Trump's Space Force Will Guard U.S. From Above, NASA Chief Says

[Elderberry]

Bloomberg By Eric Roston July 12, 2018

Agency is part of a broad retooling of U.S. space strategy

Bridenstine priming NASA to return permanently to the moon

NASA’s administrator is a strong defender of President Donald Trump’s proposals for space -- including an armed force and a permanent presence on the moon -- and says he wants Americans to realize how much their well-being depends on what happens far above Earth.

“Every banking transaction requires a GPS signal for timing,” Jim Bridenstine said in an interview. “You lose the GPS signal and guess what you lose? You lose banking.”

“If you look at what space is, it’s not that much different than the ocean,” added Bridenstine, who made 333 aircraft-carrier landings as a Navy pilot. “It’s an international domain that has commerce that needs to be protected.”

Bridenstine was in his third term representing a congressional district in Oklahoma when Trump nominated him to lead the $21 billion space agency. He was confirmed in the spring despite criticism over his lack of scientific or engineering experience and his previous statements questioning climate change science -- though he said in hearings that human activity was the chief cause of global warming.

Last summer, when he was still in Congress, Bridenstine supported a measure that would have created a “space corps.” It passed the House but was removed from the final defense spending bill. Then last month, Trump called for the Pentagon to develop a sixth branch of the American armed services that would protect national and commercial interests in space.

More: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-07-12/trump-s-space-force-will-guard-u-s-from-above-nasa-chief-says

[thackney]

Electrical Grid relays also use GPS signals for timing.

They still work and protect the grid if the signal fails, but trouble shooting becomes more difficult when different locations are not tied to the same timing.

[Elderberry]

I wonder what the Hazardous Duty Incentive Pay will be for a Lunar Assignment.

[Suppressed]