Keith’s note: So … civilian space agency NASA is now looking at “areas of collaboration” with military space agency Space Force, according to Jim Bridenstine. I thought the whole point of having a civilian space agency was to have a civilian space agency – not a partner of a military space agency. Curiously, Jim Bridenstine was talking about the purposeful creation of a civilian space agency just yesterday.
Slippery Slope.

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10 replies on “Civilian Space Agency NASA Wants To Collaborate With Military Space Force”

  1. The line separating the civilian space agency, NASA, and the military space efforts has been blurry since the formation of NASA in Oct 1958. Most of the NASA astronauts during the Apollo era were military officers on assignment to NASA. Understandable because then astronauts actually needed experience as flight test pilots to fly those early spacecraft.

    That changed somewhat during the Shuttle era where civilians with no military flight experience flew on the Orbiters. But NASA advertised the benefits of the Shuttle for military fights and launched nearly a dozen purely military missions for the Pentagon.

    Now we have NASA’s SLS which will have a mix of civilian and military crew. But that vehicle will have little of value for the military due to its expense and very low launch rate. Unless it’s commandeered by Space Force to build battle platforms in LEO and military bases on the Moon.

    1. Why would they want the SLS to do that when they have access to FH and soon to Starship? Nope, SLS is a rocket only NASA pork masters in Congress want.

  2. Slippery Slope.

    NASA has been cooperating with DoD for years.

    Many astronauts are active duty military detailed to NASA.

    NASA launchers have carried DoD payloads. (i.e. many shuttle missions)

    The TDRSS system has been used for military purposes.

    Cape Canaveral AF station, probably soon to be or already is Space Force, runs the range that KSC uses for launches.

    NASA has launched satellites from Vandenberg AF station, also probably going to the Space Force.

    From the press release:

    … the two will discuss areas of collaboration that include support for human spaceflight, emerging space transportation, standards and best practices for safe operations in space, scientific research, and planetary defense.

    It sounds like a continuation of what is already in place.

      1. Not really a big difference.

        But NASA and DoD have been collaborating and cooperating since the beginning. The examples are too numerous to list.

      2. Was the Gemini-Titan Program cooperation or collaboration? Atlas & Titan launches of science missions? Military shuttle missions trained inside NASA facilities and flight-controlled from a NASA Mission Control? Range support of NASA missions? Tracking of ISS (and other missions) with DOD assets? Collision Avoidance notifications & advisories?

        Precisely how, Keith, would you define the distinction?

        I think it’s easier to draw a solid line when the task at hand is less complicated and especially less novel. Some of what I listed could likely be designated as cooperation, but I don’t think all. Space missions involving both parties are by definition working with each other toward a common set of objectives, and new-system space missions demand a collective creation of new methods & equipment. I, too, used to work there and my impression is that the line has been blurry since the beginning.

        https://convergencelabs.com….

  3. NASA and the Military have been collaborating for 60 years , now with out the military there would be no space program in the USA and its thanks to the military that NASA got the space shuttle. The Space force is decades over due and as they will be responsible for military space its in both NASA and DOD interest that they have constructive cooperation

  4. Why not? NACA/NASA ran many joint programs with the USAF with the many X planes starting with the X-1 coming to mind as good examples.

    As for Space, NASA wouldn’t have gotten to the Moon without access to USAF rockets like the Atlas, Delta, Titan with its robotic missions or been able to recover the astronauts without the USN or USAF. Like it or not both the USN and USAF will have similar roles in Artemis, so why not include the USSF?

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