“Giving the U.S. Space Force some non-trivial teeth as quickly as possible is just one part of re-establishing a containment posture anent both Russia and China.”

The cargo version of Starship would make an excellent space cruiser. Just load up the cargo bay with Rods from God and other weaponry.

Jonathan McDowell:
* https://twitter.com/planet4589/status/1259909543762563072

“CZ-5B core stage reentry confirmed down at 1533 UTC, off the west coast of Africa”
and
“And the TIP message is out, showing reentry at 1534 UTC at location 20W 20N, just before the ground track passed over Nouakchott.”
and
Q: “Is that the point of EI or the projected impact point? In other words, should we expect debris to have fallen in the Atlantic, North of Cape Verde, or could the footprint have reached Mauritania (or beyond)?”
A: “Good point. That is the 80 km altitude I believe, so indeed some debris could have reached the Nouakchott vicinity, at about 3:40pm local time. Worth watching out for reports.”
and
Q: “by about how many minutes did it miss plopping onto NYC?”
A: “About 13”
C: “That would have been epic for the sinoamerican relationship”

The Chinese have been ramping up the smack talk and saber-rattling again for some time, but especially since Xi took over. With Russia having also backslid into its erstwhile anti-U.S. hostility, we now have a simultaneous pair of Cold Wars again.

It is characteristic of externally aggressive regimes that they imagine rival powers must certainly be plotting to do them sudden dirt by surprise – it’s what they would do, after all. Domestic propaganda to this effect prepares their populations for later claims of “provocations” when their next land-grab gets underway. Bush-league autocrats, like the erstwhile junta in Argentina, do this too – it’s not just the big-leaguers like Russia and China.

Such regimes are metastable. Small events can quickly cascade and bring them down. The best thing to do is maintain forces sufficient to cost-effectively minimize the damage such regimes can do, isolate them and wait them out. Time is not on their side. Russia has a declining population, declining exports and no real prospects of reversing either trend. China will be dealing with the loss of a sizable fraction of its Western supply chain-oriented manufacturing base and the world-leading rapid aging of its population and its near cessation of growth.

We sustained simultaneous Cold Wars with Russia and China of several decades duration. China has now effectively switched places with Russia as the more formidable of the two opponents, but we can certainly sustain another pair of such Cold Wars for the two or three additional decades that seem like a worst-case upper limit on how long either or both nations can continue to constitute serious menaces to the U.S. and the world in general.

Giving the U.S. Space Force some non-trivial teeth as quickly as possible is just one part of re-establishing a containment posture anent both Russia and China. And, as an added side benefit, keep China from treating the rest of the world like it has long treated its own interior anent “disposal” of spent rocket stages.

Actually, wayne takes advantage of a better opportunity: showing the world how peaceful the U.S. is and how violent the Chinese are. Obviously, a first strike would necessarily come from the peaceful country in order to prevent the violent country from getting in the first strike. Thus proving that the U.S. is the good guy that was wronged by the Chinese.

(I hope you realize this is sarcasm.)

what age-cohort are you in?

In my 40s. I grew up in a place that was “designated ground zero.” Both sides would have nuked me–probably simultaneously. Even while young, I remember the atmosphere of that time, “no future” and no way out of it and all that. Luckily things didn’t go hot. Cold is good for me. I can deal with cold. Hot means that I’m dead.

Just not enough to worry.
The real plan is to just buy off the victims. Its simple safe and takes no planning, worry, or real effort.

Nah, you’d waste a fantastic opportunity. We should embrace a long-term conflict with the Chicoms. It gives us an interesting competitor, it makes for a good and simple narrative, keeps us focused on long-term strategic goals (just think of the certainty it gives to programs and investments and career planning). The more adventurous among us can engage in (military and economic) proxy battles in exotic places (imagine all the James Bond movies that could spawn). Same on the Chinese side. We both know that it amplifies progress and drives us to the stars. We have to navigate that fine line and keep it cold and nice.

Besides, just assume that they have planted their nukes in major NATO cities. Your button-pressing might get us just killed as well.

Minuteman III ICBM
https://youtu.be/S-V6MZlyCqE
2:22

US hawks should understand China is capable of bringing destructive consequences to them after China detects a nuclear attack from the US, warned Chinese military experts. No one wants to see that kind of doomsday tragedy, they added.

Hu said in the past, China might have had enough nuclear power to deter the US, but now, as the US is treating China as its major or even top strategic competitor and strengthening the US arsenal, so China’s nuclear strength should not stay indifferent.

They called on the Chinese public to remain calm as the US noticed clearly that China has enough to ensure mutually assured destruction.e

“China-US war unlikely despite rising hostility”
https://www.globaltimes.cn/content/1187947.shtml

Quite interesting when we compete against the Chicoms in space as well. Hopefully we can profit from that conflict and advance things on our side.

If the Chinese do not do as other spacefaring nations do – namely, design their upper stages to do controlled re-entries over deserted patches of ocean – this sort of re-entry roulette could become a relatively common occurrence. Needless to say, coming hard on the heels of Covid-19, this sort of heedless behavior is going to make China still less popular than it presently is.

The only conceivable positive I can see coming from such a situation of on-going Chinese middle-finger-ism anent the rest of the world is that it would serve as a spur for the new U.S. Space Force to get an orbital anti-missile/satellite platform system up in a hurry with its first live-fire uses to be against rogue Chinese LM5B core stages. This would also have the happy effect of nearly eliminating any of what would otherwise likely be much wailing about “U.S. militarization/weaponization of space” from all the usual suspects. The only ones, besides the Chinese, to still complain loudly would likely be Cuba, Iran and North Korea – and maybe Venezuela if Maduro has still managed to hold on until then.

With the deals Hunter Biden made with China, I am hoping their chickens come home to roost.

By the way, I believe Canada has lost the right to criticize for similar reasons. The Canadian public (except western Canada) put the corrupt Trudeau government back in power.

— Ye Peijian (Head of China’s Lunar Mission)