Comment by throwanem

Worth mentioning that this dates from not only a time when the US space program remained a going concern, but also the same period of US military thinking that produced, among other hilarities, the failed OICW "smart rifle" program whose most famous output has proven to be the HK XM8 fish gun. It's accordingly worth being a little generous in your interpretation, the work having been written a highly eventful quarter century ago.