Space Is the Ultimate High Ground—That’s Why Militaries Fund Astrophysics
Many advances in our understanding of the cosmos are byproducts of government investment in warfare
Astrophysicists deduce nearly everything we know of the contents and behavior of the universe from the analysis of light. Most of the cosmic objects and events we observe materialized long ago, and so their attenuated light arrives here on Earth after delays that stretch up to 13 billion years. Most of the objects of our affection lie forever out of reach and are, at best, barely visible from Earth. They don’t grow in a laboratory, they release stupendous energy, and they’re immune to manipulation. So astrophysicists have learned to be lateral thinkers, to come up with indirect solutions, never forgetting that we’re the passive party in a singularly one-sided relationship.
Down here in our labs and offices, though, we become somewhat more aggressive, owing to our mutually advantageous alliance with the military. Many significant advances in our understanding of the cosmos are byproducts of government investment in the apparatus of warfare, and many innovative instruments of destruction are byproducts of advances in astrophysics.
As a group, astrophysicists don’t embrace a military approach to problem…
