A space force!
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Just saw on the news that Pres. Donald Trump wants to make a new branch of military called space force, as in outer space. Really? My inner geek just did a dance in my pants! I am 40 years old. Is that too old to join the space force?
closed account (E0p9LyTq)
Semi old news about the Space Force.
This was talked about several months ago but wasn't widely reported.
This was talked about several months ago but wasn't widely reported.
What a stupid, stupid man. For shame, US. For shame. You actually managed to elect someone dumber than Dubya.
Why? Is a space force stupid? Was the first submarine, developed by the US, by the way, stupid? Troops in space has a lot of awesome potential. If USA does it, then other countries will follow. But until then, their satellites will be our play things. Their nukes won't be able to touch us. We will be able to spy on them with ease. Not to mention pee over their countries. Yellow rain, enjoy!
Yes, it's stupid.
1. It would be a breach of international treaties on non-militarization of space.
2. Keeping humans in space is ridiculously expensive, and there's currently no way to scale up. Are 10-odd soldiers in space that much better than no soldiers in space, that it would make up for the cost?
3. It doesn't offer any strategic advantage whatsoever.
It's already possible to take out satellites. Just send a missile and blow it up. Cheap and effective.
How do you figure? What makes you think a space station would be more capable of taking out an ICBM than ground-based weapons? How much payload do you expect a space station would be able to carry? 1 or 2 rounds at most? Keep in mind putting a kilogram in LEO costs around USD 4000-20000. So any attack consisting of at least 3 missiles would get through, and it would be impossible to resupply the station for weeks. Not to mention, this is all assuming the station is on the right side of the planet at the time of the attack.
1. It would be a breach of international treaties on non-militarization of space.
2. Keeping humans in space is ridiculously expensive, and there's currently no way to scale up. Are 10-odd soldiers in space that much better than no soldiers in space, that it would make up for the cost?
3. It doesn't offer any strategic advantage whatsoever.
| But until then, their satellites will be our play things. |
| Their nukes won't be able to touch us. |
Maybe you are right helios. I suppose the better choice is to let some other country do it first then. Maybe we should have let some other country be the first to develop the nuclear bomb too. That would have been cheaper for the US also.
Also keep in mind that I believe technology eventually catches up with science fiction. While other countries rely on gun powder, US troops will have energy beams. Others will load themselves down with heavy armor. US will have light weight personal deflector shields. Others will paint their faces with camouflage. US will have invisibility cloaking devices. Others will use radio waves. US will use telepathy. It all starts with a stupid idea...
Nuclear weapons offer a clear, decisive strategic advantage. There are things you can do with nukes that you can't do any other way.
What, exactly, can you do by launching a weapon from orbit that you can't do by launching it from the ground?
Why should I keep that in mind? Whether you believe something has no bearing on whether it's actually the case.
One would think after such a statement would come an enumeration of real technologies that were invented after being imagined in science fiction, but instead you list technologies that don't exist. Interesting method of argumentation, to be sure.
What, exactly, can you do by launching a weapon from orbit that you can't do by launching it from the ground?
| Also keep in mind that I believe |
| technology eventually catches up with science fiction |
OK I will give you an example...
In the movie The Last Star Fighter, 1984, the main character is seen showing pictures to his alien companion. The alien in turn shows pictures of his family on some sort of digital picture device, like a smart phone. Back in 1984, this blew my mind! These days it is old hat technology. Sci-fi became reality. Case closed. Winning!!!
In the movie The Last Star Fighter, 1984, the main character is seen showing pictures to his alien companion. The alien in turn shows pictures of his family on some sort of digital picture device, like a smart phone. Back in 1984, this blew my mind! These days it is old hat technology. Sci-fi became reality. Case closed. Winning!!!
Is it a smartphone, though? A smartphone has two defining features, without either of which it's no longer a smartphone:
* It's a programmable, general purpose computer.
* It's a wireless communication device.
What you're describing doesn't necessarily have either of those features. It sounds more like an electronic picture frame. Electronically-driven screens existed in 1984, I'm sorry to say. Granted, not handheld ones, but hardly mind-blowing.
A much better example would have been the tablet devices seen in 2001: A Space Odyssey, although we never get to see what they're capable of; we just see them displaying a newscast, although with quite impressive signal quality, considering the ship is on its way to Jupiter.
* It's a programmable, general purpose computer.
* It's a wireless communication device.
What you're describing doesn't necessarily have either of those features. It sounds more like an electronic picture frame. Electronically-driven screens existed in 1984, I'm sorry to say. Granted, not handheld ones, but hardly mind-blowing.
A much better example would have been the tablet devices seen in 2001: A Space Odyssey, although we never get to see what they're capable of; we just see them displaying a newscast, although with quite impressive signal quality, considering the ship is on its way to Jupiter.
Laughing...
Are you arguing my side now? Welcome to the team!!! :) Yes, yours is a better example.
Are you arguing my side now? Welcome to the team!!! :) Yes, yours is a better example.
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No. A single example in a sea of counter-examples (inventions that were never imagined in science fiction and imagined technologies that have yet to have been invented) does not an argument make.
Fine. But no matter what we think about it, the pres. wants to make it a reality. And the fact that it is expensive just gives the US the advantage. Who else could even attempt something like this? Probably the Russians I suppose. But with no other soldiers in space, all space territory surrounding Earth becomes US claimed territory. If someone else wants a piece, they will have to fight for it, or be a friend to USA.
| But no matter what we think about it, the pres. wants to make it a reality. |
| If someone else wants a piece, they will have to fight for it, or be a friend to USA. |
Just how big do you think "all of outer space" is?
Space is big. Really big. You just won't believe how vastly, hugely, mind-bogglingly big it is! You might think it's a long way down to the chemist's, but that's just peanuts to space! Listen!
And so on.
Trump's space force is as dumb as his wall idea. The US air force already has a space command based in Colorado and a space force. They support military use of satellites, rocket launches, and cyber-warfare operations as well as track debris around Earth that pose persistent threat to anything in orbit. Also, as helios mentioned, it would breach international treaties on non-militarization of space.
I have a better suggestion for Trump and all his deluded supporters, instead of creating a space force, how about you at least fund health care for your own citizens and ensure schools are safe for children to go to?
I have a better suggestion for Trump and all his deluded supporters, instead of creating a space force, how about you at least fund health care for your own citizens and ensure schools are safe for children to go to?
You don’t reign the galaxy for thousands of years without a SPACE FORCE.
SPACE FORCE NOW!
SPACE FORCE NOW!
| You don’t reign the galaxy for thousands of years without a SPACE FORCE. |
Yeah, forget all that other boring stuff like healthcare and that Mueller guy. "Special counsel"? More like "stupid counsel", am I right?
I vote for the second logo.
https://twitter.com/JustinFishelABC/status/1027650889425866752/photo/1
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For everyone who thinks it is a dumb idea, you are just jealous you can't go into space.
Who here thought that you could not militarize space? As soon as more people start going into space, it has to happen. Sorry, it has to. So cry me a river and tell God how unfair life can be. Space Force!! Yeah!!
It would breach international treaties on non-militarization of space.Who here thought that you could not militarize space? As soon as more people start going into space, it has to happen. Sorry, it has to. So cry me a river and tell God how unfair life can be. Space Force!! Yeah!!
Looks like the Russians just weaponized space with a satellite/space weapon. https://freebeacon.com/national-security/u-s-says-small-russian-satellite-space-weapon/
Bring on the space cadets!
Bring on the space cadets!
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