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National Space Council sends Space Force proposal to Trump

National Space Council sends Space Force proposal to Trump

VP Mike Pence Unclear About Plans for continuing Nuclear Weapons Ban In Space

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IzZaJBApTzg

The National Space Council has sent President Donald Trump a set of recommended actions to initiate the process of establishing the U.S. Space Force.

The six action items are as follows:

1) The creation of a new unified command for space command to be named U.S. Space Command.
2) A legislative proposal that the Pentagon will submit to the White House.
3) A budget request to fund the new service in fiscal year 2020.
4) A review of agencies’ authorities to ensure space commanders are empowered to take action if necessary.
5) The establishment of a Space Development Agency to oversee technology investments.
6) The recommendation is to strengthen the relationship between the intelligence community and the new service.

Vice President Mike Pence, who leads the council, stressed the importance of creating the new military branch.

He noted that congressional authorization by law is required to form a new military branch, and insisted that President Trump will work to make sure the legislative language to create a Space Force makes it into the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2020.

Before the council meeting at the National Defense University, Pence talked about the Space Force at a Washington Post event, and explained why the president considers it a burning issue. He said Trump became especially alarmed to learn that Russia and China three years ago consolidated their space activities into a single branch. Pence also did not rule out future deployments of weapons in space if circumstances warranted it.

Pence also touched upon the administration’s plans for weapons in space.

We’re going to protect American interests in space,” Pence responded. “To understand American defense today is to understand the inner relationship between our satellite technology and our aircraft, our ships at sea, our submarines, our warfighters on the ground.”

“The first order of business is ensuring the infrastructure of our satellite technology is protected,” Pence explained, adding that Chinese and Russian anti-satellite weapons continue to proliferate.

Furthermore, Pence was not clear when asked about the continuing status of another long-term treaty related to weapons-in-space.

Pence acknowledged that the 1967 Outer Space Treaty prohibits nuclear weapons from being stationed in earth’s orbit. But he didn’t give a clear “no” when he was asked at a Washington Post-sponsored forum if that should always be the case.

Instead he responded: “I think that what we need to do is make sure that we provide for the common defense of the people of the United States of America,” he replied. “And that’s the president’s determination here.”

The plans for Space Force may be expedited in light of reports that China, Russia, North Korea, and Iran are preparing nuclear electronic pulse attacks from space to cripple the U.S. electrical grid.

“The United States critical national infrastructure faces a present and continuing existential threat from combined-arms warfare, including cyber and manmade electromagnetic pulse (EMP) attack, and natural EMP from a solar superstorm,” says a recently published report from the congressional Commission to Assess the Threat to the United States from Electromagnetic Pulse (EMP) Attack.”

Once largely a concern of a Cold War surprise attack from Russia to shut down American nuclear forces communications, the spread of nuclear weapons has increased the danger of disruptive EMP attack from a nuclear burst in the upper atmosphere.

“Within the last decade, newly nuclear-armed adversaries, including North Korea, have been developing the ability and threatening to carry out an EMP attack against the U.S.,” the report said.

Given Trump’s negotiating style, and concern for national security, it is no wonder he wants every option on the table, including the possibility of nuclear weapons as part of the Space Force arsenal.

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Comments

DouglasJBender | October 27, 2018 at 6:03 pm

Name it “Star Fleet”, create a military school in support of it and call that “Star Fleet Academy”, and give the first full-ride scholarship to a brilliant, courageous young man from Iowa with first name “James” and middle initial “T.”.

DouglasJBender | October 27, 2018 at 7:10 pm

He’s got that “Captain/leader” look, I’ll give him that. But for now I think he’s too short.

DouglasJBender | October 27, 2018 at 8:17 pm

By the way, if your son is a Star Trek fan (especially of the original series [and the original ship]), he (and perhaps you as well) might like taking a look at the website, “Build the Enterprise”, which is a serious look at eventually building a life-size, working (capable of carrying over 1000 crew-members on journeys throughout the Solar System, anyway) Enterprise spaceship. It’s very detailed and thorough. I’m not saying it’s feasible, or even possible (though it seems at least possible to me); but it is interesting, at any rate.

https://www.buildtheenterprise.org

    This is super cool, DJB! Thanks for sharing.

