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Full Version: Trump's Space Command: just another boondoggle or a disaster for space science?
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With a few days to mull over the whole thing, I'm rather concerned that being associated with Trump will poison the idea of space exploration in general for a while, especially with the always-present struggle between things that will get votes now and things that will pay off more than an election or two in the future and with the lion's share of the funding being redirected from "organizations already conducting space operations," which I expect can pretty much be read as "those pinko hippies at NASA who keep contradicting the party line."

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/08/29/us/po...force.html
https://www.politico.com/story/2019/08/2...nd-1693825
https://www.npr.org/2019/08/29/755383671...osed-space-
https://www.npr.org/2019/08/11/743612373...-to-launch

Also, aren't there supposed to be treaties preventing the militarization of space? Not that I ever expected them to last or that Trump has shown any hesitation about ignoring inconvenient treaties, but still. I'd like to be able to tell myself that America is still the good guys without having a laugh-or-cry moment.

Also, on the gripping hand, when the US can put a man into space again without begging a seat on a rocket launched from Russia or China or buying a ticket from Virgin Galactic, maybe that's the time to talk about having a new arm of the military to protect US interests against Russia and China? Just sayin.'
Oh, I agree wholeheartedly. This whole thing reeks of Trump's specific brand of grandiose and ill-advised ideas.

If he gets re-elected, expect him to start hounding NASA about orbital weapons platforms, and damn the treaties that say those are a no-no. Reagan's Star Wars program died for a reason, and it wasn't just the expenses.

And all this money that's going to get poured into this program when, like you said, we have to buy tickets from SpaceX and beg Russia for space available on their launches.... yeah.
I really dislike omnibus bills... It appears that "paid parental leave" comes at the price of "space force":

Quote:Making everything that much more Trumpian, it appears the Space Force got approved because the president’s son-in-law Jared Kushner took time away from restoring peace in the Middle East to reach an agreement with the president’s daughter, who looks lovely in a dress and is also Kushner's wife, to keep paid parental leave in if the Super Space Force was also left in.

Source

Yeah, this was in the most recent (as of this posting) defense bill.
https://www.spaceforce.mil

You're welcome, world.