Great idea is just a farce

US President Trump’s announcement of a new space programme initially sounded like a great idea but the detail that it is another branch of the military turned it to a farce.

There is an Outer Space Treaty that bans weaponising space, and yes the US is a signatory to it.

The use of space “rays” and such, even for traffic and debris management, is still in the region of science fiction and likely to stay there for the moment.

Is it going to be used as a “space” wall to keep away little green refugees?

President Kennedy’s speech about going to the moon was full of positive ideas and suggestions for the future, although the reality included the fact that they were wanting to beat the Russians there.

The moon programme led to the development of many different things such as freeze dried food although not actually Teflon – that part is an urban legend.

Scientists will welcome the opportunity to do more space research, although they may not be in support of their work being used for military purposes as has so often happened previously.

There is still much more to be done by the space cadets, real, rhetorical or political.

Perhaps there is also a need to listen to that green philosopher, Yoda “Much to learn you still have...” Dennis Fitzgerald, Melbourne, Australia.