You’ve got a terrible read on history and this has nothing to do with anything.
I think unmanned projects are obviously important, but manned (or “womanned”) spaceflight seems to engage the public more with the idea of space exploration and I see that as being equally important. Putting a human face on astronauts and demonstrating the intersection of the apex of human intelligence and bravery with the apex of mechanical engineering and technology, popularizes the idea of space exploration, inspires young people to study science, and generally boosts the morale of the country.
On that we are in agreement, and I was astonished to hear Trump deploy this ridiculous phrase in his speech.
I’m not saying it’s not laughable. Just Program Managers I know say they have been stymied in the programmatic efforts for things by the priorities being set by the AF.
If we actually want to spend more on space exploration then there is a very simple answer to that: spend money on space exploration. We already have a large and established civilian organization that has done so well in that area that their acronym is actually a synecdoche for space exploration, and they are the unquestioned international leader in this area, being the only organization in existence to have put people on another celestial body, sent probes to every major planet in the solar system as well as performing ground-breaking work in Earth climate surveillance, space-based interstellar and intergalactic astronomy, and solar observation. For the cost of a single aircraft carrier the NASA budget for interplanetary exploration could be doubled for half a decade, allowing multiple outer planets missions or putting half a dozen rovers at different locations on Mars.
A “Space Force” isn’t going to do any of this; it’s focus will be on direct action conflict with other national powers which have an interest in controlling or denying Earth orbital access. The fantasy of setting up military bases on the Moon or other planets makes about as much sense as guarding a force in a box canyon on some remote outpost.
Stranger
That’s not at all what I said, though.
There actually is talk about creating a Unified Combatant Command (like CENTCOM, AFRICOM, SOCOM, CYBERCOM, etc…) for space-related things.
I don’t think it’s a terrible idea to have one agency be responsible for all U.S. space activities. It always seemed like a questionable idea to have NASA, the CIA, Air Force and other agencies all spending money on space with little or no coordination.* I know NASA wants to remain independent because the military isn’t going to prioritize scientific exploration, but that can be addressed by Congress in its appropriations.
Do I think it’s a good idea to create another branch of the military? Fuck no.
Combining agencies rarely results in actual reduction in bureaucracy. In practice, the merged agency keeps all the existing staff and adds a new layer of middle management to “coordinate” the merger. In theory, of course, there are savings on things like stationery and infrastructure, since there are half as many requisitions required.
On the other hand, breaking up large agencies like the USAF isn’t going to make things any more efficient, because you lose the economies of scale and have to add more people at the top.
*I assume the CIA and USAF coordinated their efforts on the A-12/SR-71 programs because only one aircraft got past the prototype stage.
Oh, sure, I’m certain that happens. But that puts them in the company of every single program manager in the Department of Defense. I find no reason to believe that SMC acquisition types are treated any more unfairly than PMs in any other service.
Sure, but I doubt that PMs in the Army are being held back by AF leaders.
They clearly have it worse.
[quote=“Ravenman, post:90, topic:816341”]
They clearly have it worse.
[/QUOTE]Hmmmm…you may have a point 
I thought someone was incredulous about the title of Charles Chilton’s BBC radio series, Sapce Force. I’m disappointed.
I merged two 40+ post threads. After post #40 which was the other OP, the responses to each thread are intertwined. Both threads used the same CNN article link as a starting point so I picked the one that was started first.
[/moderating]
Does zero gravity relieve the discomfort from bone spurs? Perhaps we should beam him up, you know, for his own good.
That’s the first thing I noticed too. Even while announcing a military project, as goofy as “Space Force” sounds, he can’t help but add in a little racist phrasing.
The earth is surrounded by space. Big space.
Mars is actually further away than Jhina; people don’t know that. Nobody knew space could be so complicated.
Under Obama we were losing in space. You see all these countries’ putting their satellites everywhere: bing bing bong bong. Laughing at us.
And the space launches: terrible ratings.
This concludes your space corps training.
At my other board it’s all Starship Troopers and Spaceballs jokes but this is really good work.
In fact I didn’t realize but Trump already addressed part of his speech to the future space cadets:
“…thee’s no place like space…” Who needs rockets? Our brave cadets will just click their ruby slipper heels and voila!
Humor aside, there is a need for this.
Suppose an asteroid or comet is headed our way, can we stop it?
Suppose the Russians or Chinese come up with a weaponized mobile satellitesystem to take our own, or mount a laser-like weapon? Do not laugh, lasers are weapons these days. The navy has some that can set fire to a small ship in seconds with the cost per shot being under a dollar. With some development, you don’t need to spend whatever a cruise missile cost to take out a terrorist stronghold. There is no defense, the weapon moves at the speed of light. Whichever nation gets the edge in space, militarily and political speaking will have a big advantage. Ronald’s Reagan’s stars wars defense isn’t so far off these days.
Suppose in the not too distant future, there is money to be made mining minerals, from Asteroids or moons, who protects the transport ships from piracy?
And those are just some ideas off the top of my head.
So you see there is a need for a militarized space unit.