United Nations' Space Cops of 1951

Posted by Cory Doctorow, April 24, 2008 5:01 AM | permalink

The December, 1951 ish of Mechanix Illustrated promised a United Nations space police, in charge of keeping the world safe from high orbit:

But, given the go-ahead, it can be done and in a reasonable amount of time. Meanwhile, John Q. Public can only sit tight and hope that the first permanent space-buggy is a benign one, set whirling by the United Nations and carrying space cops to enforce peace on earth instead of war.

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Discussion

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#1 posted by Hawley , April 24, 2008 5:10 AM

the US enforces war?

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#2 posted by Binaryloop , April 24, 2008 5:42 AM

Well, they got the 'space cops' part right. But, instead of enforcing peace, we seem to have orbiting lasers designed to annihilate stuff on the surface. "America. Fuck Yeah!"

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#3 posted by airship , April 24, 2008 6:29 AM

I wish this would have happened. I was born in '51 and I would SO be a space cop right now!

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#4 posted by LogrusZed , April 24, 2008 8:16 AM

Amalgamated Regional Militia, anyone?

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#5 posted by tim , April 24, 2008 8:58 AM

#4, expect a knock on your door very soon. You're not supposed to mention us in public places.

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#6 posted by LogrusZed , April 24, 2008 10:19 AM

tim: I'm in real trouble since I'm not only an organlegger, I'm also carrying an unlicensed fetus. I guess I'll have to plug in my droud now so I can cease worrying.

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#7 posted by DMcK , April 24, 2008 11:55 AM

Will there be a space Jimmy Justice too?

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#8 posted by The Unusual Suspect , April 24, 2008 1:09 PM

"#4, expect a knock on your door very soon. You're not supposed to mention us in public places."

Send Gil the Arm. He can reach through the door and knock on it from the inside.

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#9 posted by repking , April 24, 2008 1:39 PM

mmmh, has this something to do with "Solution Unsatisfactory" (Heinlein, 1940)?

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#10 posted by The Tensor , April 24, 2008 2:13 PM

#9 Repking:

It's also reminds me strongly of the Patrol from Heinlein's Space Cadet, especially the chapter where Matt is explaining to his parents that yes, of course it would be his duty to atomic-bomb his home town if it was necessary to maintain the peace.