Oh, Just One More Thing

Oh, we know, we know. There's plenty to worry about, what with Iraq, Lebanon, Somalia, Darfur, global warming, peak oil, AIDS, Chechnya, avian flu, George Bush, rising oceans, erectile disfunction, broken borders . . . well, you get the picture. And we sympathize.

There is, however, just one more thing. War in space. Why are we thinking about this ? Because the Chinese are thinking about this. Why are they Chinese thinking about this ? Because we are thinking about this.

Writing in the Chinese paper Jiefang Junbao, Ge Zhou took note of the newest chief of United States Air Force Space Command, Gen. Kevin Patrick "Chily" Chilton, the first astronaut to hold the post, a development Zhou greets with something less that enthusiasm.

You see, USAFSC is tasked with protecting the United States through the "control and exploitation of space". Says so right on their homepage.

That this goal might be at odds with our obligations under the Outer Space Treaty does not seem to be a matter of significant import to USAFSC or Chily Chilton. The Chinese, apparently take a different view.

Chily will be trying to achieve creation of a "space patrol fleet" by 2014, a short eight years away, so that we will be able to "control space". He will also, we hope, be worrying about whether space combat will produce so much debris in orbit as to jeapordize any future interplanetary mission.

Just one more thing. Keep looking up and

Stay Naked
jd