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...
(Score: 3, Interesting) by Weasley on Thursday July 06 2017, @06:29PM (2 children)
Well, we would if an asteroid with a well known orbit suddenly changed course. Maybe that's why funding Pan-STARRS [wikipedia.org] dried up.
(Score: 2) by kaszz on Thursday July 06 2017, @09:43PM (1 child)
It could of course happen because another asteroid hit the first asteroid.
(Score: 2) by Weasley on Friday July 07 2017, @01:32AM
It "could". But the odds of an asteroid being hit and then promptly smashing into the Earth are mind-blowingly astronomical.