“Star Wars” is coming to a Ventura County museum.
But, the exhibition isn’t about the movie and TV franchise, it’s about Ronald Reagan’s 1980’s Strategic Defense Initiative. In 1983, Reagan proposed a space-based defense system which would make nuclear weapons obsolete. The idea is that it would use lasers to shoot down incoming missiles.
A skeptical media dubbed the concept “Star Wars,” after the futuristic movie franchise. With massive technical issues, it never happened. But, some credit it with helping with research advances and changing the way we looked at national security.
A new exhibition opening at the Reagan Library March 15 will focus on the SDI effort.
It will have original items from the era, like a missile launch console. But, it will also have some Star Wars movie paraphernalia, like an original script, a Darth Vader helmet, and a landspeeder from the original movie.
