Here is a “blast from the past.” While employed at Kigre, several of MegaWatt Lasers engineers developed transmitters for the SDIO Brillant Pebbles program.

This historical photograph captures the pivotal March 1988 classified White House briefing where the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) team introduced President Ronald Reagan to the “Brilliant Pebbles” space-based missile defense concept. The model of the interceptor sits dramatically on the center of the table shrouded in a black cloak to maintain its classification status from reporters

The device directly in front of President Regan is an MKG-367 Nd:YAG Laser. This laser was used as the transmitter for the Alpha Lidar system.

The Administration & Leadership

• Ronald Reagan: The 40th President of the United States, who launched the Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI) in 1983 to develop a space-based shield against Soviet ballistic missiles.
• George H.W. Bush: The Vice President of the United States at the time, who closely monitored key national security briefings before succeeding Reagan as president in 1989.
• Frank Carlucci: Serving as the U.S. Secretary of Defense, he was a veteran diplomat and administrator responsible for managing the Pentagon and overseing military modernization near the end of the Cold War.
• Robert “Bob” Gates: The Deputy Director of Central Intelligence (DDCI), who later became the Director of the CIA and eventually served as Secretary of Defense under both Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama.

The Scientific & Military Advisors

• Edward Teller: A world-renowned theoretical physicist known as the “father of the hydrogen bomb,” who co-founded Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory and passionately lobbied President Reagan to fund space-based strategic defense concepts.
• William “Bill” Graham: A prominent physicist who served as President Reagan’s Chief Science Advisor and director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP).
• Lt. Gen. James Abrahamson: A highly decorated U.S. Air Force general and former NASA astronaut manager who served as the first Director of the Strategic Defense Initiative Organization (SDIO).

The Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) Team

• Lowell Wood: An innovative astrophysicist and lead designer of the Brilliant Pebbles program, who worked as Edward Teller’s primary protégé at LLNL.
• John Nuckolls: An expert physicist and pioneer in inertial confinement fusion who had just stepped up as the Director of Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in 1988.