Ivan A. Getting synchrotron at MIT Radiation Laboratory. He also was involved in the development of the Sparrow III and Hawk missile systems; as well as commercial production of transistors at Raytheon. As a consultant to the US government: implementation of the Quick Reaction Capability for Electronic Counter-Measures; establishment of the SHAPE Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe Laboratory at the Hague; deployment of U.S. air defense capability called the Semi-Automatic Ground Environment (SAGE) radar system; direction of studies on MX missile basing and long-range combat aircraft; technical analysis and design of a long-range supersonic bomber capable of reaching the former Soviet Union and
James A. Abrahamson retrieval and repair mission. Abrahamson was appointed by President Ronald Reagan to be the first director of the Strategic Defense Initiative ("SDI") in April 1984. The "Star Wars" program, as SDI's detractors dubbed it, was initiated to develop a sophisticated anti-ballistic missile system that would prevent missile attacks from other countries, particularly the Soviet Union. Some countries opposed to U.S. missile defense efforts raised concerns about the program "contravening" the anti-ballistic missile (ABM) of the Strategic Arms Limitation Talks in years before the program was enacted. Ultimately, concerns about the objectives of SDI and fiscal budgetary constraints forced the Reagan