    I used to think Star Trek was kind of cheesy, but upon working with the fabulous Leslie and enjoying her Trekkie posts, I decided to try it again. I thought I’d barely manage to sit through the first episode, but I ended up binge-watching the whole series–all three seasons!–and am a definite fan now. Maybe not to the elevated status of a Trekkie, but I am sold on Star Trek (and even started watching the spin-offs, prequels, and etc., though I have to confess, the original is my favorite so far).

      tom_swift in reply to Fuzzy Slippers. | October 29, 2018 at 2:01 am

      Hahaha, the first one I saw (‘way back in ’66, and in a galaxy far away) was the second half of The Menagerie, a complicated pastiche made by splicing new footage and a new story onto the pilot. No Forbidden Planet, for sure, but still pretty damn baffling. Fairly wild stuff for ’66-era TV. Yes, good times.

DouglasJBender | October 27, 2018 at 9:03 pm

Late last year, while being laid off for two weeks over the Christmas holidays, I binge-watched all three seasons of the original series. It was awesome. I was a big fan as a kid, but I’ve never been a “Trekkie”.

But don’t become corrupted by the spin-offs. Especially the very ’80s wide-shouldered uniforms of “The Next Generation”. Yuck.

    I hear you! The funny thing is if it weren’t for the remake of Battlestar Galactica, I may not have been open to Star Trek (well, Leslie is pretty persuasive in her enthusiasm). As with Star Trek, I was a bit too young (pre-embryonic) for the original, but the BSG remake was awesome (well, until it got too serious about itself and lost the plot). And prior to BSG, I was softened up to sci-fi by Firefly (such a great show!). Anyway, it’s been a process since I started out more rom-com, lit remakes, or documentary than sci-fi.

DouglasJBender | October 27, 2018 at 10:09 pm

So your story is a bit like someone overcoming an alcohol addiction, and turning to root beer (my favorite). Welcome to sobriety. 🙂

    Okay, if you like root beer, you SO have to try this root beer syrup: https://shop.torani.com/classic-root-beer-syrup/p/tor-362689&c=torani@syrups@soda

    When all the BDS crazy started, I made it point to buy Israeli products, and one of those was the SodaStream. I totally love it, though it has become difficult to get refills. Anyway, this Torani root beer is the best.

    (Yikes, sorry, I should be explicitly clear here: I understand what you are saying and am amused, but your comment also made me think of the best root beer EVAH! I wanted to share that with you because I like it and think you might, too. If you don’t like Torani root beer, Sodastream, and etc. for any reason, no offense intended.)

DouglasJBender | October 27, 2018 at 11:37 pm

No problem. If I get a chance, I’ll try it. For now, A&W Root Beer remains my favorite. 🙂

So applicants to the Space Force Academy would be called “Space Cadets”. I see a great many candidates walking around Congress and the MSM. Sorry some jokes are to good to let pass.

DouglasJBender | October 28, 2018 at 4:10 pm

This comment is mainly directed to Leslie Eastman and “Fuzzy Slippers” (may I call you “Ms. Slippers”?) I notice that you both are interested in science. I do not know your religious backgrounds (if any), but I thought you might be interested in a discovery I made — basically, I discovered the Gospel (in foundational essence being that Jesus died, and rose from the dead) in Mathematics (specifically, in the Natural Logarithm). The discovery involves three straight lines, the “Tropical” year (365.24219 days long), and the Natural Logarithm { ln(x) }.

If you were interested, I could post a link here to a Facebook “Note” I have about my discovery. (I call the discovery, “God’s Number”.) It only involves basic, first-year Algebra (graphing straight lines), plus the Natural Logarithm. Nothing fancy or complicated.

DouglasJBender | October 29, 2018 at 3:33 pm

In case either of you are curious, but are afraid to say so for some reason, here’s the link to that Facebook “Note” about my discovery (which I call “God’s Number”): https://m.facebook.com/notes/gods-number/gods-number/910618485653615/ .

At the end of that (roughly 10-page or so) article, there is a colored graph of three straight lines, plus the Natural Logarithm, which in effect summarizes/explains the discovery. Just preceding the graph are a couple of paragraphs which describe the graph.

The majority of the article explains the assumptions, terms, and history involved. Kind of dry and boring, but necessary in order to be thorough.

Gosh folks, the economy is faltering, interest costs are increasing, prices are going up as a result of Trump Tariffs and our national debt continues at a billion a year. Meanwhile the market is going Bear and 2018 gains are gone. Next out are my retirement funding investments – 2008 once more – but we will have a Jean-Luc Picard memorial built at Cape Canaveral.

Government expansion and spending will never grow our economy because the taxpayers will have to provide the investment. We have nowhere to go with this nonsense except to an out-of-control inflation rate. Can you say Venezuela?

DouglasJBender | October 29, 2018 at 6:10 pm

Venezuela. Happy?