It surprises me to say this, but Donald Trump may have just won me over. Wait, let me explain.
First, let me give a bit of context. I’m currently on a pleasure trip in Florida. Florida, as you know, is a ruby-red state politically, and that may be coloring my reaction. (Yes, I meant to do that.)
I think Florida has dethroned California as the theme park capital of the USA, and it has a thriving space industry.
It’s that last one that matters.
Yesterday I went to a diner in a town near where I’m staying. They had a flatsceen on with regional news, and a happy newsperson was saying that Trump announced proposed plans for a new branch of the armed forces; a kind of Space Force or Space Corps. Trump thinks this would be good because, “We’re big in space, both in the military and in… other things.” (That’s not an exact quote, but it is pretty close.)
The newsreader wasn’t exactly jumping up and down and squeeing, but it was close.
But I was kind of bouncing in my seat too.
Space Corps! That would be awesome!
I don’t like the name, though. We already have the Marine Corps and the Army Corps of Engineers. That’s enough corps, thank you. Similarly, we already have an Air Force, so Space Force sounds like we’re not trying.
We need a name that ties to our history, that reflects the desire to categorize our space-faring vehicles as ships. How about… fleet? Space Fleet!
And no offense, Florida, but I’m going to fight you for the location of the Space Fleet headquarters. I know the perfect place. San Francisco, CA. Doesn’t that seem like the perfect HQ for our newly minted Space Fleet?
From there, intrepid space farers can be deployed for military missions, since we’re big in space in the military (or something) but other reasons as well; exploratory missions to seek out new life, new worlds, even new civilizations. We could trek far beyond the bounds of our own star system. We could go where no human had ever gone before.
Doesn’t it sound awesome?