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posted by takyon on Wednesday July 05 2017, @08:03PM   Printer-friendly
from the do-you-want-to-know-more? dept.

Don't get your hopes up too high about becoming a space marine quite yet. But if the House of Representatives' version of the 2018 defense budget goes through, you may soon be able to enlist in the US Space Corps.

Back in January of 2001, days before the inauguration of President George W. Bush, a commission headed by future Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld warned of a "space Pearl Harbor" and urged a reorganization of the military to put a greater emphasis on warfare in the space domain—defending US communications and intelligence satellites, and if necessary taking out the satellites of adversaries. In their report, the Commission to Assess United States National Security Space Management and Organizations told Congress, "The US is more dependent on space than any other nation... Yet the threat to the US and its allies in and from space does not command the attention it merits."

A few things happened that derailed efforts to change that perceived neglect. But now the House Armed Services Committee (HASC) has breathed new life into those old plans by including a provision in the House version of the 2018 US defense budget that would create a separate military service dedicated to the cause of space as a warfare domain: the US Space Corps. It would also create a separate joint command, the US Space Command, breaking the role out of the US Strategic Command much in the way that was done with the US Cyber Command.

Source: Ars Technica

Previously: The United States Space Corps Wants You...


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  • (Score: 2) by xpda on Wednesday July 05 2017, @11:13PM (1 child)

    by xpda (5991) on Wednesday July 05 2017, @11:13PM (#535451) Homepage

    It seems like if a geostationary satellite was hit by another satellite, it's change in velocity would force it into an elliptical orbit, almost certainly missing the other geostationary satellites for the next few thousand years. I haven't run the numbers, but it a domino effect seems impossible in our lifetime.

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  • (Score: 2) by frojack on Thursday July 06 2017, @12:50AM

    by frojack (1554) on Thursday July 06 2017, @12:50AM (#535480) Journal

    Better minds have already looked into it and its a real possibility. Follow the link posted above. The math has already been done.

    We are not talking billiard balls here.
    Think fragmentation grenades!
    As one comes apart and drifts into another, setting it spinning because the solar panels present the biggest targets. More parts fall off. Rinse Repeat uncontrollably.
    I can't see how you come up with such certainty of an elliptical orbit that never crosses any other orbit.

    http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-4664228/A-satellite-falling-apart-Mexico.html [dailymail.co.uk]

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