Space Force Discussions Increasingly Blur the Line Between Military and Civilian Space

[Judi Lynn]

By Sandra Erwin, SpaceNews Staff Writer | November 4, 2018 07:40am ET

WASHINGTON — Vice President Mike Pence recently was asked by Washington Post reporter Robert Costa: "What will the Space Force do?"

In his response, Pence did not run down a list of duties that might be assigned to the new military branch. But he did comment extensively on why he and the president feel strongly that a Space Force should be established.

It all started on the campaign trail in 2016, Pence recalled. "The president and I had a conversation about his interests in really reviving American leadership in space, and particularly when it came to human space exploration. … And we both shared a concern that while America continues to be dominant in space, in terms of technology, in terms of our accomplishments, that we were losing momentum in recent years; that America had essentially been consigned to low-Earth orbit, and we actually off-lined our own platforms when we grounded the shuttle program," said Pence. "The president saw all of that as intolerable." [Presidential Visions for Space Exploration: From Ike to Trump]

Trump's initial focus was on NASA and the civilian space mission, and along the way, he said, "it became very clear to us that it's absolutely essential that America remained as dominant in space, from a national security perspective, as we are on the Earth. And that's where the president conceived of the idea of a Space Force."

More:
https://www.space.com/42328-space-force-blurs-military-civilian-space.html

[ChazInAz]

1. Absurd.

Republicans slashed funding for NASA, essentially destroying our space program, and now want a Space Force.
Wonder if I could sell them my plans for a Fireball XL5?

[TlalocW]

2. Oh, man... I hope the Space Force is like this!

TlalocW

[Matthew28]

3. Nasa is never going to get tbe money needed

To send humans to mars, the moon or to build any lasting outpost. The military space force might!

1. They will have the resources
2. No one even comes close to building and constructing reusable and long lasting "ships". We should be thinking about subs in space which has:
1. Reusability. Meaning we can use it thousands of times just like our sub fleet.
2. Size. Our military knows how to build big ships that are needed to transport the humans and the supplies to mars to build the cities.

Think about it. Nasa can't do it as everything is a throw away with them and they will never get the money.