Avi Loeb

to actually conduct fundamental research in physics, which is not geared immediately towards an application.

So they gave me that privilege for three months, and I suggested a project that was later proposed to the Strategic Defense Initiative of President Reagan.

And so they were very happy with the performance.

They said, okay, we can give this privilege to one person.

And I was the first.

And after that, they gave it to a few people every year because they saw there are some benefits to that.

And then at the time, General Abramson, the head of the Star Wars, by the way, it's called Star Wars.

It's interesting in retrospect.

He came to Israel and I gave a presentation.

I still have the photo of that presentation.

And he liked it.

And it appeared in all the newspapers that this is the first international project supported by the SDI, the Star Wars program.

And that brought me to Washington every few months because we got funded at a few million dollars a year.

And you were project lead on the propulsion side, yes?

I was on the theory side.

There was an experimentalist.

And the two of us were leading it.

I was just 21 at that time, 21 years old, and visiting Washington really gave me a perspective that I didn't have before.

And then... Now, hang on.

Do you understand at this point that this is not what normal life is for most people when they're 18 or 21, jumping out of planes and going to Washington?