Robotics Reference
In-Depth Information
humans in the relevant domain. As an example of the comparison be-
tween human and computer competences, Moor discusses making a de-
cision about whether to launch nuclear missiles, a situation in which
the question of computer competence is clearly a matter of very great
importance. The example he quotes is what happened (and what al-
most happened) at 3:17 p.m. Mountain Standard Time on 6 October
1960, under 1,200 feet of solid granite at Cheyenne Mountain, Col-
orado. This was the location of the command post for the U.S. missile
attack warning system at NORAD, where an alert was received saying
that the United States was under massive attack by Soviet missiles. The
warning came from the Ballistic Missile Early Warning System in Thule,
Greenland.
The Thule site was well positioned to monitor a huge volume of space
over the Polar Arctic and central Russia. Distributed along it were four
radar antennae, set at various angles, each 165 feet high and 400 feet
long, searching thousands of miles across the top of the world and deep
into the Soviet Union. The system operated with two “fans” of radar
energy at different heights, allowing its computers instantly to correlate
the two readings, calculate a missile's flight path, where it was launched
and where it would hit, and transmit all this information to a 14-foot-
square map on a display board, located in the NORAD War Room in
Colorado. Above the map was an alarm level indicator whose range was
from zero to five, with zero indicating no threat and five indicating a
99.9 percent certainty that an intercontinental ballistic missile attack was
underway.
When these indicators at NORAD headquarters suddenly started
showing ominous changes, the “raid estimate” flashed from its custom-
ary, reassuring zero, first to one, then to four, then 99, indicating that
the radar system in Thule had detected the launch of 99 Soviet missiles
on their way. At the same time the “alarm level” rose to 99.9 percent
certainty. The “test” sign was not on, so it was not like a fire drill when
an alarm bell is tested just to ensure that it is still working. According to
the radar data, this was for real.
The published accounts of what happened next differ in certain de-
tails, but it appears that a Canadian Air Force officer, who was an amateur
astronomer, had first realized what might be going on. A question was
asked from NORAD, on the “hot line”, enquiring of those in charge at
Thule: “When you look outside, what do you see?” The answer came
back: “It's a beautiful night! There's a big full moon right in sector three.
