Terminating the Superconducting Super Collider Project When the U.S. Congress pulled the plug on the Superconducting Super Collider (SSC) project, it ended 11 years of work costing over $2 billion dollars and threw 2000 people out of work. The objective of the planned $11 billion SSC was to accelerate subatomic particles within a 54 mileunderground circular chamber to almost the speed of light and smash them together at energies of 40 trillion electronic volts. The benefits to society of these experiments were unclear, some maintaining they could have been enormous, but others, including members of Congress, were less sure. The project also suffered from an identity crisis. It was not clear if this was to be a U.S. first in basic science or a world science project, funded in its early stages by a $1 billion commitment from other nations. Although the costs of the SSC had ballooned, the main reason it was shut down was that it lost its political support. Although the SSC scientists and backers had rallied good will among universities, schools, and scientific meetings, the potential benefits of the project never reached the President and his administration, where it only enjoyed lukewarm support at best. When a $4 trillion budget deficit appeared likely, the SSC project was sacrificed.

Questions a. Which of the various forms of closure was this? b. The authors of this article maintain that politics is an important element of project implementation. Do you agree? Was this project shut down through political means?