We’ll take Space Force seriously when it’s presented seriously

Re: “Space Force sounds like a joke and that could be a problem,” Feb. 22 commentary

Professor Wendy Whitman Cobb seems to overlook the obvious in her commentary. Psychobabble about “priming effect” aside, what has made the new Space Force laughable was not how sci-fi “warps” (intentionally funny) public perception of what could/should be a serious new endeavor, but how it was conceived and introduced by the previous administration. How do we ignore the farce of cloning a Space Force emblem from the Federation badge? And it wasn’t a fanciful public who designated members of the Space Force as “Guardians,” but our former vice president. What did anybody in D.C. or Colorado Springs think would result from such laughable faux pas?

Furthermore, public speculation re “space warfare” is pretty solidly derived from how the Space Force has been portrayed—i.e., with focus on its military role, more than its potential service as “space trash collector.” Nobody yet has pretended that there are Space Force astronauts or military bases already a-building on the moon, but early ballyhoo from the former administration certainly celebrated such developments for our future—egregiously flaunting long-standing international efforts to avoid militarizing space, close to Earth or farther out (where no man has gone before).

You want the public to get serious about Space Force? Get serious about how it is purposed, structured and presented.

David M. Metcalf, Littleton