While we quietly quibble about he Dixiecrats the new space race has begun. And like the one of old this race for the moon is about controlling the new strategic commanding heights. Drone planes dropping DU shells into gravity wells, devastating their targets like mini asteroid strikes, leaving radioactive fallout – the future of warfare.

China is on its way

China's ambitious space plans have been extended to building a base on the Moon starting in 2010, a Chinese space official has said. China says it is planning to establish a base on the Moon to exploit its mineral resources. Before that the fledgling space power aims to complete a number of manned missions into space and to establishing an orbiting "space laboratory". Full

We won’t be far behind

NASA plans to permanently occupy an outpost at one of the Moon's poles, officials announced on Monday. The first four astronauts will land for a short visit in 2020, but it will take until at least 2024 to prepare for "a fully functional presence with rotating crews", said Scott Horowitz, associate administrator for the exploration systems mission directorate. Full

There is going to be no real appreciation for how much this will cost or the potential for climatic damage. The militarization of space is the geo-political equivalent of the nuclear attack on Japan. Those in the world who are capable of responding must. And if either the USA or China or Russia gain a significant strategic advantage in space, we will have an era of global despotism.

The multicolored cover of Vision for 2020 shows a weapon shooting a laser beam from space and zapping a target below. The report opens with the following: "US Space Command--dominating the space dimension of military operations to protect US interests and investment. Integrating Space Forces into warfighting capabilities across the full spectrum of conflict." A century ago, "Nations built navies to protect and enhance their commercial interests" by ruling the seas, the report notes. Now it is time to rule space. "The medium of space is the fourth medium of warfare--along with land, sea, and air," it proclaims on page three. "The emerging synergy of space superiority with land, sea, and air superiority will lead to Full Spectrum Dominance." Full