US Space Force Unveils New Uniform Prototype: Star Trek?
One of former United States President Donald Trump's legacies will probably be his creation of a new branch of the United States Armed Forces: Space Force.
Army... Navy... Air Force... Marines... remember the old recruitment commercial that played back in the 80s? Imagine if they would have thrown in a scene from Battlestar Galactica - that would have probably had Sci-Fi fans lined up at the recruiter's office.
It was President Ronald Reagan who first talked about a defense system designed for use in space. It was the Strategic Defense Initiative, and after an artist's rendering of a laser taking out a Soviet missile was distributed, the program was soon dubbed "Star Wars".
Unlike President Reagan's "Star Wars" program, Trump's Space Force didn't have to start from the ground and build up: there were already existing agencies in place under the thumb of the Air Force that fit right into the Space Force nicely. According to Defense News, the Space Force "is fundamentally a rebranding of the Air Force’s legacy space organizations — specifically the now-defunct Air Force Space Command."
How important is the newest branch of the United States Armed Forces? As it turns out: it could be VERY important.
According to Time, just before former President Trump announced the creation of the space defense agency, the Russians deployed a new satellite, which has been dubbed Moscow's "Nesting Doll" satellite.
Our defense and intelligence agencies were aware of the launch of the rocket and the deployment of the satellite and were keeping an eye on the satellite when something surprising happened: it gave birth.
The satellite split in two (hence the "Nesting Doll" nickname) and, after a couple of months, our eyes-in-the-sky watched as both satellites closed in on one of our spy satellites.
Washington contacted Moscow and said "отвали", so they did. The satellites backed away and started to do what satellites do somewhere else, spinning around the globe, seemingly minding their own business. Until...
Time reports that the new satellite, the one that split off from the other, fired a projectile of some sort into space. Like something out of Star Wars or Star Trek or Buck Rogers or something. Things. Just. Got. Real.
Was that satellite planning on using that projectile (another satellite or a space "tool"?) to try to take out our spy satellite? Or maybe capture it? We don't know.
Our government is still watching all three of Moscow's "Nesting Doll" satellites to see if anything else happens.
Why did I go through all of that before I showed you the new prototype for the Space Force uniforms? Because I thought it was important that we are aware of what is going on in the world, that's all. (You have to admit, it sounds like a great storyline for a new James Bond movie, am I right??)
Did the United States need a Space Force? Many people feel that the Air Force Space Command was doing a great job; others feel that an agency that can concentrate on space without the added responsibility of patrolling the terrestrial skies (terrestrial skies? Did I just do that??) would be better. One way or another, we have a Space Force, and its (proposed) dress uniforms look AWESOME!
Kind of a cross between the current Air Force dress uniform and a fire chief's dress uniform, the new Space Force dress prototype has the internet talking.
Richard Daborn likens the uniform to Babylon 5 and Battlestar Galactica.
Adam i jokes about the service ribbons across the breast of the jacket, above the name tag.
In another reply to the Space Force Tweet, Twitter user RORO admits that, at first, he was okay with the uniform. Until he saw the pants:
Yikes. The pants.
In yet another post, Janet Hough shared a photo of both a man and a woman wearing the new uniform, and she made an interesting observation about the woman's pants.
Her pants do seem to be slightly misfitting.
Robert J agrees and feels that the uniform will make the Space Force the laughing stock of all space forces:
Others are saying that if the agency is going to "borrow" from Star Trek, they might as well go all the way:
Jason Butler is not happy with the appropriation, either.
And, finally, this may be the best comment:
Anyway, regardless of what the uniform looks like, the Space Force will be continuing the important work some members of the Air Force were doing, and we'd like to thank all of our service members for helping to keep us safe.