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Astronaut Mark Kelly says Trump's order to create a Space Force 'is a dumb idea'
But the retired NASA astronaut Mark Kelly — a former Navy pilot, combat veteran, four-time space-flyer, and the
identical twin brother of the former astronaut Scott Kelly — doesn't support it, and some members of Congress are also voicing their distaste for the idea.
"This is a dumb idea. The Air Force does this already. That is their job," Mark Kelly
tweeted on Monday with a link to
a story on Military.com. "What's next, we move submarines to the 7th branch and call it the 'under-the-sea force?'"
Kelly was referring to the Air Force Space Command, though the group has had different names over the years.
Space Command is headquartered in Colorado, and its responsibilities include supporting military use of satellites, rocket launches, and cyberwarfare operations. The group also helps
track the countless pieces of space junk and debris around Earth that pose a
persistent threat to anything in orbit.
"Despite world interest in avoiding militarization of space, potential adversaries have identified the use of space as an advantage for US military forces, and are actively fielding systems to deny our use of space in a conflict," Gen. John E. Hyten, the commander of US Strategic Command, wrote in
a white paper about the decision in 2016, when he led Space Command.
For and against a Space Force
Some members of Congress, especially those in the House of Representatives, appear warm to the idea.
"As we get all these briefings about what adversaries are doing, our dependence on space, it's clear that we have to do better," Rep. Mac Thornberry, the Florida Republican who chairs the House Armed Services Committee, told reporters last week,
according to Space News. "Organizational changes don't fix all the problems. But on the other hand, they can sometimes help make sure space gets the kind of priority it should have, like cyber, as a domain of warfare."
But others in Congress — and apparently some high-ranking military officials — have questioned and pushed back on the thought of a breakout Space Force.
"The president told a US general to create a new Space Force as 6th branch of military today, which generals tell me they don't want," Democratic Sen. Bill Nelson of Florida
tweeted on Monday. "Thankfully the president can't do it without Congress because now is NOT the time to rip the Air Force apart. Too many important missions at stake."
Stationing or testing any weapons of mass destruction in space, including nuclear weapons, is banned by the United Nations'
Outer Space Treaty of 1967. Smaller-scale weapons are not barred, however, and experts fear that militarizing space could stoke a
costly new arms race.
A war in space might also lead to something called
a Kessler event. In this scenario, uncontrolled space debris could collide and create even more uncontrolled space debris, ultimately shutting off human access to space for decades, if not centuries.
