of our present policies and then offers bold new prescriptions for exciting new changes.

EXCERPT FROM DANNY QUINTANA'S MARTIAN PEACE

CHAPTER 10: Planets, Oceans, and Defense Contractors

"We set sail on this new sea because there is new knowledge to be gained and new rights to be won, and they must be won and used for the progress of all people. For space science, like nuclear science and all technology, has no conscience of its own. Whether it will become a force for good or ill depends on man."
--President John F. Kennedy
Rice University, Houston, Texas
Sept. 12, 1962

The main reason we do not spend more on planetary and ocean exploration is lack of political will. The capability is clearly there. Our country's defense contractors can build anything and they do not want to blow up the world. In fact, the executives of these large public companies want what other executives want--revenue growth and increasing market share. A major world war with millions of global casualties will not help any of these companies. The motivation for these executives is the same as for investors. They just want to make a buck.

It is not a bad thing that investors and public companies want to make money. This keeps people employed, goods and services circulating, and economic activity humming. The top 100 defense contractors enjoy the benefits of an expanding market and a friendly administration. Life is good. And the money flow is heavy.

These companies are multi-market business enterprises that can engage in a host of business activities. Lockheed Martin is a prime example. In addition to being the premier defense contractor on the planet, they also make products for space exploration. In their own words:

Lockheed Martin Corporation is a customer-focused, global enterprise principally engaged in the research, design, development, manufacture and integration of advanced technology systems, products and services for government and commercial customers. The Corporation's core business areas are systems integration, aeronautics, space and technology services. The Company's Systems Integration segment engages in the design, development, integration and production of electronic systems for undersea, shipboard, land and airborne applications. Space Systems is engaged in the design, development, engineering and production of commercial and military space systems. Aeronautics designs, researches and develops, produces, and supports combat and air mobility aircraft, surveillance/command, reconnaissance, platform systems integration and advanced development programs. Technology Services provides information management, engineering, scientific and logistic services.²

Lockheed is one of NASA's largest contractors. At times they will team up with other major defense contractors to accomplish incredible projects, like the Space Shuttle.

Human Exploration and Development of Space: The Space Shuttle is the cornerstone of this priority, and United Space Alliance (USA), a joint venture between Lockheed Martin and The Boeing Company is responsible for the day-to-day operations and management of the Shuttle fleet. USA's responsibilities include Shuttle processing, launch and recovery. In addition, USA supports NASA through Shuttle mission planning, software development, payload integration, as well as astronaut and flight controller training. Since the first Shuttle flight in 1981, Lockheed Martin has supplied NASA with the External Tank which holds fuel for the orbiter's main engines.³

The Boeing Corporation manufactures planes for our airlines and those of various companies worldwide. The company also produces missiles for our strategic weapons program and manufactured the giant rocket engines that took men to the moon.

The advantages of space and ocean exploration can best be seen in the context of our own lives from our own experiences. All of us old enough to remember certain international events can remember where we were when Kennedy was shot, when they landed on the moon, the ending of the Vietnam War, the Challenger explosion, the Gulf War, Clinton's impeachment, and September 11th. We remember these events because people were emotionally affected and it was clearly something that did not happen in the usual course of our lives.

Presidents do not get shot every day. At age six, I was playing with my friends in the woods near my village in northern New Mexico. My relatives were all crying. Kennedy was dead. We were all wondering if there would be a world war. Would bombs be dropped on the United States? Irrational as these fears were we did not understand why such a horrible act could occur.

From the comfort of age and distance, we realize that time passes so quickly. A mere six years later, it is a hot summer night and I am sleeping over at my cousin Tony's house in Tooele, Utah. At age twelve it is early in the morning and the television cameras have Walter Cronkite narrating the importance of this event. We all remember Neil Armstrong's words, "One small step for man, one giant leap for mankind." And a new era was supposed to begin for humanity. We all grew up flying model rockets that would be launched high into the sky and parachute back to the ground. We were going to be astronauts.

The Vietnam War was in full force, students were protesting, politics were being discussed, and people were dying. Debates were raging on why Communism must be stopped. And poor young men were dying. I remember the race riots and the incredible prejudice from being a brown face in a white town and a white school. Funerals for the troops that "fought for their country" were difficult. The priest would talk about honor and service. I just saw a young Hispanic man that would never enjoy the many pleasures life has to offer. For him, politics was over and the fight between Communism and Capitalism no longer mattered.

I was in the Tooele High School auditorium watching a basketball game with my friends when it was announced over the intercom that the Vietnam War was over. The United States would be withdrawing their troops. The 1973 Paris Peace Accords were signed by all parties.

In 1986, a short time after the Vietnam War ended, I am in my office in Salt Lake, when it is announced over the radio that the Challenger space shuttle exploded. Everyone was stunned. The space program was suddenly stopped in its tracks and as a nation we questioned whether spending money on space was a proper use of tax dollars. Investigations ensued to determine how this could have happened. But exploration is and always has been very dangerous. People will die. Just like in a major war.

Having sold tens of billions of dollars in arms to the madman Saddam Hussein we were shocked in 1991 when Kuwait was invaded. Since my sister was living in Dahahran, Saudi Arabia, I called her the day after the invasion. There was a great deal of noise in the background. I asked her what was going on. "That's the 82nd Airborne. They are flying in." I replied, "They can't do that. They don't have Congressional authorization to deploy troops over there." To which she informed me, "You better tell them that. The planes have been landing for the last 24 hours."

Bush Senior did a terrific job with Gulf War I. The Iraqi army would have gone into Saudi Arabia and conquered the entire country had the United States not stopped them. Kuwait was too easy and the Saudis did not have the necessary forces to defend themselves from aggression. Protecting the West's supply of oil was the right thing to do. The war ended with very few American casualties. Iraqi troops were slaughtered by the thousands.⁴

On September 11, 2001, my girlfriend comes in to the house screaming, "Wake up, wake up terrorists have just attacked America and killed thousands of people." It is all over the television screens. The World Trade Center tower is on fire. I am watching the television as the second plane hits. Tears of rage and sadness are rolling down my cheeks and my only words were that of anger and revenge. I thought at least 40,000 people died. Those great buildings looked like live creatures trying desperately to stay alive long enough to let their precious children escape. Finally, having held up as long as they could, they collapsed in death, dust, and debris. We were a nation in shock.

Now we are at a historical crossroads. Through our massive military, the most powerful in mankind's brief 7,000 years of "civilization," we can defeat any nation or any group of nations. We can defeat the armies of every nation on Earth combined. We are the undisputed heavyweight champions. We are Pax Americana.

The top 100 defense contractors employ some of the world's very best mechanical and civil engineers. Despite the intellectual waste caused by tying up technical talent that would be better used in the consumer industries, we can build one hell of an aircraft carrier, nuclear submarine, or advanced fighter planes.

More and larger defense budgets will not bring us security and economic prosperity. It will only bring us more global violence and unemployment. America's defense contractors have the capability to build exploration vessels that can venture into the deepest recesses of any ocean. What we will find are resources for the best economic use of our great country. We can also build spacecraft for exploration of the inner solar system. There we will develop technology that will benefit our society. It is political decision, not a technological one.

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