Strategic Defense Initiative

High school (ages 12+)
Space & Astronomy

Name:

Date:

Step 1 · Read the article

Open the article and read it at the level above. Then answer the questions below in your own words.

https://smallwhale.org/articles/strategic-defense-initiative

Write what each word means, using the article.

Do not copy the article. Write two things you learned, the way you would explain them to a friend.

Answers below are taken from the article’s stored facts, so they match what the student read.

1. What is the program initiation?Announced by President Ronald Reagan on March 23, 1983
2. What is the core technological ambition?Development of a space-based missile defense system capable of intercepting ballistic missiles
3. What was the Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI)?SDI was a plan announced in 1983 to build a space shield that could protect Earth from dangerous missiles. It aimed to stop nuclear attacks by shooting down missiles before they reached the ground.
4. Why did President Reagan want SDI instead of nuclear weapons?Reagan thought that keeping nuclear weapons was like a "suicide pact" and wanted a safer way to keep people safe by making nuclear weapons useless.

Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI): A proposed U.S. missile defense system intended to protect against ballistic missile attacks, often referred to as the 'Star Wars program'.
Mutual Assured Destruction (MAD): A Cold War military doctrine positing that a full-scale nuclear exchange would result in the complete annihilation of both attacker and defender.
Ballistic Missile: A missile that follows a ballistic trajectory, typically after powered ascent, used for delivering warheads over long distances.
Directed-Energy Weapons: Weapons that use focused energy, such as lasers or particle beams, to damage or destroy targets.