Projects like Seesaw raised a fundamental question: Was ARPA a science agency with a focus on national security, or was it a national security agency with a focus on science? Just as Jack Ruina hated Godel’s Project AGILE, Godel despised Ruina’s favorite research projects, which often had only a tenuous link to national security. Godel’s main vitriol was directed at the Arecibo Observatory, a radio telescope funded by ARPA under the auspices of the Defender program. Arecibo was ostensibly for use in research related to ballistic missile defense, but everyone in ARPA from Ruina on down to the
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