A new space service?

The Space Review ^ | 07/05/04 | Taylor Dinerman

[Sam Cree]

"The national will to get out there and do something in space has frittered away to nothing."

Yeah, you commonly hear people saying that any funding allocated to space research would be better spent on social engineering.

Probably you're right, when there's profit to be made, private companies will show the way. Maybe under goverment contract.

[God bless America-5]

We are going to need a star fleet, once things like a moon base are up.

[boris]

Delta-Vee again. To lift humans (or anything) from the surface you must impart 30,000 ft/sec of delta-vee. This leads to costs of (currently) $10,000 per pound in LEO. Possibly reducible to $2,000/lb.

Translation: routinely launching big ships is economically infeasible. Routinely launching "little" ships (fighters) is also economically infeasible.

Build a space elevator first. Then you can start planning for a major role of the military in space. My WAG for making a space elevator a reality is 50 years and $500 billion.

--Boris

[frithguild]

What is the escape velocity for the moon? Why not mine materials there and build the ships in lunar orbit?

[KevinDavis]

Personally I hope there is no Alien Pearl Harbor, but I have a feeling there is going to be one.

[SoCal Pubbie]

"not too much air in space"

Not too much water, either.

[Tealc]

LOL! They just have no idea what happens in Cheyenne mountain, do they. :)

[whd23]

All space terminology in science fiction, including personnel rank names comes from naval origins.

Examples: hull, bulkhead, midshipman, commander, admiral, "all ahead full"

You forgot: "Earl Grey, hot."

[Sam Cree]

Apparently the word navy is derived from the Latin "navis," meaning ship.

I suppose the sci fi writers use the navy motif because the space ships actually go on voyages, so navy fits more to them. But who knows what the reality would be. A brand new force, maybe, but along the lines of the navy.

[SoCal Pubbie]

Maybe the spacecraft, of they have any humans at all, will be like those in the original Planet of the Apes film where the crew just "sleeps" until nearing the destination. In reality for the foreseeable future any space force would probably be like the crews of Air Force missile silos or AWACS units where they sit in front of consols pushing buttons. I can see the reasoning for a separate space force, so as not to have either the Air Force or the Navy torn between its terrestrial and extraterrestrial missions. But my last post was really just a little joke on your comment about air in space!

[Junior]

I like the name, United States Space Force. I'd like the rank structure to be nominally nautical, as it seems inappropriate for colonels and majors to be commanding vessels.

[Dead Dog]

I'm for the Navy w/ Marine Corp on this one. Seems like the Airforce is more of a desk based service.... :)

[God bless America-5]

I also agree with the navy.

[KevinDavis]

You seem to forget about this:



This is what Air Force has....

[Redcloak]

None of this alphabet soup stuff; they should call it "Star Fleet".

[Phsstpok]

As an Air Force veteran of Space Division, I always thought that the future would see a transition of space activities from the Air Force to the Navy, when long endurance missions involving large crew in spaceships, became routine. After all, the Navy has had hundreds of years of experience with "ships", so why not those operating in space?

I agree with your analysis. Was your outfit the one with the motto "in your face from outer space" or was that someone else?

We're gonna need a buncha Burt Rutan's to show the way to routine and economical space access, or hope for an alien Pearl Harbor to galvanize a renewed space initiative.

At Pearl Harbor we had a naval force roughly equivelant to the Japanese and, despite the attack, we had units left, particularly the carriers. We have an Alien Pearl Harbor now, we doomed!!!!!!!

I think we let the jet jockey's take the current, near Earth, missions that are very similar to SAC and air supremecy missions. When we leave LEO we are talking Navy, all the way.

Know anyone named Harrington?

[unibrowshift9b20]

I don't think they should call it starfleet unless its run by the UN. And I don't think We'll stand for that.

Also, the only way "a bunch of Burt Rutans" is going to build starfleet is if they make a cheerleader pyramid to orbit. Suborbital flight is about 10 magnitudes of complexity easier than building an interstellar fleet of ships that are magically equipped to explore scientifically AND wipe out klingons. Not that suborbital flight is easy. Its just that its not possible for a private company to build an entire branch of the armed services.

You guys here really need to let off the libertarian thing a tad. We have a country because there are benefits to working together at some things. One of those is currently spaceflight.

[KevinDavis]

Indeed!!!!

[God bless America-5]

That is very true!

[Southack]

Gerald Bull was routinely putting 200 pound "Martlet" probes 90 miles up into Space from his 16 inch cannon on Barbados...total cost of each shot, including the Martlet vehicle: $2,500.

The G's from such launches are more than human pilots can take, of course, but that's a relatively cheap way to put raw materials into Space.